Customer Reviews

Revival

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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Some may think, after seeing the cover of Radney Foster's new record, Revival, that it's a gospel record. Please believe me when I say this is much more than a gospel record. It's a record born from the very spirit that is the heart of the artist's soul. It's very close and personal record to him, and it shows on virtually every track of this fine record produced and recorded on his own label, Devil's River.

He chose to either write all of the songs himself or collaborate only with a few very close and trusted friends (Darrell Brown and Jay Clementi) due to the personal nature of the songs. This is one of the most spiritual and satisfying records I've heard this year.

Like in cooking, for the food to taste exceptionally good, love must be one of the main, if not the main ingredient. That is the case here. Love is the main ingredient in the songwriting and it's the main ingredient in the performances. The artist was able to transfer his love and personal bond for each song to the artists performing them.

Mr. Foster included his long-time road band on this record and appropriately enough, dubbed them The Confessions. You can tell by listening, they love the music as much as the creators of the music.

The album opens with the title cut, A Little Revival, released for Texas radio on June 29th. The song is a rocking, guitar driven tune about a very confusing world where bad things can happen but something good can come from them; "If it's Jerusalem or Tiananmen Square/Didn't it all get started `Cause someone stood up somewhere". Very thought provocative lyrics indeed, which end with - "Between the dawn and the darkness/The ashes and the spark/My miracle moment was giving you my heart". As mentioned earlier, this is a very close, personal, and spiritual record and it starts out with a bang.

It threads nicely with the very next tune, Forgiveness. "You can ask for it sitting in a pew underneath that pretty painted glass/Search of it in shadows hidden deep in your checkered past/It'll feel sometimes like you're looking for a ghost/But then you see it in the eyes of the ones that love you most" Then comes the chorus - "Forgiveness, everybody needs it/Forgiveness, give it and receive it/Sometimes the toughest thing you can give yourself/Forgiveness". Beautiful to say the least, and certainly words we can all relate too and some point in our lives.

I was hooked by the first two tracks, but then I heard I Know You Can Hear Me. Talk about up close and personal. This song literally brought tears to my eyes. It's a song about wise words we have all heard in our past. Words so familiar, you would have thought there was a manual to not just raising kids and being a Father, but to being a son or a daughter as well. We've all heard a parent say things like, "I love you son, but this is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you", just before you got your little butt spanked, but this is much more than that.

This is a song about a son using a variation of the verbiage his Father used on him during a disciplinary event in his past and relating it directly to his unconscious Father while on his death bead. The words are eloquent- "I know you can hear me/You don't have to say a thing/You've been so strong, you're not alone/And I know that you're in pain/I know that you love me/You can let go whenever you're ready/And I know you can you can hear me". I can't remember a time when a song touched me the way this song did. I'm not sure it's ever occurred.

That's how this record is. It's as if Radney Foster is sitting with you and sharing his spiritual journey with you. A witness, if you will.

Mr. Foster invited the likes of Dierks Bentley on Until It's Gone and Darius Rucker harmonizes nicely on Angel Flight. Incidentally, on the latter recording, co-written with Darden Smith, came about after Mr. Smith had a conversation with a pilot with the National Guard who flies these "angel flights". An angel flight is when a fallen brethren is being flown home for his final resting place. It's from the view point of the pilot of those final flights and their passengers. Mr. Foster and Mr. Smith are donating proceeds from this song to a charity that provides assistance to military families beset by tragedy.

I have only touched the very surface of this record. It's one of the best records I've heard this year. My fear is that it will be categorized as a "Christian" or "Gospel" record, which is okay. But in my opinion, it needs to be heard by everyone, not just Christians, and the only ones who listen to Christian radio stations, are other Christians. I don't want this to be perceived as a negative. I just believe this is an important record and should be heard by not only those who know the word of God, whoever God is, but more importantly, to those who haven't heard it yet.

This record is an absolute triumph and is scheduled for release on September 1st.

`Rebel' Rod says check it out!
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A beautiful and emotional album that everyone needs to hear. Just buy it.....you will not regret it.

This is a must have recording and in my opinion rates with the best of Radney's offerings. Revival showcases Rad's exceptional songwriting and lyrical poetry while the Confessions don't dissapoint with excepional guitars and vocal backing(love Georgia Middleman)along with one of the tightest rhythm sections I have heard. This is by far my favorite cd this year.....Buy it you will not be disappointed....There is not a weak track on this disc...

I got it for one song in particular - "Angel Flight" I love it. Makes me cry though. Satisfies me.

This is an amazing collection of songs; maybe Radney's best ever - and that's saying something, given how many powerful songs he has written and performed. "A Little Revival" kicks it off with a driving beat and a message about standing up and fighting for love, not giving in:

Rumbles down in your heart/When you've got something to say/Hey that kid with a guitar in the subway/He might change to world someday/If it's in Jerusalem/Or in in Tinnamen Square/Didn't it all get started/'Cause someone stood up somewhere.

I can't listen to "I Know You Can Hear Me" without tearing up. Heck, for that matter, I can't even read the lyrics without tearing up. Radney wrote this song after losing his own dad; the power and emotion in the lyrics is palpable - it's one of the things that makes the songs Radney writes and performs so powerful and moving...but on this song, he out-does himself. So thankful that he was willing to share such an emotionally raw song with us:

I left home to whip the world/got knocked down plenty of times/day or night, wrong or right/Dad's words would ease my mind/Even at the very end he was still giving/Lying there fighting to live/I couldn't find the words so I used his

This is the kind of album that makes me want to sit everyone down I see and make them listen. There's not a fast-forward song on the whole album. I promise you will not be disappointed. Buy it now!

Wasn't sure what to expect with title of "Revival", but Foster does a great job of mixing story and emotion into a set of songs that do loosely follow a theme.

This is an extraordinary album. It's brought me to tears and it's caused me to cheer out loud at the beautiful songwriting. I think there's no doubt at all that Radney Foster is the best songwriter in the world.

Radney is at the top of his game with this collection. Smart, articulate music.
His voice seems far stronger and robust than in past offerings. Great collection of songs expertly performed

This records rivals Radney's Del Rio Texas CD-------should be hearing some of these cuts on the radio!

This is a great CD, Radney always has such great music and feeling in his songs.