Customer Reviews

Sonicpraise

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Sonicflood's live album "Sonicpraise" was released in early 2001, the original Sonicflood band had already fallen apart at the seams. The turmoil within the band delayed the release of this album for almost eight months (The original release date was for August 2000). It's a miracle that "Sonicpraise" even saw the light of day but Praise God, it did. After all the delays, this album was truly worth the wait.
"Sonicpraise" was recorded live in late 1999 in Holland and Nashville. The performances captured on this album are stunning and demonstrate just how on fire for God the band really was. Beginning with a solid uplifting version of "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and ending with the Jeff Deyo original "I Have Come To Worship", "Sonicpraise" will leave you asking for more. A true highlight of the album is a continuous praise suite beginning with Track 5 "Holy One" which leads directly into a spirited version of "You Are Worthy Of My Praise" which is followed by nearly 10-minutes worth of "Spontaneous Worship". Here, the band really lets loose and there's even some audience participation. This leads directly into a rousing version of Delirious' praise classic "Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?" which goes seamlessly into a fabulous rendition of "Lord I Lift Your Name On High". Phew! This counts as nearly 40-minutes of the album's 73-minute running time and in my opinion is the main reason why "Sonicpraise" is a must have. Other highlights include "In The Secret" which has more punch to it here than on the first album, the almost ELO-esque "Carried Away" and a wonderful interpretation of the hymn "To The Throne Of God Above". Of course, I can't forget "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever", another Delirious cover, which Jeff Deyo duets with Lisa Kimmey from Out Of Eden. This is a breathtaking performance which will bring a person to their knees.
Like I mentioned above, "Sonicpraise" is a miracle of an album. This is one of the best live worship albums out there and no music collection is complete without it. It's a shame that the original Sonicflood couldn't stick together. This album shows exactly what was and what could've been with this band. Jeff Deyo has since gone solo and has released an excellent debut album entitled "Saturate", Jason Halbert and Dwayne Larring are now involved with production work. Aaron Blanton now plays drums in the band By The Tree. Bass player Rick Heil, who was not an original member of the band, assembled a new group of players and formed a new version of Sonicflood in which he is now the frontman. The new Sonicflood is completely different than the original band and in some instances, is weaker. However, there is no denying just how special the original Sonicflood really was. One needs to look no further than "Sonicpraise" just to see how true it really is.

"Sonicpraise" by Sonicflood is one of the best albums that I own, but it is only one of 3 "Christian" CDs that I own. Truth is, after listening to this album, it's hard to turn on the radio. Hearing about "ice" and "hoes" seems so unnecessary and just deters listeners from gaining anything. The ultimate power and life will be with God in heaven, I believe, so why not start early here on Earth? Jeff Deyo, the singer on Sonicpraise, has so much energy that one cannot help but feel it. His voice is deep, melodic and accurate despite the live performance. Some of the best songs include "Open the Eyes of my Heart", "Carried Away", and "You are Worthy of my Praise". But the song that made me even look into Sonicflood at all was "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High". Yes, that song that has the hand motions that I'm afraid to do. But listen to the clip, it's a reworking with energy and filled with praise.
Sonicflood's "popular" contemporary would have to be Vertical Horizon. The singers sound similar, the guitars rule the songs, and none of the songs disappoint. But when it comes down to it, Sonicflood is worlds better than VH...

This cd is beyond belief! Yes there are some of the same songs on this album as there are on the original Sonicflood album. However, that doesn't matter!! The energy that they put into the songs from their Sonicpraise concerts is amazing! This cd is amazing! If you liked their first one, then you are going to love this one! It is so worth your money - it's my favorite worship album! If you don't believe me, listen to a little bit of "Open the Eyes of my Heart" and you will want it!

This is the BEST Live CD that I have ever heard. Especially the first song, "Open the Eyes of my heart" is the best version I have ever heard. Moreover, I loved the concept of "Spontaneous Worship" in this CD. The guitars, the keyboards, the drums along with the lead voices make an tremndous impact on a listner's heart. The songs virtually take you into a worship that flows from the the deppest of your heart to the highest of your praise toward God. It helps you to look upto God and give him all the glory and honor and praise with all of your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength. These songs lead you into worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth. You can have this experience if you listen to the CD from track 1 to track 12 non-stop with out being disturbed. Many songs are interlinked, that means songs are played live without any breaks. If you listen from track 5 to track 7, and track 8 to track 9 you can observe the continuos playing and singing without breaks. If you ever have a desire to experience a single powerful event of praise and worship, listen to this SuperSonic Praise! that's what I call it.

I was at the Bible Book Store and I saw this new CD up for previewing. I listened to it and it is very catchy! It is a live version of the first CD, with four new songs. Most of the songs start with cheering fans, because it was recored during thier "Sonicpraise" tour. I have waited a LONG time for this to come on market. I heard about two years ago it would come out and I was very dissappointed when I heard it would be cancelled. I heard later in the year that it would be released around the November/December time. Well guess what? It got cancelled. Well it finally came out and it was worth the wait! I think they got a new lead singer(The old one left the group) But he also has a good voice. I would recommend this disk.

P.S To the person who did not understand why they had some of the same songs this is why: This is a live concert version.

Another P.S. On Amazon.com the track listing is wrong(At least from the time this was posted). The real track listing is: Intro, Open The Eyes Of My Heart, I Want To Know You(In The Secret), Carried Away, Holy One, *You Are Worthy Of My Praise, Spontaneous Worship, *Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble, *Lord, I Lift Your Name On High, *Before The Throne Of God Above, I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever - With Lisa Kimmey From Out Of Eden, I Have Come To Worship.

*New song

(I do not know what "Spontaneous Worship" is.)

After reading the nearly unanimous 5-star reviews of this CD, I decided to buy it, and was not disappointed - far from it! The first time I listened to it, I went to bed 15 minutes early, threw on my headphones, and listened to it beginning to end - I was absolutely mesmerised, and ended up lifting my hands to God in bed at midnight, singing at the top of my voice (thankfully our house is well-insulated so I didn't disturb anyone!).

Some reviews stated that the album failed to capture the "concert-feel"; I totally disagree. Whenever this album is actively listened to (as opposed to background listening), you are totally immersed in this live praise & worship concert. The bridges between most of the songs condone this feel, as does the "Spontaneous Worship" track, which includes an extremely inspiring and uplifting spontaneous prayer. Also, the crowd sings solos in nearly every song.

I have never heard any songs from any of the new Sonicflood line-ups, so I can't comment on that. But this album demonstrates a brilliant band music-wise, easily up there with any of the top-notch pop groups (although I hate to compare to them). This band, at the time of recording, was obviously on fire for God - it is such a pity the band in this form exists no longer!

The only negative thing I can think of is that sometimes the band is too good - often I find myself simply listening to the brilliant music, rather than worshiping along with it.

5 out of 5 all the way - have been listening to it for 3 weeks straight and still not tired - highly recommended, even for non-Christians!

This is by far one of my favorite CDs. First, I must clarify, this is a LIVE CD. It is NOT a "best of" CD. And as far as live CD's go, this one is excellently mastered. If you want a truly incredible worship experience, buy this album, find a comfortable place, and just worship away. People buying this CD just to get every single Sonicflood CD, or just for the new songs, or just for the sake of musical enjoyment might find themselves disappointed, because yes, it does repeat songs off of their first album. However, I would recommend this album over the first one for the sole reason that is shows the passion these guys have (or had...since the band as we knew it is no more...), and while no recording can do any band justice, this one sure shows that the holy spirit came in power. The first listen was amazing enough to brighten my whole week. If you're looking for a good worship album, this is definitely one of the best out there.

Ever wondered about those artists who put out a "Best of" cd with only 2 or 3 cds under their belt? Well, imagine someone doing it with only ONE cd under their belt and you'll have SonicFlood's "new" cd. Yes, there are four new tracks on there, but the rest is just an exact repeat of their first album. The sad thing is that inside there are several pictures of various concerts, and one picture in particular in the middle is of a songlist from one of their concerts. Included on this list are "Lord of the Dance", "You Are Good", and "Holy Moment"...why didn't these three songs make it onto this cd in place of 3 from the first cd (or even in addition to those)? Instead, we get the cd we waited two years for, only to find 4 new songs and a live rendition (albeit a great one) of the first cd. Very disappointing. The 4 new songs are great, and thus my 3 star rating...but what a let down on what they could have done. In defense of this cd, SonicFlood in 1999 (when this concert was recorded) was at their peak and their live show was a worship experience that's hard to top (although Delirious is doing a great job of it now), so this does give you the chance to hear the original group at their best before everyone went their seperate ways. If you don't have the first one, skip it and buy this one. If you DO have the first one, get this one to hear them live. Looking forward to their next cd, which will surely be a batch of great new material.

"SonicPraise," the live offering from Jeff Deyo and Sonicflood, was recorded during performances in Nashville, Tennessee and at Holland's Flevo Festival in 1999. This CD showcases the band's great live sound and serves up some outstanding gems of praise & worship songs. Deyo & company open with "Open the Eyes of My Heart," one of my favorite worship songs, and the band manages to get the crowd into it as well. Although I personally think it would have been better to open with "I Have Come to Worship," then go into either "Open the Eyes..." or "I Want to Know You." Some other great tracks include "Carried Away," "Holy One" (a Deyo original), "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" and covers of two Delirious? songs--"Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" and "I Could Sing of Your Love Forver," on which Jeff duets with Out of Eden's Lisa Kimmey. "SonicPraise" is a great live album which really does convey the feel of live worship at a Christian concert, and one of my favorite worship CD's to listen to.

When I first got this CD, I was just starting to listen to popular Christan music. I'd heard a couple of tracks from the CD and liked what SonicFlood was able to do with familiar praise and worship songs.

The most incredible thing I found out about this CD was the energy SonicFlood presents on stage. They drive each song from beginning to end, and keep me listening over and over. Even the spoken section in the middle (spontaneous worship) is driven and powerful.

The only negative thing about the CD that I noticed right off (but got used to, actually) is that there is a certain white noise (between crowd noise and underlying guitar) that is present throughout. But once I got into the words and arrangements more, I stopped noticing that extra noise.