Customer Reviews

Swing Swang Swung

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

 

 

Guardian continues to change their image with more acoustic instrumental work and softer (but not weak) vocals. This album changes the way you look at this top-flight Christian rock band. A "must" for any fan.

"Let the Whole World" needs to be sung by every church in the world. It's an awesome melody with a powerful message, and it brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it . Speaking of powerful, these guys just don't know when to stop. They minister at any volume. From "The Way Home Back" (a barrelhouse-blues number with all the slide trimmings) to "Endless Summer" (a #1 Christian Rock chart-topper) to "Preacher and the Bear" (a great New Orleans jazz treatment),I wouldn't be afraid to enter any cut on this CD into a "smash-or-trash" contest with any new rock song by any group.

This CD lifts my spirits every time I listen to it - every time. "See You in Heaven" means the most to me because my father died February 22, 1997. Every time my family and I visit his grave, I play that song as we are leaving. My father heard that song before his death and loved it, so now I know he apprieciates it when I play it. I also enjoy the track "Preacher and the Bear" because I do this lil dance to it where I am sitting down and just swing my arms from side to side! I make my mom and brother laugh at that all the time!

I will start this review by saying that Guardian is one of my favorite bands. Like most I started my collection by purchasing the album "Fire and Love" and of course the follow up "Miracle Mile" both of which feature some great music. I went back and bought the now hard to find cd "First Watch" and also the newer cds "Buzz", "Bottle Rocket" and the live album. Somewhere in there they released a cd that has been in my player probably more than any I have owned. It is that good. This is my favorite cd put out by this band and is essential to any music collection.

This album opens up with "The Way Home Back" a very catchy tune that leads into the hit single "Endless Summer". The flow of this cd is perfect. It features their best songwriting and covers everything from the death of a loved one("See You In Heaven") to break ups/divorce ("Don't Say That It's Over"). They had lots of fun on this album. It really shows on "Rich Man Over The Line" and "Preacher and The Bear"

This is Guardians ultimate cd. This is their Beatles White album or Metallicas Black album. Yeah, it's that good. Their best writting, best playing, and the production is fantastic also.
It's great in the background while drinking coffee or in the car cranked up. Bottom line is you will love this cd. Was going to be called "Wire and Wood" but the band went with "Swing Swang Swung"

Standout songs: "Endless Summer" "See You In Heaven" "Rich Man Over The Line" and "Don't Say That It's Over" Every song is a standout, these are just my current favorites.

I have never seen Guardian live (probably never will now) but I have a total of 7 of their albums and "Swing, Swang, Swung" is definitely their greatest album in my collection. The album may be 12 years old now (can you believe it!) but out of my collection of hundreds of cd's (from Yanni to P.O.D.) this album will ALWAYS be one of my top 10 favorites.

I will now buy this after sampling it. It's got a good groove going here kind of sounds like Mr. Big's "To Be With You" on most of these track, but these rock. I found that their vocals were still heavy metal bound, but stripped down to compliment the acoustic guitar. I guess 1994 was the year for "Unplugged" as the Eagles did an popular "Unplugged" concert that year which gave them a hit with "Get Over It", and Tony Bennett had a big comeback after his "Unplugged" concert, and we can't forget Nirvana who released their "Unplugged" concert postumously after Kurt Cobain's death, and that was a big hit. Now we have Guardian doing their unplugged set, and I was not disappointed. I liked all of them except for 1, and that was "Preacher and the Bear". It was a little hokey sounding. My favorites on here are: "Endless Summer", "Why Don't We", "The Way Back Home", and "Rich Man Over The Line". I saw that they have a new one for $48 dollars, so I will get a used one.