Customer Reviews

Word of Promise Next Generation - New Testament: Dramatized Audio Bible

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I delayed in publishing this review because my opinion dissents from the majority. After discussing this with some other Christian parents they implored me to share my honest thoughts. I was also feeling guilty to share a negative review of a Bible product, to be honest.

I had high hopes for this as I wanted to hear a dramatized version of the New Testament for my own entertainment and information. I had hoped to share it with my tween-aged kids and the idea of them liking it enough to listen to it voluntarily appealed to me greatly.

I think this dramatization is of poor quality, not sound quality but it is a poor translation with a bare minimum of "dramatization". It is more like an audio book being read aloud with a music track running at the same time. There are not enough sound effects to flesh out the scenes appropriately. In a scene with a crowd there is just music then a few voices at the end. In a scene with a boat there was music then a few lapping waves. Big deal.

I found it weird and distracting that a lot of the time the music track was not the same emotion or pace as what was being said. A serious scene should not have `happy and light' music. The emotions were mismatched. Some of the music is classical type and others seems more of the new age-meditation type music.

The worst thing of all was the voice of Jesus Christ. This ruined the whole thing for me and caused me to give up listening to this a couple of times. There was only one tone to his voice, a monotone kind of hippie Kumbaya voice. To be blunt he sounded like he was high on drugs, mellowed out. In scenes where Jesus says things in anger, the voice was not angry. In scenes where a faster paced voice or a louder voice or a commanding voice was appropriate, the same monotone voice, quiet and calm was used. It was very strange and distracting with a tone one imagines someone saying "peace brother, God is Love".

I had to keep playing some sections over and over as I was so distracted by the mismatch of emotion or the music that I had missed the content of what was said.

When my kids saw the box they were excited as they recognized many faces and names from the Disney channel shows. However they would have trouble following this as they are used to high quality recordings of audio books from Recorded Books publisher. This is not up to their standards.

As an example of what I think is a high quality dramatized product for children, I have read all the Chronicles of Narnia paper books, heard all the Recorded Books produced audio books and then heard the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre dramatized version of all the books (ISBN 978-1589971493). And I've seen the two movies that have been released in the last few years. That dramatization by Focus on the Family is a great example of the way a very good book can be adapted into an excellent dramatization by use of voices talking to each other with appropriate emotion with a small amount of narration and lots of sound effects (not simply reading the book aloud with mainly music in the background and a few sound effects thrown in here and there).

For my children and myself, I think I will find an audio book version of the New Testament and Old Testament with a high quality reader (even if it was produced for an adult audience), and scratch the idea of a dramatization or something special geared toward kids.

We have thoroughly enjoyed these CD's. They are very easy to listen to. My daughter and I listen to them while we walk on the treadmill. The voices are a good fit and the music is just right. Sometimes these Bible on CD sets can be kind of corny, but not this one! When it satisfies a mid thirties mom AND a teenage girl, they have accomplished something great! I highly recommend checking these out. They are well worth it! This is a great way to get your kids into the Word of God!

Not as professional as the adult version, but still surprisingly good for such young actors to be playing such difficult roles, especially Cody Linley who did just about as good as Jim Caviezel did in the other version. And it also helps to have some familiar faces.

Here are all the main actors in this audio bible:

Andrew Lawrence as Matthew (Brotherly Love)

Alyson Stoner as Martha (Cheaper by the Dozen,Suite Life of Zack and Cody)

Corbin Bleu as Peter (High School Musical)

Emily Osment as Mary, Mother of Jesus (Hanna Montana)

Annasophia Robb as Mary Magdalene (Bridge to terabithia)

Tahj Mowry as John (Smart Guy,Kim possible)

Luke Benward as Mark (How to Eat Fried Worms)

Jordin Sparks as Elizabeth (American Idol Winner)

Sean Astin as The Narrator (The Lord of the Rings,Rudy)

Charlie Stewart as Luke (Suite Life of Zack and Cody)

Marshall Allman as Paul

And

Cody Linley as Jesus

With

Max and Jenna Lucado doing the Book Introductions

The names may not sound all that familiar, but if you put the faces with them you would probably know who they were (some at least).

It also comes with a "Behind-the-scenes" DVD and a 40 day listening plan(which I can't find, so if anybody Knows where it is, could you tell me?)

So, overall it is a good Product that is well worth the money. Now I just can't wait for when "Word of Promise" comes out with the Old Testament.

I hope this helped you.
And may God be ABLE to bless you.
.......................^^^............

I was pleasantly surprised by the performances of these young people. This a 20 cd audio version of the New Testament of the Bible. There is a bonus dvd with behind the scenes footage.

There is a disc guid to the 20 cds. The cds also come in a cd carrying case, mine was black with sort of gray inkspots on the front it says Next Generation on it, with Word of Promise in small lettering in the lower right hand corner.

The Bible is performed and there are sound effects to take you to the streets of Jerusalem or into the temples, you hear approaching horses, people walking. It's very nicely done.

The cds also came with a 40 day disc listening guide which is a nice touch I suppose, if you were planning on using these cds for a Bible study group or for religious education classes, it would help you sort out how to fit it all in. There is a breakdown disc guide that lets you see what Book and Chapters are on each disc, and this was very helpful.

Most surprising performances on the disc in my opinion, Sean Astin - not that he isn't a fine actor anyway, I just had no idea how peaceful he was to listen to - he's the narrator and I found his voice very comfortable to listen to. Corbin Bleu as Peter surprised me - my son and I both enjoyed his parts. AnnaSophia Robb as Mary Magdalene did a remarkable job. Jordin Spraks as Elizabeth there was a lot of passion in her voice, I was impressed also Alyson Stoner as Martha I will be watching what she does next I was unfamiliar with her and I was moved by her in the interview portion as well as by her performance. All of the actors and actresses did a great job in making the Bible come to life in a compelling story.

The extra DVD was fun, there was a chapter from the Producer and Director. The cast section involved interviews and brief bios with each of the actors, they talked openly about their faith and working on the project. I did feel that the section with Cody Linley went too long. Not that he isn't a nice young man with lots to say, it was more or less just overwhelming. There was a chapter on sound design, hollywood, What is the Word of Promise?, a Special Introduction, The Purpose, What's your Favorite (they asked various questions to the cast members about their favorite food, movie, music, video game, tv show, book, sport, actress, actor) and then they posted their website and credits - www.wordofpromisenextgeneration.com.

First, I listened through a number of the discs at home deciding which segments I was going to use for the different grades in our religious education program. I didn't think that my son was listening - he's 7 - and when the first disc ended he looked up and said "Wow, that's a good story." So I decided to try the audio cds out on the first graders, the fourth graders, seventh and the high schoolers as a whole. I got good feedback from each grade which told me that they were in fact listening. The first graders could only absorb short stories, the fourth graders were about the same as the first graders. The seventh graders and high schoolers seemed the most interested. A lot of their interest began because they recognised the voices of the performers and were already familiar with them. We (the 7th graders and high schoolers) also watched the segments of the Dvd where the acotrs discussed their faith and their favorites this only intensified their interest in the audio portion more.

So my recommendation if you use this in a class is to compliment segments from the dvd and then introduce the audio.

I chose to review this particular product because it involved many of the young men & women my daughter has been listening to and watching on TV. I thought it was intriguing that Thomas Nelson had chosen to record the New Testament with this group of young people, especially on the heels their successful release of the same thing recorded by several adult celebrities.

Honestly, I had a very difficult time listening to this MP3 set. Not because it wasn't well done, but because it was simply unrealistic. Sure, a handful of New Testament characters would have fallen into that 16-21 year old range, but the fact is, that many were not. Most difficult for me was listening to 20-year old Cody Linley, playing the part of the 30-33-year old Jesus.

I can understand the desire to encourage tweens and teens to listen to the Bible, but to do substitute kids into these roles sacrifices some of the "Gospel story" for the sake of marketing. I had no real issues with the original Word of Promise set - I actually enjoyed it. But, I'm afraid this particular "young" version is stretching it more than I'm comfortable with.

Unlike other bible readings, the Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament one stars a Hollywood cast of talented young stars, such as Cody Linley (from Hannah Montana and Dancing with the Stars) as Jesus, Corbin Bleu (High School Musical) as Peter, Annasophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as Mary Magdalene, and it's narrated by Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings). It's a dramatized reading, complete with a well done original score and ambient sounds. The audio bible includes helpful and passionate book introductions by Max Lucado, and his daughter Jenna. There's also a bonus DVD with behind-the-scenes interviews with the actors. The set comes on 3 MP3-CD's playable in all computers and on many CD and DVD players (that support MP3 format). There's a 40 day listening program covering the 23 hours of audio.

The version used in this new testament is the International Children's Bible. The ICB was one of the first bible translations written specifically for kids (1985), at a third-grade level. I thought the dramatized reading was very well done. But more important, what do the kids think? Mine thought it was excellent - they found it engaging, really liked the fact it had a sound track and sound effects, and thought it was cool that some of their favorite actors and actresses were involved. It was great to see their faces light up when the recognized a story they had heard in Sunday School class. They like listening to audiobooks in the minivan, so this should be a great addition for some of our longer trips. When in comes to intake of scripture, variety is good, and the Word of Promise Next Gen audio bible is definitely a fresh way to hear from the Word.

Thomas Nelson produced this audio New Testament with children in mind. Pre-teens will readily recognize most of the voice actors who lend their talents to this project. Additionally, these young actors read the ICB (International Children's Bible) translation, which simplifies some of the more complex wording of the NT. This audio NT also includes introductions to each book by Max Lucado and Jenna Lucado, two figures who've done much work in Christian publishing for children.

This CD set has much to recommend it. Most notably, the CDs' production quality is extremely high. The voices are clear, and the sound effects and music are appropriate and convincing. This product's packaging is also of high quality. The 20 CDs come in a zipper case that is sturdy and easy to use. Most of the voice acting is very good; Sean Astin, Sam in LORD OF THE RINGS, makes a wonderful narrator.

I did notice a few minor things that detracted from this product's overall appeal. The least noteworthy is that the CDs are divided by length, instead of content. I know this is necessary to a certain extent, but it doesn't seem that Thomas Nelson attempted to make a compromise between the two. My second problem with this product is that Cody Linley's reading of Jesus is uninspiring. His speech is a bit monotone and hushed. Jesus comes across as "nice" but uninteresting. My biggest disappointment with this product (which isn't too big) is Thomas Nelson's choice to use the ICB translation. It is so simple at times that it sounds silly. The ICB was designed for a 3rd grade reading level; the NIV by comparison is written at a 5th grade reading level. I think that this audio NT's target age group can comprehend a more complex rendition.

Minor complaints aside, I think this audio NT is a fine product, especially for a child who loves High School Musical and other entertainment targeted at pre-teens.

I have had the privilege to obtain a copy of this MP3 dramatization from Booksneeze.com and after a few months of listening, here are my thoughts:

I dove into this audio bible with high hopes because, as a pastor, I was hoping to use this with the youth at church to make the Word a little easier to digest. Yet, after some time musing about it, I truly think this dramatization is of poor quality with very little "dramatization". It's a flat read audio book with minimal background effects and a louder-than-needed soundtrack.

The music did not mesh with the dramatization being "acted" out; instead, I found it annoyingly grating with loud music over a gentle scene, and gentle music over barely audible voices.

Many of the actors portraying biblical characters were out of touch; especially Jesus. He sounded more like a hippie from the 60's than a true charismatic individual who taught about love, compassion, and a better life through the forgiveness of sin.

For the youth of the church I serve, as well as my family and myself, I'll keep on looking for an audio book version of the New Testament and Old Testament with a high quality reader(such as James Earl Jones) who will be able to captivate an audience with a resonate reading, and not with cheesy effects.

I am a HUGE fan of the adult WOP, so when I saw the WOP Next Generation advertised, I knew I had to pick one up. Well, I did...about a year and a half ago. I didn't take the time to review it before now, because I wanted to have a vast knowledge of this product so that I could say something productive.

You've read the other reviews, so you already know about the cast, sound effects, and production value. All of these are great tools to use when trying to help your tweens and teens learn about the Bible. Yet, you can have an all-star cast and a superb production team and still fail to deliver an excellent product if execution somehow falls through. I am happy to report that this is certainly not the case here. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it is an excellent product that could be used to minister to children everywhere.

What I liked:

There's much to enjoy here; from great acting to sound effects that are top notch to fantastic production; it's all here. I enjoyed the music, because I found it calming and enhancing. The actors were good for the most part, with a few minor exceptions (more on that later). I thought Sean Astin was fantastic as the narrator and Andrew Lawrence has a great voice as well. All of the Gospels are read by talented actors that do more than just hold your attention. Corbin Bleu was a good choice for Peter and I enjoy listening to Tahj Mowry's tender voice read the Gospel of John. Marshall Allman was acceptable as the Apostle Paul, though his voice can get on your nerves after a while. I do enjoy the Epistles, though. Acting gets 3.5/5 stars. Music 4/5 and production value 4/5.

What I didn't like:

Having listened to the adult version, It was disappointing to discover that most of the sound effects were just recycled for this project. Also, I'm not sure they should have allowed the music to play without a break throughout the entire NT, because I couldn't hear some of the sound effects. I also noticed some production errors here and there. For instance, when Paul is telling the story of his conversion, you can hear Jesus speaking the phrase with Paul, "Saul, Saul, why are you doing things against me?" Great idea, except Cody drags behind Marshall and it becomes distracting. I think Carl was too busy with the adult version to catch things like this. In certain parts of the Gospels, the voices get really soft and then really loud. This doesn't occur often, but it is noticeable. Cody Linley is okay as Jesus, but he does sound a little flat and that might bother some people. Considering his age, I think he did alright. It can be disconcerting to hear children read adult parts, but I understand why this was done...it is for kids after all.

Final Analysis:

I might have pointed out quite a few flaws, but I did overstate my case a little. I merely wanted to inform you that the WOPNG isn't perfect, but it is a wonderful audio Bible that should bless your children. Target audience would be 3rd grade-7th grade. The ICB translation is very simple, but I for one was glad it was selected instead of the NIV. Overall, you won't be disappointed if you purchase this product for your kids and you might even enjoy some of it yourself.

"Word of Promise Next Generation New Testament MP3 Set" is such a great idea for today's young generation. The famous cast who gave their voices to this project includes Cody Linley, Corbin Bleu and Jordin Sparks with introductions done by Jenna Lucado (yes, Max Lucado's daughter). WOP is a 24 hour audio drama on three mp3 CDs, which I found perfect to load right onto my iPod, and a behind-the-scenes DVD. One thing I learned, this being my first experience with any audio book, is that audio books are not for me. I simply do not use my iPod enough, so I wasn't taking full advantage of this audio set. It is easier for me to sit down and read a book than to sit down and listen to my iPod. However, I think this is brilliant, as most teens have their mp3 players permanently attached to their bodies! I did love to listen to a chapter right before bed, the background sound mixed with the voices and my eyes closed made me feel as if I was there. Having my eyes closed gave me the full affect and made the stories real to me. I definitely recommend this set.