Pros: beautiful, unearthly music with heavenly melodies, expressive lyrics, and a lovely singer
Cons: one mediocre song, but even that one's pretty good
The Bottom Line: A CD sent from heaven; everything that great music should be. Among all the extraordinary songs, you are sure to love most or even all of them.
Greatpilgrim's Full Review: Listen by Michelle Tumes
Tired of the standard contemporary Christian pop, unending in its sameness?
You are in for a piece of heaven with Listen.
I couldn’t believe how distinctive the music on this CD was when I first bought it. I had heard a couple of her songs on the radio…the more streamlined songs, like Healing Waters and Please Come Back. But I was amazed how wonderful and emotional her songs are…coming straight from the heart and touching even those who don’t go in for “floaty” music.
Melody and rhythm play an important part in Michelle’s music; they even appear in her lyrics… “Listen to the beat of the drum in you,” “Music fills my dreams,” and frequent references to singing. The music has strong melodies, beautiful and fluid, relying heavily on a picturesque orchestra. Feel, one of the best songs on the CD, has a great rhythm, as do many of the other songs. But you can almost never hear the boring rock drums that are common in CCM (contemporary Christian music). Instead, the rhythms are kept by percussion that I can only describe as “world drums.” I don’t know if you know what I’m talking about, but they are very cool drums and create an other-worldly feel for the album.
The words of the songs flow effortlessly, with an expressiveness and eloquence that is refreshing. The lyrics are honest and at the same time graceful. I’m telling you, if this review could be half as silver-tongued as this CD, I would be very happy. Sigh.
To top it all off, Michelle has a lovely voice, clear and vibrato-free. She’s actually a pleasure to listen to; she doesn’t pretend to be a great singer, and so she is one.
All the songs on Listen are my favorite; I’m not going to list all of them (you would fall asleep while I sang their praises). But I want to mention just two that stand out…Untame Lion is for real my favorite song here. It has a simple but heart-rending melody, with gorgeous lyrics and flowing music. Absolutely worth buying just for this one. And then the next song, Rest My Soul stands out because it is the “mediocre” song. But I listen to it because it’s still pretty good and it has a superb bridge.
Listen is a one-of-a-kind CD with very attractive features and a sea of songs that anyone will love. Yet despite all the other factors, there is a message shining through...one of living as a Christian without fear, doubt, or compromise. Even if everything else here wasn’t as wonderful as it is, this CD would still be worth buying for its message of hope.
”May He bring you hope
Hope you’ve never, never known
May the Christ of hope
Embrace you evermore...”
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