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Absolute Smash HitsBeating TimeABSOLUTE SMASH HITS This bumper-value collection of rock, pop and modern worship is a mixed bag at best quality-wise, but there are certain themes that run across the double album's 25 tracks. Firstly, all the acts have draped their songs with big, slick radio-friendly production which sounds dated in comparison to the new stripped-down sound used by many of their contemporaries in the secular music charts. Secondly, the acts are all essentially sanitised versions of large American bands that are hardly cutting-edge in the first place; hence Shaun Groves recalls the overt earnestness and bombastic strings of The Calling, while Superchick could be an angst-free Avril Lavigne. To be fair, a few tunes do stand out: Plumb's 'Sink 'n' Swim' is a funky worship number while Nate Sallie's 'All About You' is a chunky, punk rock song that may actually appeal to the teenage audience which the album is geared towards. If you like music to be no more than background noise then Absolute Smash Hits is pleasant enough, but, if you seriously enjoy listening to innovative music, then avoid, because there are far too many turgid, overblown tracks here to even bother spending a tenner. Tim Bragger, Norwich© Evangelicals Now - February 2005 |