Newsboys 'Restart' Music Review

After five RIAA certified Gold Records, countless #1's and album sales of over 8 million, Newsboys decided to shake things up and be different. Less rock, more danceable pop and tons of passion equals a restart! If you're looking for a majority of solid rock ballads and the Newsboys sound of yesteryear, buckle your seatbelts because you're in for a pleasant surprise!

The first thing that really jumps out at you when you listen is the theme of the album ... restarting. Isn't that one of the basics of the Christian faith though? We come to the cross with all of our brokeness, our sin and our mistakes. Through the victory of the Cross, we get to restart; our commitment to a Risen Savior allows us to ask for forgiveness and our sins are moved as far from us as east is to west.

From the danceable (opener, "That's How You Change The World," and "Go Glow") to the more tribal beat found on "Disaster" and the piano-driven rocker "Enemy," Newsboys cover a lot of musical bases on this journey. They mix things up and while some may not like the twists and sharp turns at first, they tend to grow on you once you figure out that (much like in life), you're not driving the bus, you're simply along for the ride. By the time you reach that conclusion, the bonus tracks start playing and you wish you had added a helmet to your seatbelt. The first bonus track, "Overflow," gets your blood pumpin' and your feet movin'. By the time "Man on Fire" starts playing, you're ready to dance along with guest vocalist Kevin Max. You think you're going straight when "God is Movin'" starts because the techno pop is full force, but then the song takes a hard right and suddenly the heavy beat has you in near-rock territory. The shock is nothing compared to the whiplash you get when "The Living Years" (again, featuring Kevin Max) takes you almost back to the 80s but the reggae flavoring Tait shares is no Mike & The Mechanics sound, so you stop thinking about the decade and you start to wonder what state the closing song will bring you to. Can you say "worship?" "Stronger comes through your speakers and you feel your spirit being filled to overflowing.

GENRE: Christian Pop/Rock
RECORD LABEL: Sparrow Records
RELEASE DATE: September 10, 2013
TRACKS: 11 on regular / 16 on deluxe

Restart Track Listing:

1. That's How You Change The World
2. Restart
3. Love Like I Mean It
4. Live With Abandon
5. Go Glow
6. That Home
7. Disaster
8. Fishers Of Men
9. One Word
10. Enemy
11. We Believe

Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks:

12. Overflow
13. Man On Fire (featuring Kevin Max)
14. God Is Movin'
15. The Living Years (featuring Kevin Max)
16. Stronger

STAND OUT TRACKS:

• That Home
• Fishers of Men
• Enemy
• We Believe
• God is Movin
• Stronger

Tags : Newsboys