Tag Archives: martin smith

TOP 10 ___: 40 ALBUMS RELEASED IN 2022, THAT WE NEVER REVIEWED!

In a few days time, we will be posting our list of our 30 best albums of 2022 (all of them 5 stars… simply because there is a lot of them!), and in a few more days, we’ll be posting our list of our 30 best albums of 2022 (4.5/5 and below). However, there were some reviews that we wanted to write and post, but ultimately didn’t for various reasons! Either we were stretched for time or we didn’t connect with them for whatever reason. Perhaps you noticed the absence of some reviews, perhaps you didn’t.

Anyway, more than a year ago, we delved into 25 2021 albums we never reviewed (due to life getting in the way), including albums from Adele (30), Evanescene (The Bitter Truth) and Kaylee Bell (Silver Linings), to name a few. Now, the time has arrived for us to list 40 albums we never reviewed, which released in 2022. So…check out these 40 albums/EP’s. Just because they weren’t reviewed, doesn’t mean that they can’t resonate with all of you. And… which albums did you wish we reviewed (within this list of 40 or outside of the list)?

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BEST OF 2021- PART 3: TOP 25 ANTICIPATED ALBUMS OF 2022

I think I’ve confidently asserted this statement many times throughout the years, but I think I will say it again. The year of 2021, like the year of 2020, has delivered time and time again, in terms of presenting to us some pretty inspiring and thought-provoking albums and songs. Though hectic, chaotic, seemingly out of control and messy; 2021, more than 2020, was the year in which I have grown the most in my musical tastes, and it’s the year that I have found more albums and songs that has resonated with me. But maybe that’s because I was more aware of releases this year than any other year. Partly because of me branching out into different types of music because of my own accord due to me being more at home due to COVID-19, and also partly because of me and Jon writing our blog series about influential artists of all time- and us being exposed to more different types of music that way.

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BEST OF 2019- PART 11: TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2019

The time has come everyone. Even though we are more than 3 months late, I reckon Easter Sunday is the perfect time for us to reveal our 50 most inspiring albums of 2019- also especially since we all need our albums to help us get through this whole quarantine process. So… without further ado, here is our list of 50 albums which have inspired and encouraged us!

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MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 38: DELIRIOUS?

I don’t think you can utter the words ‘praise and worship’ without uttering the word ‘Delirious?’ in the same sentence. There, I said it. Yes, this is my bold assertion. No it’s not Hillsong or even Chris Tomlin (both these two have been influential and instrumental in the praise and worship movement), nor is it Paul Baloche or even Tim Hughes. The founding ‘father’ if you will, of praise and worship music, even a founding father of ‘modern CCM’, would have to be Delirious?. Yes, the 5 piece British outfit who impacted the world stage back during the 1990s and the 2000s. Yes, that same Delirious? Then, again…maybe I’m a little bias, right? I mean after all, Delirious?, alongside Carman, has shaped my years in my own tastes of music as I grew up, and taught me all there was to know in my formative years about Christianity…so I guess this statement of Delirious? being one of the pioneers of the modern praise and worship movement, can be a bit of a stretch, right? Maybe, maybe I am just tapping into a little bit of nostalgia for a little. Maybe I am further off the mark than I’ve ever been, and Delirious? aren’t the founding ‘fathers’ as I assumed they were. Nevertheless, Delirious? (headed by Martin Smith as lead singer, Stu G. as guitarist, Stew Smith (and later Paul Evans) on drums, Jon Thatcher on bass and Tim Jupp on keys) has been with me on this journey of life and the mark they have had on Christian music, and maybe even to a broader extent, mainstream music; cannot be denied. Even during their tenure of 17 years as a band, the quintet have given to us songs of healing and hope, of poignancy and power- put it this way: had the band not exist, how would the worship landscape and the ability to create worship and praise music, how would that have changed? Would we have more free expressions of worship, people discovering new ways of delivering praise to our Father who certainly deserves such glory and honour? If Delirious? wasn’t as successful as they were, if their songs didn’t touch as many people as it did, frankly, I don’t think we’d be where we are today. Frankly, in all honesty, we ought not to give thanks for bands and artists like Chris Tomlin and Hillsong for paving the way of CCM and worship music (they very much indeed continued along the way), but rather, in my bold opinion, Delirious? by far ought to be congratulated- taking risks and daring to grab the chance of singing something bold and powerful, it is only when artists travel outside the box, like Delirious?, that they can be influential to music and society. Yes, it has been 11 years since the band played their last concert, and 12 years since their latest album. But also yes, the band has shaped CCM like I’m sure we’ve never seen before. Delirious? will forever be my favourite group/band, ever. It is in the impact of the songs on the people that I can safely say that this British band from Southampton, England, carried with it an ability to put worship into song in a way that I don’t think anyone has come before them, and I don’t think anyone would come after, as well (though I do think veteran CCM/worship singer/songwriter Jason Ingram comes close!).

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Ryan Stevenson– Child In Your Arms (Capital Kings Remix) [feat. Aaron Cole] / With Lifted Hands (Acoustic) [feat. Martin Smith] – Single

Gotee Records

Release Date: June 8th 2018 / May 3rd 2019

Reviewed by Joshua Andre

Ryan Stevenson– Child In Your Arms (Capital Kings Remix) [feat. Aaron Cole] / With Lifted Hands (Acoustic) [feat. Martin Smith] – Single (Amazon mp3/iTunes) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

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