Review: Gold City "Somebody's Coming"

Peter, James, and John - This is the best song on the album (with “Lord of Life” coming in second probably) and is the perfect selection for radio single.  It has a nice country flavor, and the group really shines.  The only criticism I can see would be the ending,  It seems there should be more to it.  It doesn’t follow the chorus endings for the rest of the song.  It has different words and leaves you wishing for more.

I Get Down - The last song was excellent, this one is just the opposite.  Tim Riley leads the song.  It doesn’t do much for me.

Footprints on the Water - Don’t be surprised if you hear similarities to the last song, “I Get Down,” especially in the intro.  It’s a jazzy number, kind of fun, a little obnoxious with the electric guitars.

It Won’t Be Long - A note to Gold City: tone down!  Also, the music is a bit annoying with the loud percussion and electric guitars.  Some lyrics that stood out to me:

There’s no need standing up for the right, unless you’re gonna stand up against the wrong.


and:

You’d better make haste to meet your maker before you have to meet with the undertaker.


Good theology.  :)

Showers of Blessings - This song doesn’t sound much to me like Gold City.  The vocals sound like they’re sung by a different group (not one that I know, but a different group nonetheless)  The group had the perfect opportunity to at least sneak part of the old hymn into this track, but they missed their opportunity.  Nevertheless, “Showers of Blessings” is kind of a fun song.

Lord of Life - To me, this song would win second place on the album.  The first ballad, it starts out with fairly light music, and then kicks into high gear at the first chorus.  If you want a small sampling of the album, buy this song track, and “Peter, James, and John” on iTunes.

Somebody’s Coming - You’re sitting at an interminably long red light, bored out of your skull.  Suddenly, a sleek, red corvette pulls up next to you, rock music blasting from the radio.  The driver thinks he’s a “cool dude” complete with tattoos, muscle shirt, and tattoos.  You feel like opening your window and playing something from your car.  But, suddenly, you hear that the song he’s listening to is by Gold City!  And it’s called “Somebody’s Coming”!

OK, obviously, this will likely never happen.  But I’m telling you, minus the Christian words, this song would be absolutely perfect on a rock-n-roll or country station.  Well, if you like that kind of music, this song isn’t half bad, although it is very rocky.

Leave That Burden - This is ballad two of three.  It’s slightly slower than some down-tempo songs, but it’s certainly slower than most of the others on Somebody’s Coming.  I don’t think that the chorus is extremely well written.  It seems that there’s too many words stuffed into a small space.  The song is kind of country-flavored.  This seems to be the genre that most of the songs on the album would fit into.

I Have an Anchor - Sometimes it takes a few listens before I start to like a CD or song.  Second time through this one, and it’s improving, at least in my mind.  The group could have sang part of the song “Will Your Anchor Hold” (or perhaps called “We Have an Anchor”) in the old Praise and Worship hymnal that my church uses, but alas they didn’t.  So many old songs like this, that are in my hymnbook, never get sung by Southern Gospel groups.  Sometimes I can’t say that it would be a good idea to record some of those old songs though.  Not all of them are exactly well written.

Never Too Broken to Belong - Imagine piano and strings, because that’s what this song is.  It’s pretty (as in to a fairly large, noticeable, or reasonable extent) pretty. :)

Album Art: The cover is a work of art.  I really like it.  I’d like to say that the actual cover art is a bit different than the JPEG image above, mainly in and around the font.

Comments:
I have to say that most of the songs are not as good as some of the songs on Gold City’s last major release Moment of Truth, such as “What Children Believe,” and “By Your Grace, For Your Glory.”  There are a couple 4.5-5 star songs, and the rest range from 1.5-4 stars.  I can’t recommend paying $15 for the entire album, but I would recommend getting some of the songs on a digital download site, such as iTunes.

This album was very country influenced, with almost all of the songs, having at least a little bit, that country flavor.  I generally love country style Southern Gospel music, but I can’t say that about this album.  A lot of the songs are too loud for me.

Most likely, you’ll have a different view of the album than me.  Daniel J. Mount gave it a very favorable review.  If you liked Moment of Truth, then you’ll most likely like Somebody’s Coming.  If you didn’t like Moment of Truth, then don’t get Somebody’s Coming.

CD Rating: 2.5 stars
Favorite Songs: “Peter, James, and John,” “Lord of Life,” “Somebody’s Coming”

Review copy provided by New Haven Records

Gold City - "A Collection of Hits" Review

This CD is a collection of pre-released songs, which is obvious considering the title.  I've never really liked the early music of Gold City.  The project has some good songs, but they are from relatively old CD's.  If you are new to the world of SG music, and you like how the group songs, then you may enjoy this CD.  If you have been listening for a long time, and if you have a large collection of Gold City music, then it will possibly be a waste of money.  Songs include: "That Little Baby," "Where Is God," "God's Building a Church," "There Rose a Lamb," "When He Blessed My Soul," and many more.  There are 15 songs in all.  Some of my favorites are: "Surely," "It's Still the Cross," and "Where Is God."

Gold City - "A Collection of Favorites Volume 1" Review

We'll Soon Be Done With Troubles and Trials - This is one of those classics that are sung a lot on the "Hymns" albums that a lot of groups put on.  It's a great song anyway, but Gold City really does a great job with it.  5 stars

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow - This version of the old hymn, is up-tempo, unlike the one produced by Signature Sound with George Younce, or the one that Phil and Kim Collingsworth sang.  The song sounds kind of "modern," with electric guitars and organ.  4.5 stars

There Is a River - This is one of the only slow songs from this CD.  This  one has also been done by Ernie Haase and Signature Sound.  The two versions have noteable differences.  The music of this one is heavier, the other lighter.  You probably won't listen to this a lot, as it tends to drag on.  3 stars

Life's Railway to Heaven - Some early versions of this song have a train feel incorporated in the music.  This one doesn't have that sound as noticeably.  But if you listen, you can hear it in the percussion.  The chorus is the best part.  4 stars

Where the Roses Never Fade - Ah, one of those old Cathedral classics.  You've got to love this song.  Medium tempo.  It moves along at a nice clip, but doesn't drag on and on.  4 stars

I'll Have a New Life - Another old Cathedrals song.  This one is good, although I don't know if it beats it's predecessor.  It's not as fast as the version the Cathedrals did, but it's still tremendous.  4.5 stars

Rainbow of Love - While we're on the Cathedral kick, this sounds like a song they'd sing.  And the music even resembles the music from some of their older recordings.  At the end, they sing the chorus again at a slower pace.  The kind of music is classic Southern Gospel.  4 stars

At the Cross - Medium slow tempo, with lots of organ.  4.5 stars
Heaven's Jubilee - Very fast tempo, Legacy Five's version from Know So Salvation is better.  3 stars.

He Hideth My Soul - I absolutely love this old hymn.  And Gold City doesn't disappoint in delivering it.  It has no orchestration, and minimal accompaniment (just the piano)  The soloist sings the first verse and chorus, and then the second verse.  Then the rest of the group comes in on the chorus.  I'm thankful for this, as the version from the Soul'd Out Quartet's album Ain't Nobody had a soloist singing the entire thing.  I think this song would have been better with orchestration, or at least more accompaniment, such as drums.  But they still did a good job.  4 stars

Review:
Gold City did a really good job with this project.  All old songs, with the current group members, and it's definitely a keeper.  Gold City is a very talented group with great songs.  Let's hope that their upcoming project will be as good as this one was.  This is a great CD to buy for those who love quartet music.  4 star rating for the whole album.