I couldn't believe it. For a minute, even, I was witnessing the impossible -- the Newsboys were actually shedding the skin of their success. They were venturing outside the safety and shiny security of more than a decade. And if anyone understands the confining suffocation of Nashville's formulas, it's Steve Taylor, who returned to the production helm here for these Aussies turned Yanks. The lead-off track, "Giving It Over," while sounding like an outtake from Guardian's Buzz sessions, has an edge, an actual rock and roll attitude that was starting to make me spit up a respectful nod that I thought I'd never be doing. I felt like I was really on to something new. And then the second track played, and then the third, and so on and so on. Dang it! I was duped, folks. The Newsboys have not turned from their ways. Sigh. The 3-minute 47-second fantasy was nice while it lasted.
Editors' ratings - Doug 1/5, Jason 1.5/5
Other coverage for this album
The Rebel Base 2002Reviewed by David MartinI'm sure you're familiar with the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well, there's a corollary to that rule: "If it weren't broke, and ya done fixed it, then fix it back to the way it was before it was broke, ya IDJIT!" This is more or less the approach that the Newsboys took on their latest album, Thrive. Virtually all of the output we've heard from these former kings of Christian…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by John Wilson1998's Step Up To the Microphone was supposed to signal a new era for the Newsboys, one of Christian music's flagship bands, and for the most part, it did, showing that the band could survive without departed lead singer John James and longtime producer Steve Taylor. The album showcased a new, more serious, more textured pop-rock sound and image for the band. And it was a success. 1999, however,…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Brian A. SmithMany fans felt that Newsboys peaked with Take Me to Your Leader. That faction looked at the albums Step Up to the Microphone and Love Liberty Disco as a steady decline from the heights to which Newsboys' fans had grown accustomed. The commonly held view was that with the departure of their lead singer and of producer Steve Taylor, the group had taken a different direction, one of finding their…Similar sounding releases
2000Collective SoulBlender
2000Scarecrow & TinmenSuperhero
1999SonicFloodSonicFlood
2001DC TalkSolo
2001PFRDisappear
2001Mick JaggerGoddess in the DoorwayMore from Newsboys
2002Remixed
2000Live One Night in Pennsylvania (video)
1998Step Up to the Microphone
1994Going Public
1992Not Ashamed (Video)
1992Not Ashamed
