Album: WoW 1999
Released: 1998
Word Entertainment
Or did I suddenly realize that these horrendous collections go against everything I've ever lived for?
Now, we have another bloated two disc set that aims to, according to the back cover, change lives (read: make money). Now, let us see if we can realize the problems of having a CD entitled WoW 1999 coming out in October 1998? Anyone? Well. . .for one, the honesty issue. These WoW records attempt to predict the future as well as chronicle the past. Well, make up your minds!
With WoW 1999, as with other WoW albums, there are a handful of songs that are truly yet to be. They predict the hits, and I guess they can do that, since at the root we have the same people who truly decide what will be hits. Of course, these offerings need to be limited because, to come from even January '99, they need to be from albums largely completed that won't be on the shelf for at least three more months. Preview tracks include If You Really Knew by Out of Eden (from No Turning Back which wasn't released until June of '99), Anything Genuine by Smalltown Poets (from their January 1999 release Listen Closely) and There is a God by Natalie Grant (graciously and curiously granted a spot on the record, as her debut album hadn't even released yet). Of course, there's also the flip side: Yes, there are brand spankin' new tracks, but a number of these songs were even released in 1997. Now, how is that WoW 1999? Feeling futuristic?
High points: the late Rich Mullins sneaks in on one produced, all-star recording entitled That Where I am, There You... from The Jesus Record. This is a worthy track, notable because the Rich's voice (and some of his guitar stylings) were lifted from a cassette he recorded before his death and combined with full instrumentation, background vocals and even a bit of a duet with Michael W. Smith. Rich has one more track make a surprise appearance: the truly wonderful, haunting Hard to Get from the aforementioned tape. This is just Rich and just an old piano and it's truly beautiful. The song is hidden at the end of the Green Disc. . .but I very much recommend the entire project. That's pretty much the disc high point for me. The rest are typical offerings. . .mild rockers that broke through on CHR and inspirational favourites.
It's definitely worth skipping.
Final Grade: C- Nobody's Even
Trying Here