My name is Sarah and I've enjoyed reviewing products for a long time. I'm a big lover of music and ...
My name is Sarah and I've enjoyed reviewing products for a long time. I'm a big lover of music and electronics, so expect to find a lot of reviews involving them here.
Member since:16.03.2008
Reviews:7
Members who trust:1
Brian Littrell is perhaps better known as a 15 year member of the supergroup Backstreet Boys, which dominated the pop charts around the world in the 90's and early 00's. While the group where on some downtime in 2004 Brian decided to start writing and recording his debut album. Later in 2005, when this album was scheduled to be released, following a number one song on the inspirational charts called In Christ Alone (which later won him Inspirational Record of the Year at the Dove Awards - the Christian equivalent of the Grammy's), the album was pushed back in favour of releasing and touring with the Backstreet Boys comeback album, Never Gone.
Once the Never Gone tour finished in early 06, Littrell headed back into the studio to finish work on what was to become Welcome Home, a contemporary Christian CD which focuses directly onto his faith in God and his family. People unfamiliar with Brian's life story may have been surprised by Brian's decision to record a Christian CD, but dedicated Brian fans have known for a long time that this is the music he's most passionate about and is where he got his 'start' before he became a Backstreet Boy. Similarly he was met by some scepticism from the Christian music world, as they also didn't know how genuine he was.
Brian was brought up in a strong Baptist environment and learnt to sing in church.
At age five he became very sick and nearly died from a heart infection, and since then he has given all he can back to his faith and truly believes it was a miracle from God that he survived. Later on, at age 23 at the height of the Backstreet Boys' career Brian had to undergo open heart surgery to correct a hole in his heart and the damage caused by the infection when he was a child. All of these experiences led him to a life of living in faith and his beliefs often lead where he wants to be in his life.
So now, back to the subject of Welcome Home, his debut album. It was released in May 2006 in the US. It did get a release in the UK, however as Christian music isn't mainstream over here it went unnoticed and was not released to be included in the charts. It reached #74 on the Billboard Top 200 albums, but managed to reach #3 on the Christian album chart.
Tracks:
01. My Answer is You - Written by Brian, this is a great opener for the album with a fantastic string arrangement. The lyrics talk about thanking God for the things he has done for him and reaffirming his faith. 02. Wish - This is a cover (but those unfamiliar with Christian music won't know that). This has a great storytelling vibe, and talks about wanting to meet Jesus when he lived and see and hear the things he went through. 03. Welcome Home (You) - The title track, and another written by Brian. Definitely a stand out, this has a nice rock/acoustic edge to it. Brian's vocals are on top form here and the song is probably the more mainstream of all the tracks as there are no direct references to God. It talks about Brian's love for his father and his son, later on his heavenly father but you wouldn't know that unless you're in the habit of listening to Brian's interviews. This was the first single to be taken from the album and reached number 1 on the inspirational charts. 04. Keep Givin' Me - A slight change of pace, this one features a big choir on the chorus and ends beautifully with Brian ad-libbing with some wonderfully soft vocals. 05. Gone Without Goodbye - Billy Mann wrote this after seeing the events of 9.11 unfold. It talks about people not really being gone, if you never got the chance to say goodbye. This is definitely a tear jerker, and it beautifully arranged. It features just Brian's vocals, with Billy playing guitar. Lyric snippet: "Have you seen my son? Not too tall 5"8. She held up a coloured copy photograph from his wedding day. And this is his pregnant wife, carrying his last dream. He walked down 46 floors before he felt the rush, the rush of gasoline." 06. I'm Alive - This track see's Brian find his inner rock side, and probably wouldn't be that far removed from the Backstreet Boys' 2005 album Never Gone. 07. Over My Head - This is a very pretty ballad, which became the third single from the album. Another one penned by Brian, musically this is a very nice song to listen to. The lyrics have a great personal touch too. 08. We Lift You Up - Written solely by Brian, and produced by David Thomas and Mark Kibble of Take 6 fame. This has a very strong southern gospel feel to it, and welcomes back the choir from Keep Givin' Me. It also has a soft jazz feel to it. 09. Grace of My Life - Another written by Brian, this talks about his love for his wife and how she graces his life. It is a little sickly sweet, but Brian's voice is moves the song along nicely. 10. Angels & Heroes - This is my favourite song on the album. Written by Billy Mann, it was originally written for the Backstreet Boys, which they passed on so Brian decided to keep it for himself, he made a very good decision. This has some very nice guitar work, and Brian sounds very good here. If anything, the song is let down slightly be the chorus which doesn't seem to fit with the verses, however it's still a very pleasant song to listen to and the lyrics really make you think. Snippet: "We are the poets, we are the dreamers, we are the soldiers, we are the screamers. We are the fallen to rise again. We are the lovers, we are the cynics. We are the hours, we are the minutes. We are all friends in the end." 11. Jesus Loves You - This song opens with Brian's 2 and a half year old (at the time) giving an introduction "I wanna hear Jesus loves you daddy, 1, 2, 3, go!" This is an acapella number, which is sung with David Thomas and Mark Kibble from Take 6. This has a gospel edge to it and is a nice end to a pretty impressive debut album.
Overall this is a very good debut from Brian. I'm not particularly religious, but I have enjoyed Brian's voice for a very long time so I wasn't going to let the content put me off. I'm glad it didn't, because this is a strong pop album and if it wasn't for the lyrical content probably would have gotten a lot more exposure on the mainstream charts. However I doubt the lack of success there is going to upset Brian in the least. Its very rare to come across a mainstream artist so open about his faith and I applaud Brian for standing up to those around him in the music industry and doing this, as he could so easily have recorded a standard pop album and had a lot more success.
Buy online: Amazon - £14.49 Cross Rhythms - £9.97
Find out more: www.brianlittrell.com www.myspace.com/brianlittrell
Advantages: Showcases Brians vocals quite well, some catchy tracks, Disadvantages: Wont appeal to all, BSB fans and others, some tracks slightly 'filler'
Advantages: Showcases Brians vocals quite well, some catchy tracks, Disadvantages: Wont appeal to all, BSB fans and others, some tracks slightly 'filler'
Mar 17th, 2008
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