Kutless: Strong Tower review

I am a big Kutless fan. Aside from POD, these guys were one of my first introductions to some of the edgier Christian music that's out there. There sound is a slightly mellower version of Linkin Park (a mainstream favorite of mine) without the dee-jaying type effects and instead working in some acoustic guitar sometimes for a change of pace. Their last CD, Sea of Faces, was the first one I bought; it stayed in my CD player for weeks. So needless to say, I was nearly as giddy to finally get my hands on their newest CD Strong Tower.

Unbeknownst to me, it's their version of a worship album. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just not something you think of a guitar crunching type of band doing. Nevertheless, I remained optimistic.

I have to say that I am a little underwhelmed. The first thing I noticed was that I was singing with nearly every track the first time through! The lone new track on here is Strong Tower, which when mixed in with the rest of the CD, doesn't have quite the impact it would if it were in the middle of their previous releases. It comes off more like a power ballad because nearly everything else is medium to slow tempoed - again, exactly what you would expect on a worship album.

Some of the other more recognizable songs - Word of God Speak, Better is One Day, Draw Me Close, and Arms of Love. There just isn't much new done to these songs - heavy guitars replace strings and piano on Word of God Speak. That pretty much is the formula for the rest of the album. All of the Words pulls double duty as it appears on here and was on Sea of Faces, and just like the Strong Tower track, is just another slow melodic song (although it is original).

That being said, it's still a pretty decent CD and will probably remain in regular circulation in my truck. Thankfully, their next CD will be out in March and looks to be a return to the Kutless I love - a band with the message of Third Day but about three or four steps heavier.