Lincoln Brewster – Real Life
Posted: November 3rd, 2010 | Author: Mike Mahoney | Filed under: Integrity, Lincoln Brewster | Tags: alastair vance, Cd review, conner, integrity music, klampert, mike mahoney, the joint review | 1 Comment »
Purchase Lincoln Brewster – Real Life 
Artist official site
| SYNOPSIS | |
| KLAMPERT: Lincoln…Oh Lincoln. As musicians we are always in awe of great talent and Lincoln is just dripping with it. I love what the man does with a guitar, what he does with his songwriting and how crisp his vocals are. What I do not love is Lincoln in the studio. I will say this 1000 times if need be. Lincoln’s best CD ever was his live one. There is something with His live CD’s that is captured that isn’t on his studio work. Maybe it’s that it is too polished or the production itself. I don’t know but I find myself drifting when listening to it and I just can’t connect with what is going on. I will say however that his songwriting has matured and he has taken on a john mayer meets phil keaggy type of guitar style with vocals that you can compare to PFR. All in all it’s a good CD that seems to be cut right out of 1994 but leaves me wishing for more live lincoln goodness. Amazingly enough, because I love his guitar work, I was not able to get into the rocking songs this time and I went straight for the more ballad worshipful stuff. “whom shall I fear” and “Made for more” really stand out to me. They are the best songs on the CD and are fantastic. I have no clue what he was thinking with “shout for joy” because if that was the first song I probably would not have listened to the rest. |
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| BYRD: You need to know this up front: I LOVE LINCOLN BREWSTER! I typically despise people whom God graciously and if I might say unfairly poured out talent upon but I can’t help but love Lincoln Brewster! Seriously though, the guy’s got mad skills on the guitar and he can sing and he can write and who has he NOT played with? It’s incredible. Besides the fact that “Today is the Day” feels like it only came out earlier this year (when in fact it was 2 years ago) he drops another bomb of musical greatness in our laps with “Real Life.”
For me, the stand out tracks on “Real Life” are his songs showing his true maturity as a person more than a singer/songwriter. Real Life and Made For More would sound hollow and odd coming from a Lincoln a decade ago but now ring with an authenticity that not only reveals a bit of his soul but speaks to mine as well. Can this man do no wrong??? Well, not in the “Real Life”…ba dum dum |
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| MAHONEY: Lincoln is a brilliant technical guitar player, and a great songwriter. (Although, ironically, the song he is perhaps best known for, “Everlasting God,” was not written by him.) This album is tight, energetic, and well written. It’s odd for me, then, that I just couldn’t connect with it. Perhaps its the Southern blues-rock vibe, maybe it’s the stylistic inconsistencies that come from collaborating with such powerhouses as Paul Baloche, Mia Fields, and Jason Ingram. Or maybe it’s just that there’s nothing really groundbreaking here.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with the record. No one loves everything. There are a lot of great songs here. ”More Than Amazing” is great, and I like “Shout for Joy.” And of course, having Kari Jobe sing on anything makes it better, so “Whom Shall I Fear” gets some props. |
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| VANCE: There’s no denying Lincoln’s skillful on the guitar. He writes killer songs and sings great. However as an album I couldn’t really get into it. There is a lot of story behind the songs and Lincoln has some life stories to share here. Maybe that’s the issue for me. It starts off sounding too much like a country music album.
Other times we have worship anthems like More Than Amazing and Whom Shall I Fear which have a Paul Baloche feel. I know these guys have done a bit of co-writing in the past. I’m not sure these were some of the songs though. Then we have rockin’ tunes like So Good and I Belong To You. This is what I like to hear. Maybe there’s something for everyone here. I can so hear Michael W. Smith covering Shout For Joy. |
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Yeah, that just happened.| BOTTOM LINE | |
KLAMPERT: It is an ok CD with 2 really stand out worshipful slow songs, but I could not get into the rest. Praying for a new LIVE CD from him. Rating:    |
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| BYRD: I think it’s his most firm and solid release since Live to Worship. Just amazing! If So Good isn’t the next single played in every church I don’t know what will be? And there are some true gems in here as well. Did I mention the song writing that’s stepped up several notches!?! Yeah, get it!Rating: |
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| MAHONEY: I)Fan’s of Lincoln Brewster will love it. Energetic, and tight. Rating: |
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| VANCE: Two or three really fantastic songs on this album. Rating: |
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| MUST HAVE SONGS | |
KLAMPERT:
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BYRD:
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MAHONEY
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VANCE:
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| SONGS FOR CHURCH | |
| KLAMPERT:
While you could use most of these songs. I think the two I picked as must haves are the ones I would most likely use. |
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BYRD:
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MAHONEY:
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VANCE:
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The Joint gives Lincoln Brewster – Real Life) Overall Rating:
Disclosure of Material Connection: We received this CD free from the publisher (Integrity Music) to listen and post a review on our site. We were not required to write a positive review. The opinions we have expressed are our own. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> > “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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