Well, here’s another so-so entry on this Top 100 of Christian Music list. It will probably be mostly remembered these days as the “album by that Christian guy who got caught in adultery and then was hooked on pills for awhile”.

English isn’t terrible: he has a nice enough voice even if he does tend too close for comfort to the Michael Bolton end of things at times (“His Heart is Big Enough”). There are a few cliches that will make you cringe (“Start a Party”) but there are a few gems sprinkled in (“Mary Did you Know?” is rightfully a modern day Christmas mainstay and the closing “Heaven” teeters on the edge of overblown but avoids it. “Do You Believe in Love?” is a great song but Russ Taff does a far better soulful, gritty take on it on his RUSSTAFF album.

Enjoyed the wordplay but only really “connected” with the songs occasionally (“Break something beautiful” was one of those.) Still, I liked it enough that I’ll borrow it from the library again in the future and see if I warm to it more on the 2nd pass through.

Initial impressions: This is reminding me quite a bit of Sean Lennon at times. (My wife also hears the resemblance)

I wouldn’t START here if you’re curious about funk…get PUREFUNKVOL. 1 and 2 for that. Then a good James Brown 70s compilation and some Parliament/Funkadelic. THEN…this might be a good next step.

Look on Amazon for a full rundown but basically this is not ALL the Cole singles or even the “best” ones I would say. Also, the discs are prone to falling off the spindles, so they’re gonna get scratched. I’d get the 4 disc box set from 1992 (simply called “NATKINGCOLE”) instead as a better overview of this great singer, one of the finest ever.

That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of great songs here but if you’re a serious enough Cole fan to want a multi-disc set, you’d be wasting your dough plunking it down on this one.

There are far too many uninspiring “praise and worship” recordings in Christian music. Thankfully, this isn’t one of them. Fine instrumentalists (Phil Keaggy, great new age artist Richard Souther, ex-Koinonia bassist Abraham Laboriel and former bandmate and stellar saxophonist Justo Almario all make appearances) and tasteful Souther arrangements carry the day. Paris is a fine clear vocalist who avoids bathing her singing in vibrato and other over-emoting. Of special note is the Latin reimagining of Paris’ past Christian radio hit “He is Exalted” (as Ele E Exaltado).

While Paris doesn’t have the ‘stack of 1000 Enya’s’ vocals, other than that this reminds me of the album Enya might make if she were inclined to do a gospel project. The only false note I hear here is the sugary backing vocals on the instrumental version of “We Bow Down”. Check this one out.

Steven Page, the head ‘Naked, goes solo here and it sounds mostly like the band with only a few distinctions here and then (a somewhat Dylan-ish wailing harmonica at the intro of “Thank You for Sharing” for one). But by and large, the huge singalong hooks aren’t here. “Baby Loves the Radio” is really the only one that made me want to singalong immediately. They’re growing on me with more plays but this really isn’t up to the group’s standard. Still, if you’ve got all the Ladies’ stuff, you’ll probably want to pick it up until the next one hits the record racks from BNL.

Kevin Smith is absolutely GRIPPING in this. It’s just a collection of him spouting stories about his almost documentary about Prince (he tells a story about Prince’s assistants admitting they buy clothes for the diminutive rocker at Nordstrom’s…in the BOY’S department), a tiff with Tim Burton, sex injuries with his wife, and (every now and then) about the process of making movies. (He took the “Marcel Marceau part” as Silent Bob because “I can’t really act”)

1) too short a shrift given Johnny’s faith (Only 1 scene which ended up on the cutting room floor of Johnny at the funeral for his brother Jack). Johnny has given credit to his faith as sustaining him countless times if you’ve read his autobiography.

2) Makes it seem as though Johnny “peaked” with Folsom Prison..never again hitting those heights. The reality is he made another string of classics at an age when most artists are has-beens with Rick Rubin.

3) They didn’t reference the famous “finger” incident?

Just too much missing for me to call this great. I’m glad it didn’t win the Oscar.

Best track here is the Mary Chapin Carpenter cover of “Grow Old with Me” (which you can get on her greatest hits album PARTYGIRL) and the Toad the Wet Sprocket redo of “Instant Karma”. The rest isn’t really worthwhile.