Warr Acres - Warr Acres

Published Saturday 9th June 2012
Warr Acres - Warr Acres
Warr Acres - Warr Acres

STYLE: Rock
RATING 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 117404-18387
LABEL: Dream
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RELEASE DATE: 2011-08-23

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

In 2011 Dream Records, the prolific label run by Universal Music Christian Group, released this album. I don't know how well it did Stateside but it's worthy of attention, particularly for the catchy piece of electro-tinged pop rock "Heaven Bound"; the anthemic worship opus "Our God Lives" and the full on riffing rocker "Shout Your Love". The slow metamorphosis of Warr Acres began some years back when Jaron Nix (guitars, vocals) and Chris Crow (keys, vocals) became the Green Team playing the early, early, early service at the mega Victory Church pastored by Chris' dad in Oklahoma City. With the addition of more members, including Kristy Starling (who made an excellent self-titled solo album for Word back in 2003) the collective made six full length worship albums (including two in Spanish) under the name VMusic. With a modified lineup they became Warr Acres, named after the suburb in Oklahoma City where Victory Church is located. In my view Warr Acres may not be the best of new monikers, it sounds like the name of a metal band (and they're definitely not that) and, more importantly, websearching Warr Acres brings up dozens of entries for the place before you get to these pop rockers. But let that pass; their switched leads and ability to handle everything from bombastic rockers to dramatic balladry is impressive. Sometimes Warr Acres' sheer versatility means the album lacks a little stylistic focus and the Celtic-style "Hymn Of Remembrance" is too melodramatic for my taste. But overall, this is a highly impressive set and I'm already looking out for album number two.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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