CRY HOLY
Cry Holy - Ten From
Two (AOR Heaven) 2001
1. "I Wanna Be Free"
(4:07)
2. "Masquerade Ball" (4:46)
3. "History" (3:49)
4. "Shadow Of My Wings" (5:20)
5. "Turnin' Around" (5:09)
6. "Life With An Angel" (5:35)
7. "He Lives In You" (4:12)
8. "Every Corner Of My Heart" (5:02)
9. "On The Move" [instrumental] (3:01)
10. "Shine Through Me" [live] (6:06)
When this CD arrived in the mail and I popped it into my player, my first thought was, "This is much lighter rock than I usually listen to." Shorty after I checked my review for their follow-up album, which I obviously hear first. I pretty much said the same thing then. "Ten From Two" is melodic rock and reminds me of bands like Whiteheart. I do sort of wish they would take the intensity level up a bit here and there. The songs seem to all be of the same mid-paced tempo and don't have much variety. "History" is a nice acoustic lead song that breaks up the disc a bit, as does the worship ballad "Life With An Angel". As with their follow-up, I think if this had come out in the late 80's, the CCM radio stations would have ate it up. Several of these songs would be rerecorded for the band's follow-up four years later. "Ten From Two" is a decent melodic rock album with faith encouraging lyrics and some decent hooks. (thanks Olaf)
Cry Holy - AlieNation (Metal Mayhem) 2005
1. "America the Beautiful"
[instrumental] (:58)
2. "Aleination" (4:07)
3. "My Lord" (5:20)
4. "Shine" (4:36)
5. "Strangers to the World" (4:36)
6. "Everlasting Love" (4:39)
7. "Masquerade Ball" (4:41)
8. "History" (3:46)
9. "Extraterrestrial Suite" [instrumental] (4:30)
10. "Tommy" (3:35)
11. "I Wann Be Free" (3:58)
"AlienNation" is of a much lighter fare than I usually listen to. This is melodic rock along the same lines as bands like Whiteheart, Alies, The Kry and Petra. However, while some of those bands have their harder rocking numbers, "AlieNation" stears clear from this for the most part. That is not to say that this CD isn't worth a listen, however. Actually, this is a very good CD with a ton of heart, emotion and musical hook. Had this CD been release in 1988 on a label like Sparrow or Word, I can imagine that every Christian CCM station would have been playing it. Everything from the smooth vocals, to the songwriting, to the musicianship is all very good. There are some nice mixtures of electric and acoustic guitars, piano, keyboards and even some nice guitar solos. The guitar and keyboard solos in "Masquerade Ball" in particular stood out in my mind. The lyrics throughout are all based on Christian ideals, although I found them to be more personal than preachy. Fans of 1980's AOR will probably appreciated this CD quite a bit, while those into the harder end of the spectrum might be put off, especially considering this CD was released on Metal Mayhem Music. There isn't even one ounce of metal on here.