Disco de Newsboys: “Take Me to Your Leader”

This album is the Newsboys at their hard-rockin' best! From the catchy title track to the breathtaking "Breathe," this album is great! A friend in my church let me borrow it after I told him I got 'Going Public', and this one completely blew me away! I think I bought the wrong album ;)! Give this album one spin, and you will see why it hardly ever leaves my cd player! Thanks!

The culmination of many efforts came together to create the strongest effort from the Newsboys to date. First of all, the line-up present at this recording had played dozens of concerts together. Most were together on the "Going Public" CD (all but Phil Joel (or Philip Urry on this project)). Thus, togetherness breeds familiarity and experience fosters maturity. Of course, maturity is a relative term when considering we are speaking of the Newsboys here.

Sadly, this will be the last album featuring John James as lead vocalist and Steve Taylor as producer. However, the journey from song 1 ("God Is Not A Secret") to number 11 ("Breathe (Benediction)") sees the listener through several different regions of musical ventures. "God Is Not A Secret" simply rocks hard with a guitar assault worthy of praise from any hard rock fan. The album immediately bounces joyfully through the title track, and then rocks again on "Breathe". "Reality" and "Breakfast" showcase Steve Taylor's silly but profound lyrics (be careful not to miss the message in the humor), and then we get serious about forgiveness in "Let it Go". "Cup O'Tea" is a wonderful rock gem that starts a four-song series of introspective yet disturbing looks at us, our sin-natures, and our need for God ("It's All Who You Know", "Miracle Child", and "Lost The Plot"). Finally, we pray through "Breathe (Benediction)" for God's salvation, healing, and in-dwelling Holy Spirit.

Again, a very solid effort from the Newsboys. Through all the silliness and humor, you can see a group of men serious about their faith and their desire to edify believers and to draw in unbelievers. When you are not too busy bouncing up and down with the beat and laughing at the lyrics, take time to seriously read along with the songs (the CD jacket has all the words). You will be blessed.

"Take Me to Your Leader" is the Newsboys best album, and one of CCM's greatest ever! I am compiling my personal list, and this will surely rank in the Top 10 albums of all-time! The band "grew up" on this album, and showed their Spiritual maturity as well. Of course there are the fun pop songs we all can sing along with (Breakfast, title cut, Reality), but this album goes so much deeper. It's grittier, bolder, and higher quality than most Christian Rock albums. The album's climax was towards the end. The song "Lost the Plot" is one of the greatest Christian Rock songs ever recorded. I suppose it can be compared to "Stairway to Heaven." The song starts out as a ballad in a minor key. By the end it's a screaming, driving anthem. However, it's deeply emotional, gritty, and spiritually profound. It is a single moment of vulnerability that is worth the price of the whole CD. In concert, the whole crowd sat silent after this song ended. Many times, I too must stop the CD, and in silence confess my unfaithfulness to God. Powerful! If you are a new Newsboy's fan, and aren't familiar with their previous albums... you'll be happy with all of them. But this one must be at the top of your list!

The Newsboys 'Take me to your Leader' establishes itself along with Jars of Clay's self-titled album and DC Talk's 'Jesus Freak' as one of the three best Christian albums ever made. The Newsboys third release is a bit edgier than their previous efforts, as apparent in the first track, 'God is not a secret to be kept', as well as 'Breathe', 'Cup of Tea', and 'Lost the Plot'. Their dance/pop background still has an influence, and the title track, 'Reality', 'Breakfast', and 'It's all who you know' are as catchy as ever. Their lyrics have reached perfection, and are especially sharp in 'Let it Go', the most subdued of the songs, save for the benediction. I also think that it's the best song on the album- perhaps the best they've ever written. A brilliant effort by the Newsboys. God bless them all, for they are touching the hearts of many through their music.

These Aussies rock! Fast beat, great drums, deep and yet often humorous lyrics. This is a CD you can listen to front to back over and over. If you like bands like There Might Be Giants and the B-52s, this is in the same genre in respect to whimsical lyrics and rocking sounds... and these songs carry a deeper meaning than just throwing a bunch of non-sensical words together.... excellent work.