Reviewed by Nigel Harris

Bonded is one of an increasing number of Christian bands releasing their own material via the internet. They describe themselves as four life-long friends from rural central Florida who share a two-decade love affair with music. The style is diverse guitar-based rock which, despite the album's title, strays occasionally towards jazz but never blues. The lyrics are positive and hint at God's love rather than preaching - in fact without the cover of Larry Norman's "UFO" you might not spot the Christian connection. I loved the end to end rock guitar cliches, although they do throw in a few surprises too. The album's edge is largely due to the fact that the guitars, keyboards and vocals were recorded live with no overdubs - curiously, lead guitarist Rick Nash added the drums later. A pretty good job he does too. The down side of this recording technique is that the mix sounds a bit thin at times, especially in the vocal department. If this is in fact their first foray into the studio they've done very well. I recommend that you log onto the iuma.com web site and listen to this and the other excellent CCM artists available in this new medium.

From CR57:
As the first track began with a continuous dampened, flanged, rhythm guitar, I thought: I'm gonna like this." And to a great extent I was right. Unfortunately, then came the much overdone vocals. The CD cover says that "all keyboards and vocals were recorded live," in which case it's the actual mixing. Another problem is the drums, which sound to me like a triggered pad set. They were recorded last, and it shows! There are missed or off beats and they're at times quite loose, almost as though the drummer is recording a different track. I don't think that this is down to the drummer himself. You can't play in time to something that is out in the first place. However, having voiced those critisms, this album does have a lot of potential. There are some good songs here. In many areas like keyboards and vocals, Bonded remind me of The Bolshoi (the band, not the ballet company). Bonded have a grand plan for the future: that being to do live web concerts. Good luck to 'em, I say; but does your internet browser crash as often as mine? Not mentioning any names, Mr Gates! You can hear samples of this Florida-based band at their website. Check'em out!
7 squares
Andrew Privett

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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