Audio CD review:
Newsboys - Greatest Hits

Newsboys - Greatest Hits

Band: Newsboys Title: Greatest Hits Rating: Release Date: 20 November, 2007 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: I Fought the La... 2: Breakfast 3: Million Pieces (Kissin' Your Cares Goodbye) 4: Shine 5: Something Beautiful 6: In the Belly Of the Whale 7: He Reigns 8: Wherever We Go 9: Take Me To Your Leader 10: Stay Strong 11: Entertaining Angels 12: Reality 13: You Are My King (Amazing Love) 14: Real Good Thing 15: Joy 16: Spirit Thing 17: It Is You 18: I'm Not Ashamed

Customer Reviews Newsboys Greatest Hits. What better way to commemorate that with an excellent "Greatest Hits" CD. It's almost difficult to believe that Peter Furler and the Newsboys have been spreading the Good News for over 20 years now. Many of the songs included on this disc will no doubt be familiar to the most devoted fan. Signature tracks such as "Breakfast", "Take Me To Your Leader", "Reality", "It Is You", "Entertaining Angels" and of course "Shine" are all included here and they sound just as great as when they were first released years ago. Additionally, there are two brand new tracks. "I Fought The La. . " is a great sing-along song about overcoming writers block while "Stay Strong" offers lyrics of encouragement when faced with trials. While all of the music included on this CD is superb, there is a bit of downside to this compilation. Many of the tracks were already included on the Newsboys first best of collection, "Shine-The Hits". Like that collection, "Greatest Hits" includes no music whatsoever from the band's 1999 album "Love Liberty Disco". I would think that they would've at least included "Beautiful Sound" here. Not so though. Also missing is "I Am Free", the lead single from the band's "Go" album which was a huge hit upon its release. Despite these omissions (as well as the repititions), The Newsboys "Greatest Hits" is a fantastic CD. It covers the basics of what this band is all about. The music as well as the lyrics are timeless and this CD serves as an excellent introduction to those just discovering the band. For the die-hard Newsboy fan, this is a great trip down memory lane as well as a glimpse of what lays ahead. . Great- but maybe could be different... Still, like many hardcore fans, there are things I'd have done differently. First of all, it's great to see Inpop working with Sparrow to release this- a good example of Christian cooperation. . . The obvious question is "Why not Shine: The Hits II?". Well, that would've been great for longtime fans, but maybe not for newer ones. If people really want this band's currently perceived greatest hits, this is probably their best effort to date. Some questionable choices drive me crazy though: No "I am Free"? Including "Real Good Thing"? I'd have picked "I am Free" over "Wherever We Go", and "Breathe" from Take Me To Your Leader over "Real Good Thing" from Going Public, but that's just me. However: All the tracks here are popular choices; it's just so easy for fans to suggest alternatives. A photo of the band in the CD case would've been nice, but unfortunately no photos were included. And I can't believe Sparrow stopped selling the original Shine: The Hits on Amazon(!). It's *still* an amazing CD! They did a few things right too(!). "I Fought the La. . . " is brand new as is "Stay Strong"- My favorite of the two being the former, and it may be one of their best songs ever. And great choice including "In the Belly of the Whale" from VeggieTales! If Go: Live is truly in the works, it'll continue the amazing productivity this group has been experiencing recently. Now if we could just get Phil to start touring again! P. S. It wouldn't exactly hurt to release Shine: The Hits II, with about 17 tracks, in addition to this. Just a suggestion! :). the greatest hits... I really appreciate greatest hits albums if they are well done and including some new or previously unreleased material and if they are released at a time when the band has recently released new material. Many fans dislike greatest hits albums because all they want is to hear a new album by their favorite artists. The Newsboys latest year released a fabulous full lentgh album titled Go and just this past year released the fun quirky Go Remixed, they also are set to release a Go Live album finally capturing on cd their live concert. The Newsboys are my all time favorite band by far. They are known as one of the greatest pop/rock bands in Christian music. Their career spands a vast two decades. Their last greatest hits album was released about seven years ago. Since then the band has released about numerous albums. This is a great collection of songs. Its 18 tracks so its long enough to make it worth your money. There are two awesome brand new tracks. "Stay Strong" which is a beautiful song about being firm in our faith this song begins with a beautiful string arrangements and continues on with some lush aussie vocals. The second brand new song and first track on the album is called "I Fought The La" its already a concert favorite and is upbeat, super catchy, fun sing-along in typical newsboys style but still has an original beat. The greatest hits also includes the Veggie Tales favorite "In the Belly of the Whale" which many adult newsboys fans may not have previously owned on any album since it was only released on some Veggie Tales cds. The 15 previously released songs found on Greatest Hits come from 8 different newsboys albums which shows the great variety found here. My favorite part of greatest hits albums is they make great road trip material when you might be unable to fit a bunch of cds in your suitcase or even all your albums on your ipod. Greatest Hits offers a good taste of newsboys music for old and new fans alike from worship favorites like "It is You" and "He Reigns" to all time concert favorites like "Entertaining Angels" and "Shine" to those quirky fun songs that only the newsboys are known for like "Breakfast" and "Wherever We Go" all around this is a great collection for new and old fans alike that can't be missed by one of Christian music most loved artists. . . You can see a complete list of all Newsboys discography, or go back to the Newsboys tabs