"Welcome to the Masquerade"-Review

What is there to say about Thousand Foot Krutch's new cd

"Welcome to the Masquerade"

except for...Amazing.

This is the fifth album from TFK, and they have

grown from one album to the next.

TFK from their first album "Set if off" brought something

into the Christian music scene that was lacking...

with their Rage against the machine feel, and

Trevor's wide range vocal talent they exploded on the scene.

Some may have thought,

they would just be a flash in the pan,

but with their second album "Phenomenon"

they proved they

were not just one hit wonders.

There is seriously

something to say about each record that TFK has..

each one could stand on there own, and each one

has it's own special appeal.

I personally became a fan back in 05 when I first heard

the song "Move" on the radio, from their third album

"The art of Breaking"

Their last album "The Flame in all of us" was

a great album. I mean you can't knock an album

that brings you songs like "The Flame in all of Us"

"Falls apart" "My own Enemy" "Learn to Breath"

"inhuman" and "Wish You Well"..personally

I thought how can TFK top this? I mean could they?

the answer to that question is a resounding YES

because "Welcome to the masquerade" is

TFK at it's best, it is, and no joke....the best

album Thousand Foot has ever made!

and thats saying a lot..

Want to know my knock on the album?

there's not enough songs! I want more!

thats a good thing when a band leaves you with wanting more.

Don't be fooled by the cd though, and when you look at it..

it says 13 tracks, because essentially the first "song"

"The Invitation" is just a 59 second intro going into the first song

"Welcome to the Masquerade".

TFK rocks you from start to finish with this album, and there is

not a single doubt in my mind that this is my favorite album of the year.

the first song itself "Welcome to the Masquerade" sucks you right in,

and is exactly how you want to start an album off, again I have nothing

else to say but AWESOME!

Think the next song is going to be soft right? a drop off at least?

no TFK keeps it rocking with "Fire it up". It's on the same level as

the first song, if not better. Then comes the third song..soft? a drop off?

NOPE! "Bring me to Life" is an awesome single...

(Yes I did just use the word awesome again)

I'm dead serious when I say the first four songs are just reason

enough to buy this album, wait the first four? Yes! and there is

so much more ahead! what is the fourth song you ask?

It's called "E For Extinction" as Trevor says in the song

"it's hard for me to explain..." I'm telling you it's hard for me

to explain to you just how freakin sweet this album is.

"E For Extinction" would be my favorite song on the album,

but to be honest.. it seems my favorite song on the album

changes daily, and that is just more proof how amazing

this whole album is.

So I've established the fact to you, or i've tried to get it across to you, that

the first four songs are reason enough for you to buy it.

What about the fifth song and so on? Well the fifth song is called

"Watching over me" and after four songs of rocking your face off..

TFK slows it down a little bit. Does that mean the song sucks?

not at all, its actually a good song.

I know what you're thinking... "uh oh..are all the rest of the songs soft?"

nope! TFK continues with the rocking with the sixth song

"The part that hurts the most(is me)" good little riff, and love the keyboard

at the beginning of the song, and the lyrics....as with every song are

top notch, and actually written by the band unlike (Cough) Skillet (Cough)

which is bonus points in my book. Since I brought up Skillet...

let me say, this album makes Skillets new album look more like a 1 out of 5,

no offense to "Skillet" or anything.

Now it's time for another soft song right? NOPE! another rocker (thats six,

if your counting) "Scream" with it's catchy lyrics, and lyrics we all

can relate to, is a song that fills you with hope and understanding

that we have all been through difficulties, and that we need to just

keep our heads up and continue living...fantastic and dare I say once again

AMAZING song? Oh I do..

Next comes "Look Away" which is a little softer, but is not a song

you should just glance over. Trevor shines once again...

just like he did last album with "Breathe you in" or "Wish you well"

"I will not look away this time

take all these cuts and make them shine

and all this pain i've held inside

so I can find my way home again

.

I will not look away this time

take all these cuts and make them shine

Don't wanna be perfect...just alright"

That Is the chorus, and it is not only on par with the songs I mentioned above,

but it just may be even better. Then comes the radio single "Forward Motion"

which sounds more like a FM Static song rather then TFK

( and yes I know Trevor is the writer/singer for both) it's the most

poppy/punk song on the album, and I'm not saying it's bad...as with

every song I've mentioned it's a great song aswell!

Now we only got three more songs on the album, and I've already told you

that the previous nine songs are all good! this doesn't happen very often

folks! usually you buy a cd, and what? maybe 3 songs tops are

even worth listening to more then 4-6 times? just with the nine songs

alone I would give this album a 5 out of 5, but hold your britches...

the next three songs don't suck!

"Outta Control" once again TFK comes guitars blaring and ready to rock,

and I don't know why but I get this "Korn" feel with the lyrics and

even parts of the songs with the instruments. I mean if you took out

the positive chorus, I could see Jonathan Davis singin this.

Not bad in my eyes, because I love Korn...

"It feels like a dream

How did things all get so crazy?

I'm remembering

before, when I felt so clean

Alone in my room

it feels like the walls are closing in

I'm thinking of you

cause I know what'll happen soon"

sounds a little Korny to me(and I mean Korn..Korny not corny co...nevermind lol)

just distort the guitars more and throw in JD's voice and you got a Korn single,

A good one at that. Enough about Korn though, because this is TFK..

and OUTTA Control is another great song on the album..plain and simple.

Now comes "Smackdown" which is another song that attempts to rock..

however if there was one song I had to choose that was "weak" on the album

this song would be it. It sounds more like it should be the theme to

Wwe Friday Night Smackdown then anything.. and it really doesn't

stand out to me as a great song. Don't get it twisted..it's not horrible

but compared to the rest of the album it is the weak link,

but again thats out of ten songs and you got one weak link

I'll take that any day of the week!

So what about the last song "Already Home" some more weak sauce maybe?

NOPE! TFK ends the album how it should be ended...leaving you

wanting more! "Already Home" is not going to rock your face off..

and thats because it's not trying to...it is a beautiful emotional song

crying out to God, and I have no problem saying it brought tears

to my eyes. I could probably personally listen to "Already home"

all day long...and I will easily be listening to this whole album

for months to come, because it's just not getting "Boring" for me..

in closing..if you don't have "Welcome to the Masquerade" by

Thousand Foot Krutch, what the hell is wrong with you? =)

5 out of 5

(by the way this is one album you don't want to buy

just a few songs from it off Itunes, you want the whole thing.

trust me)

Allowing God to work through us

If I asked you, what does it mean to be a believer in Christ?

what exactly would you say?

If I asked you, how do I become a follower in Christ?

what exactly would you say?

Would you give me a list of commands I must follow?

Would you tell me I have to know the word?

Would you tell me I have to go to this certain church,

pray this certain prayer? read this certain verse?

Or would you say:

"Trust in the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength,

accept him into your life, and put him first above all.

acknowledge that your a sinner, and you have been forgiven,

that a price was paid for that forgiveness"

What does putting God first mean anyways?

and how should we live our lives?

Last week I wrote about the disciple Stephen in the blog,

and how he was stoned to death for speaking out.

essentially speaking out against the religious who

devise ways to satisfy God then take pride in

meeting the standards they themselves have set.

I admit I've fallen to that plenty of times myself,

if we want to know the true way to live our lives for God...

we need to simply just look at the prophets and disciples.

This past week I believe my faith has grown, and that would be

thanks to obviously God, but also my Mom who God worked through.

You see, God revealed something to her, that yes we already knew...

but somehow we were not following/understanding.

It essentially goes right along with the disciple Stephen,

and what he was trying to tell the Jewish order.

Putting God first means allowing him to work through us,

allowing his will to be done, and I know this all seems really

simple and thats because it is. I think sometimes we, and when I say

we, I mean "We" as christians become to blinded with trying to

"please God" that we don't pay attention to what he is actually

saying. I think sometimes we become to confined in a "religious spirit"

that in the end we are not even pleasing God, we are just pleasing

our own ideas of his word, and our own ideas of who and what God is.

You see we can read Gods word all we want, but if he doesn't

reveal it to us, then all we are going to do is interpret it ourselves,

and thus we have our own opinion of what it means.

This is why there is so many denominations, because half the time

we are not asking God to reveal his word to us,

we are jut trying to read and understand his word ourselves

and we come up with our own opinion of what it means.

We must ask God to reveal his word to us, read what he wants us to read,

and ask for him to tell us what it means.

I think we all strive to have God work through us,

for us to be that empty vessel he can use.

However, if we are to busy going through our routine prayers

or our daily routine of reading his word or just our daily

routine of life in general, I don't see how he can use us to

our full potential. This is where the duh moment came in,

this is where I think my faith grew. Now don't get it twisted either..

I'm not saying don't pray and don't read the bible..

I'm saying put God first. Don't read to please...don't pray to please..

and ask for him to reveal his word to you, and he will.

Think of it like this...

lets say I come to you and I ask you for advice, but yet

I don't give you any time to actually speak. How exactly

do I get advice from you? the fact is I wouldn't

because I wouldn't shut up and listen right?

The point I'm getting at is I think we need to shut up

and allow God to speak to us.

We can't make God a chore is what I said last week,

and thats the same thing we can't make him a routine,

some little song and dance we do then go on with our lives.

Do you realize we have the power to overthrow evil?

We can cast out evil spirits...

We have the power to heal...

obviously it's God giving us that power, it's God working through us..

but if we don't give him the chance to....

Look at the disciples they healed plenty of people,

they cast out evil spirits, and Jesus told them

that we would have everything we would ever need!

that we would be filled with the holy spirit and

that the holy spirit would work through us!

what? was that just for the disciples?

did something change along the way?

were the disciple the only people God could work through?

Don't you think he can work through us as well?

all things are possible correct?

God can speak to us...literally...

Just like he did with Samuel or Jeremiah,Moses or Abraham

use us like he did with David or Elijah, Peter or Paul

all we got to do is let him..

there is no secret code...there is no special prayer or hymn

or certain church you have to go to..

you don't have to know the bible cover to cover...

All you got to do is ask,ask to be that empty vessel he can work through,

ask for him to reveal his word...

ask for him to speak to you.

I don't know about you, but in my eyes what do we have to worry about..

God created the heavens and the earth surely there is no stress or worry

that he can't take care of.

Glory and praise be to him!

God first... other's second... me last.

(by the way the plan was to review Thousand Foot Krutch's new cd,

but God had other plans. I'll just say it's easily album of the year,

and I should have it reviewed fully next week, unless he decides

on me writing something else)