"When Sonicflood's live album "Sonicpraise" was released in early 2001, the original Sonicflood band had already fallen apart at the seams. The turmoil within the band delayed the release of this album for almost eight months (The original release date was for August 2000). It's a miracle that "Sonicpraise" even saw the light of day but Praise God, it did. After all the delays, this album was truly worth the wait.
"Sonicpraise" was recorded live in late 1999 in Holland and Nashville. The performances captured on this album are stunning and demonstrate just how on fire for God the band really was. Beginning with a solid uplifting version of "Open the Eyes of My Heart" and ending with the Jeff Deyo original "I Have Come To Worship", "Sonicpraise" will leave you asking for more. A true highlight of the album is a continuous praise suite beginning with Track 5 "Holy One" which leads directly into a spirited version of "You Are Worthy Of My Praise" which is followed by nearly 10-minutes worth of "Spontaneous Worship". Here, the band really lets loose and there's even some audience participation. This leads directly into a rousing version of Delirious' praise classic "Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?" which goes seamlessly into a fabulous rendition of "Lord I Lift Your Name On High". Phew! This counts as nearly 40-minutes of the album's 73-minute running time and in my opinion is the main reason why "Sonicpraise" is a must have. Other highlights include "In The Secret" which has more punch to it here than on the first album, the almost ELO-esque "Carried Away" and a wonderful interpretation of the hymn "To The Throne Of God Above". Of course, I can't forget "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever", another Delirious cover, which Jeff Deyo duets with Lisa Kimmey from Out Of Eden. This is a breathtaking performance which will bring a person to their knees.
Like I mentioned above, "Sonicpraise" is a miracle of an album. This is one of the best live worship albums out there and no music collection is complete without it. It's a shame that the original Sonicflood couldn't stick together. This album shows exactly what was and what could've been with this band. Jeff Deyo has since gone solo and has released an excellent debut album entitled "Saturate", Jason Halbert and Dwayne Larring are now involved with production work. Aaron Blanton now plays drums in the band By The Tree. Bass player Rick Heil, who was not an original member of the band, assembled a new group of players and formed a new version of Sonicflood in which he is now the frontman. The new Sonicflood is completely different than the original band and in some instances, is weaker. However, there is no denying just how special the original Sonicflood really was. One needs to look no further than "Sonicpraise" just to see how true it really is."
SuperSonic Praise
Ashish Samuel L. | Cincinnati, OH | 05/24/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is the BEST Live CD that I have ever heard. Especially the first song, "Open the Eyes of my heart" is the best version I have ever heard. Moreover, I loved the concept of "Spontaneous Worship" in this CD. The guitars, the keyboards, the drums along with the lead voices make an tremndous impact on a listner's heart. The songs virtually take you into a worship that flows from the the deppest of your heart to the highest of your praise toward God. It helps you to look upto God and give him all the glory and honor and praise with all of your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength. These songs lead you into worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth. You can have this experience if you listen to the CD from track 1 to track 12 non-stop with out being disturbed. Many songs are interlinked, that means songs are played live without any breaks. If you listen from track 5 to track 7, and track 8 to track 9 you can observe the continuos playing and singing without breaks. If you ever have a desire to experience a single powerful event of praise and worship, listen to this SuperSonic Praise! that's what I call it."
Sonicpraise
timtee | Keizer, OR, USA | 04/13/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was at the Bible Book Store and I saw this new CD up for previewing. I listened to it and it is very catchy! It is a live version of the first CD, with four new songs. Most of the songs start with cheering fans, because it was recored during thier "Sonicpraise" tour. I have waited a LONG time for this to come on market. I heard about two years ago it would come out and I was very dissappointed when I heard it would be cancelled. I heard later in the year that it would be released around the November/December time. Well guess what? It got cancelled. Well it finally came out and it was worth the wait! I think they got a new lead singer(The old one left the group) But he also has a good voice. I would recommend this disk.P.S To the person who did not understand why they had some of the same songs this is why: This is a live concert version.Another P.S. On Amazon.com the track listing is wrong(At least from the time this was posted). The real track listing is: Intro, Open The Eyes Of My Heart, I Want To Know You(In The Secret), Carried Away, Holy One, *You Are Worthy Of My Praise, Spontaneous Worship, *Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble, *Lord, I Lift Your Name On High, *Before The Throne Of God Above, I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever - With Lisa Kimmey From Out Of Eden, I Have Come To Worship.*New song(I do not know what "Spontaneous Worship" is.)"
Heartfelt, energetic, catchy and inspiring
Louie Bourland | 04/05/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Sonicpraise" by Sonicflood is one of the best albums that I own, but it is only one of 3 "Christian" CDs that I own. Truth is, after listening to this album, it's hard to turn on the radio. Hearing about "ice" and "hoes" seems so unnecessary and just deters listeners from gaining anything. The ultimate power and life will be with God in heaven, I believe, so why not start early here on Earth? Jeff Deyo, the singer on Sonicpraise, has so much energy that one cannot help but feel it. His voice is deep, melodic and accurate despite the live performance. Some of the best songs include "Open the Eyes of my Heart", "Carried Away", and "You are Worthy of my Praise". But the song that made me even look into Sonicflood at all was "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High". Yes, that song that has the hand motions that I'm afraid to do. But listen to the clip, it's a reworking with energy and filled with praise.
Sonicflood's "popular" contemporary would have to be Vertical Horizon. The singers sound similar, the guitars rule the songs, and none of the songs disappoint. But when it comes down to it, Sonicflood is worlds better than VH..."
Absolutely stunning
Manuel Kuhs | Limerick, Ireland | 10/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"After reading the nearly unanimous 5-star reviews of this CD, I decided to buy it, and was not disappointed - far from it! The first time I listened to it, I went to bed 15 minutes early, threw on my headphones, and listened to it beginning to end - I was absolutely mesmerised, and ended up lifting my hands to God in bed at midnight, singing at the top of my voice (thankfully our house is well-insulated so I didn't disturb anyone!).
Some reviews stated that the album failed to capture the "concert-feel"; I totally disagree. Whenever this album is actively listened to (as opposed to background listening), you are totally immersed in this live praise & worship concert. The bridges between most of the songs condone this feel, as does the "Spontaneous Worship" track, which includes an extremely inspiring and uplifting spontaneous prayer. Also, the crowd sings solos in nearly every song.
I have never heard any songs from any of the new Sonicflood line-ups, so I can't comment on that. But this album demonstrates a brilliant band music-wise, easily up there with any of the top-notch pop groups (although I hate to compare to them). This band, at the time of recording, was obviously on fire for God - it is such a pity the band in this form exists no longer!
The only negative thing I can think of is that sometimes the band is too good - often I find myself simply listening to the brilliant music, rather than worshiping along with it.
5 out of 5 all the way - have been listening to it for 3 weeks straight and still not tired - highly recommended, even for non-Christians!"