The album kicks off with the title track, which has been a huge radio hit for the Newsboys and is easily one of the best songs on the album. Following that is another upbeat tune titled “One Shot”. This is a fun little tune but it does suffer from some shallow lyrics in the second verse, with mentions of Facebook and Twitter. The overall lyrical theme of “One Shot” is built on questionable theology. The chorus declares “all around the world every boy every girl’s got one shot, to prove what they’re all about.” The God I read of in the Bible is the God who loves losers and screw-ups. He’s the God of second chances, not the God of “One Shot.”
The third track is “Way Beyond Myself” which is a highly digitized memorable pop song which features some guest vocals from independent artist Chanel. There are parts of the vocals throughout the song that are digitized and auto-tuned beyond humanity. And in fact the use of digitized vocals appears through several songs on the album which seems odd with how much the rest of the band members have been touting how great it is to have a vocalist like Michael Tait in the band.
Following that is a quieter track named “Impossible” which is enjoyable enough and here again is the addition of guest vocals from Chanel. I actually really enjoy her voice and it mixes well with Michael’s but two songs in a row with a guest vocalist only serves to highlight something the Newsboys have failed to address in the last couple years. They don’t have the vocal depth in the band that they used to years ago with Phil Joel
We do get to enjoy some vocal parts by guitarist Jody Davis
“When the Boys Light Up” is fun to listen to but I think ultimately it’s a forgettable song. The lyrical theme feels very similar to songs like “The Way We Roll” and “Wherever We Go”.
“Build Us Back” takes the music and lyrics more into pop/adult contemporary territory and I don’t always enjoy those kind of songs from the Newsboys but this one works well and has a little more lyrical depth than some of the other songs.
The next two songs “Escape” and “Miracle” bring the electric guitars more into the forefront and shed some of the digitized pop that is so heavily featured on some other tracks. One thing I’ve seen from other reviews is a complaint that the Newsboys just sound like Tait’s solo work now, but I would contend that Born Again is much better than anything Tait ever put out before. That being said though, these two songs are probably the closest to sounding like Tait as a solo artist.
“Running to You” also has more of a Tait feel than a Newsboys feel to it but this track goes the opposite direction musically and is more of an over-produced pop song.The song “On Your Knees” highlights Michael Tait’s ability to carry a certain vocal rhythm when he sings, specifically on the verses. Musically it’s very similar to “Running To You”.
Overall Born Again
