Artist: pureNRG
Album: The Real Thing
Label: Word Entertainment
Release Date: 7/14/09
Reviewed By: Tyler Hess
Tracklisting:
1. Radio
2. It’s All About You
3. Before The Sun Goes Down
4. The Real Thing
5. Savior
6. Live To Worship
7. Sweet Jesus
8. Overwhelmed
9. Cover Of A Magazine
10. Can You Handle It
11. Here We Go Again (sing-a-long)
12. Radio (sing-a-long)
13. Footloose (sing-a-long)
Yes! I know, I know, this is truly the album that everyone has been wanting to know about ever since word came that these tweeners were to come out with their third studio release. We all know we all feel a little bit empty without Jump5 being in our collective consciousness.
Okay, okay, calm down. We all know what this is really about. The hardcore dancers are scared. The mosh pits are being marked for circles as we speak. You’re a little bit upset that pureNRG is being reviewed and not your favorite underground nobody metalcore, underOATH rip off band instead. That is okay, we have Capri Sun’s in the back and some orange slices to enjoy while you simmer. This is a ruse. Just like this music, in a way. Though the title says that this is the real thing, and their hearts are probably in the right place, this is really about as unoriginal as it comes. The Hillary Duff, Miley Cyrus, High School Musical trilogy world of music has been around longer than you know. I’m old enough to remember Jennifer Love Hewitt on KIDS incorporated, but not old enough to remember the early Mouseketeers like Frankie & Annette. This follows suit with music that makes young girls smile bigger than if they had just been given ice cream and school just got out for summer.
The songs, however overproduced and manufactured, can truly be encouraging to kids and that is what this is really about. You and I might not be stoked on this, but if you go to church like mine I bet you could find a few 8-13 year olds that would play this over and over and over again and be blessed by the words that point to Jesus without some of that vagueness that us adults call artistic integrity. Makes me kind of wish I was ten again, when things were simpler. I wouldn’t be caught dead rocking out to this on my ipod, but I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to play it in the background during Sunday School while the kids work on their craft. Skip straight to track 5, “Savior” and hit shuffle. They’ll probably be boppin their heads and smiling in no time. Well, some of them anyway.
Summary: This is what it is, a simple, kid friendly pop album for the tweeners. Let ’em have their fun and they’ll let you have yours. Now can I listen to something a bit gritter? Please? Please?! (scoring wouldn’t be fair, since I’m not ten years old, but for my personal taste let’s just say I know the re-sell value and I know what rhymes with “boo”).
RIYL: monterrey jack, lemonade, maze, pixie stix, cola