Hawk Nelson - Live Life Loud

Artist: Hawk Nelson

Album: Live Life Loud

Release Date: 9/22/09

Label: Tooth and Nail/BEC Recordings

Hawk Nelson returns with their fourth studio album titled "Live Life Loud". It does not necessarily have a new sound compared to other previous albums, but more of a blended sound of all their past albums. The album kicks off with the fun title track with cool "crowd" vocals. "Never Enough" follows with a more Hawk Nelson rock take on it, like "You Have What I Need" for example. The next song, an album highlight, "Eggshells" is a great sounding song and even features vocals by every one's favorite singer, tobyMac! His vocals really add a lot to the song. A few radio singles follow, being "Meaning Of Life" and "Alive". "Meaning Of Life" is their first CHR single and is about finding the meaning of life essentially. "Alive" is their single at Rock radio (RadioU, Effect Radio). It is probably one of their best rock songs to date. A cool little song titled "Ode To Lord Stanley" about a dream of winning the Stanley Cup aka the hockey championship trophy. It features only banjo and is more of an interlude. Another good song titled "The Job" is more of a pop-punk/rock song and is very high in energy. "Shaken" is one of the softer songs on the album, but is equally as powerful. The chorus asks "Lord use me, take me where you want me to go". It is an honest plea to Jesus and that is what makes it one of the best songs on the album. The rest of the album is more slow, and even uses bagpipes on "Tis So Sweet". The song is actually a hymn, and is cool to hear Hawk Nelson sing it. There is also a female background vocalist on the song. The album closes off with a stripped down acoustic track cleverly titled "The Final Toast". This album is probably Hawk Nelson's most spiritual album to date. It is also very mature, as compared to last year's ... Is My Friend.

Album Highlights: Live Life Loud, Eggshells, Meaning Of Life, Alive, Shaken, Tis So Sweet

Rating: 9/10 Great Hawk Nelson album that includes a lot more spiritual content then other albums.