Thursday, April 28, 2011

Music Review: "Not Too Young" by Mission Six

Mission Six.Where do I start? Their first cd, "Superhero" was a favorite of mine back in 2008. Mission Six and The Rubyz are the "original" iShine artists. They've toured extensively all over the U.S., recorded three albums, have received airplay on radio Disney, and star in one of the most popular Christian teen shows, iShine Knect. Did I mention the oldest member of M6 is 17? It's amazing what God has enabled them to do in just three short years.

Comprised of Noah Hayden on vocals, Anthony Barthel on guitar, Isaac (Biff) Alling on keys, David Horner playing the drums, and Michael Powers on bass, Mission Six has become one of the most popular teen Christian bands out there. You can find out the story behind their band name in this VERY old video. But anyway, this is supposed to be a music review, so let's review some music!




"Not Too Young" is Mission Six's sophomore effort, released in 2009. The 10 track album is comprised of five regular tracks, as well as five karaoke tracks. For review purposes, I will just be talking about the five regular tracks.

"Not Too Young" begins with the title track, "Not Too Young".  A fun song that has a great beat and solid guitars, "Not Too Young" is an anthem for teens all over.  The chorus boldly states, "Here we go, now we're not alone, yeah we may young, but we're not too young to change the world!" The music of Mission Six is strong, and they have been compared to the Jonas Brothers and Relient K. They're a fun mixture of rock and pop.  Overall a very good track, and one I'm sure you will enjoy.

Second we have "Stand Out", another high-energy song that encourages us to "stand out" and not back down. This track even features a surprise from bassist Michael Powers, at the end of the second verse. I'm sure this song is a blast live! Featuring strong, high-energy music and thought provoking lyrics, "Stand Out" is a top M6 song.

Now we've come to my favorite song off the album, "Misfits" which pretty much anyone can relate to at some point in their life, no matter how old they are.  The song opens with Noah declaring he is a "misfit", then a catchy bass line. "Raise your hands if you don't fit in" starts out the verse, and once again Michael guests. Michael and Noah compliment each other very well vocally, and they did an awesome job on this song. The most stirring part of the song is the bridge where they slow things down a bit and sing, "Just when you think you're all alone, you find a place where you belong".  Overall an amazing track that without a doubt encourages teens everywhere.

I can't review this song without laughing. It's not the nature of this song AT ALL, it's what I can imagine all the girls doing when they perform this live. "Forever" is a beautiful song about how important it is to stay pure for the one you will marry. "Everything has got a place in time, so before I call you mine, I wanna make sure you know you're worth the wait" is just a sample of how sincere and important the lyrics are to teenagers in our day. "Forever" brings strong vocals, equally powerful music, and even a fun outro complete with a good old, "yeeooowww"!

Lastly, we have a cover of the popular Newsboys track, "I Am Free". The music differs from the original a bit, giving a it more of a teen feel. Mission Six definitely does the song justice, and does not disappoint. I actually think I might like it better than the original Newsboys version. (Shhh!) It's an excellent cover.

Overall, "Not Too Young" is a solid sophomore effort. I know not everyone likes "teen bands", so this cd won't be for everyone. However, it's a great album! the sound of Mission Six has matured a lot since last year, and they will be releasing their third album, "Shockwave" next week, on May 3rd. They have been posting clips on their Youtube channel, and right now you can hear clips of three songs off that record.

The guys of Mission Six are pretty funny, and have several podcasts on Youtube. One of their most popular segments is 'Band Vs. Food" where they take on challenges to eat "that weird food". I'll post one below for you to watch.



As always, thank you so much for reading my blog! I hope you enjoy the posts!
-Lisa

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