Reviewed by Andrew Rolfe The elderly gentleman had skilful fingers. Every Sunday they waltzed up and down the organ keyboard, which he played with vigour and obvious passion. Sadly, the whole thing failed to resonate. I was eight years old. Everyone else in the antique wooden chapel was well over a hundred, apart from my sister and the other bored-witless children. Kids Praise Party? Are you joking! We were lucky if we could understand the words. Now it's 2008, I'm a lot older and child-friendly is in vogue. Enter 'Kids Praise Party 2'. Everything about it seeks to grab attention and keep a tight hold. The book cover is ablaze with pseudo-psychedelic colours and swirls. The CD provides an eclectic mix of backing tracks (real instruments, not el cheapo programming), which shout out loud enough to rival anything the youngsters' non-Christian friends might be downloading to their i-Pods. Simply said, the music fits perfectly to the "party" in the title. Some of the six-string e-guitar numbers would have had my old chapel oldies frowning. Two of the heavier renditions would have had them racing towards the emergency power-off button. As a sound it very much resembles a modern church adult praise party. The difference lies in the words being sung, which definitely do not allow for non-comprehension. Here are some titles: "Wake Up" (kids hear it every morning, or shout it into the ears of their dozing dads), "Slithering Snakes And Jumping Frogs" (may sound a bit Garden-of-Eden-Fall-of-Man but the context proves it non-sinister), "I Am Walking" (not a single "thee" or "thou" in sight), "Holy Is The Lord" (good to teach kids Jesus is approachable, but also magnificent and to be respected) and "Jesus Super Hero" (a brilliant reality to the wide-screen fiction of Marvel Comics). One or two of the songs would fit better into a '(Confused, Angst-ridden) Teens Praise Party', the words and ideas being, in my opinion, too intense for kids; but the parent/teacher/youth leader would obviously be able to gauge things for themselves. Also included are music scores and MP3 backing tracks for 'Pre-school Praise 2', songs of the "requiring-actions" variety. Perhaps here some of the lyrics could prove taxing on a young mind, but nothing a five-minute Sunday school vocabulary trainer couldn't solve. In total the 28 songs (mostly uptempo) provide a bulky resource, a handy tool to brighten up children-oriented events, especially if the organ is left aside and the backing tracks are cranked up to adult-annoying volume.
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Wow! Kids have got it good this year with 16 massive dance and pop songs on the Kids Praise Party CD and 12 irresistable action songs with simple Scriptural themes on Pre-School Praise. Praising God is going to be fun, fun fun!! With so much to get excited about we should really have produced a music book with CD backing tracks to accompany these two top albums. Sorry, what's that? We have? Fantastic!!!
The Kids Praise Music Book is a great resource, bringing together the music scores and backing tracks for both Kids Praise Party and Pre-School Praise in a handy-sized music book. So whether you're a teacher or children's worker, worship musician or parent, you've got everything you need to ground your little ones in faith while having a whole heap of fun! |