This CD is like poetry set to music
author: Barry Grauman
I believe Green Room is one of Marianne Kesler's best efforts to date. It is without a doubt her best album in terms of the quality of the recording, production and musicianship. Of her five releases, I feel like we are really getting our best listen of her wonderful voice on this CD. As always, her songwriting is very strong but Green Room really shows a strong evolution in her lyrical prowess. Earlier projects reflected more straight forward evangelical concepts whereas Green Room is loaded with poetic imagery and spiritual depth. It is lyrically, a very deep album in the vein of Sarah McLachlan. If you have shied away from prior releases by this artist because of her "Christian" label, shy no more. Green Room is a tasty feast for the ears and souls of all music lovers.
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An exceptional and distinctive album of new songs - check it out!
author: Frank Rasenberger
There is no ‘filler’ on this her fifth album – every song is brilliant. (The album also contains her first ever piano-based track – ‘Tinman’.) Having said that, as a former radio announcer, the following songs to me are just crying out for airplay:- ‘Free Fall’, ‘Hard To Breathe’, ‘Green Room’, ‘Distraction’, and ‘Unrefined’. The production is immaculate, the cover art and overall CD is beautifully packaged and presented. Benjamin Kesler’s musical prowess and sensitivity is evident throughout. Marianne’s voice is upfront but not dominant giving an overall intimate and organic feel to the project.
Lyrically, some of the issues Marianne addresses on this album are:- our human brokenness in relation to God, others, and the world around us, & how God uses the acknowledgment of our brokenness to bring healing and forgiveness (on the song ‘Broken’); self-image (on ‘So Beautiful’); waiting on God for His leading or the next stage in life (on ‘Green Room’); and being distracted from what really matters (on ‘Distraction’).
As a fitting finale to the album, Marianne Kesler closes with the beautifully-orchestrated song ‘Everything But This’ (think Goo Goo Dolls) – referring to the pursuit of everything apart from God’s love as really amounting to the vain pursuit of fool’s gold.
Wake up to this! It’s huge! Don’t neglect this CD just because it’s not on a ‘safe’, formulaic mainstream label. This is a standout quality indie release. As always, Marianne Kesler is true to her musical self. Her lyrics as always are sheer poetry.
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