Octane

Glenn Kaiser has put together great Christian music from a new perspective. The music still uses the guitar and singing to communicate the basic Christian message. This a fantastic cd.

Good rock christian CD

It's a solid album. You won't be disappointed.

Good music

Great Album

Glenn Kaiser BandOCTANEGrrr Records (2008)Broken LoveStreetcorner BluesRoller CoasterDepends On Where You StandBad TimesWhat Can Be ShakenHigher GroundU-TurnStand By The WindowTrouble High Trouble LowThick and ThinYoung Man BluesThis Race"OCTANE"is the latest Grrr Records release by the Glenn Kaiser Band. Personally I have been a fan of Glenn's voice since his first vocals on Awaiting Your Reply (1978) and Rainbow's End (1979). I own those two records and now two Glenn Kaiser Band releases, the other being the very good LIVE record. I like where Glenn is going with his latter releases. There is another record though that may be very recent but I don't have that one yet. Ok, on to my review."Broken Love"is perhaps for me the BEST song on the record. Broken Love is a ROCKER with very good lyrics. This song and others remind me of Southern Rock or your basic blues rock."Streetcorner Blues"is to me an annoying song, musically and lyrically. The song seems to describe a prostitute, or someone who sells their body to score some crack or some heroin. Basically I just find the song a little dumb. But it does have the merit of the last part of the song where GKB states that this victim might "find freedom in the end". Glenn sings "I said Sunday coming around I'd like to introduce you to a Friend. To My Friend.""Roller Coaster"is another sort of ho hum rocker but I like the lyrics here a lot more. "Somebody asked me a question. What did I know about grace? What if LOVE was alive and well? What if LOVE had a face". Nice lyrics but personally I am still trying to get over Streetcorner Blues. That song is still in my head annoying me. So Roller Coaster is lost between this song and Depends Upon Where You Stand."Depends Upon Where You Stand"is a song about racism and a justice system that tends to convict black people for crimes simply because they are black. I find this song to be melodramatic. However, it does offer up some great harmonica playing. I would say the lyrics are again the weakness of this song."Bad Times""There is a comfort for the bad times. To give you strength, come what may. A love that can't be taken from you. It's ETERNAL, it won't fade away. It's ETERNAL it won't fade". Nice song lyrically but not a stand out rock track."What Can Be Shaken"is by far one of the better tracks on the record. It starts out with some killer guitar work. The lyrics here too are so much stronger than on some of the tracks. The guitar work is great as are the lyrics and the vocals. This track is a WINNER, OR two thumbs up."Higher Ground"this is of course a cover of sorts of the Stevie Wonder classic. The vocal is quite good and the band shows their skill at covering a famous rock song. Of course Glenn and the band point us once again to the "truest Friend". The song is a lot of fun. Glenn is a masterful singer and with a few Christian lyrics thrown in this song is easily bent towards Christ and to the Christian faith. This song works quite well."U-Turn"The song focuses on how some of us need to make a U-Turn towards God. I dissed this song once before but I must say that I have played this cd to death so Glenn and the band are definitely doing a LOT that is Right and Good. So I have edited my comments."Stand By The Window"This song is actually a ballad. Glenn sings that he misses "your loving kiss" "your arms around my neck". I suppose that would be directed to Wendi and how he missed her. The song seems to describe a darkness of the soul when a loved one is not near. Perhaps the song is describing how Glenn could easily slip into despair if it were not for Christ. Glenn or the person in the song is standing by the window waiting for the light. Just exactly what the song is about is perhaps not that important. The good news is that the track is quite good, warm and somewhat sad. It works on most levels regardless of what the lyrics. I just can't quite grasp how God could be kissing someone or putting his arms around someone's neck."Trouble High Trouble Low"This is a rocker. This reminds me a lot of Southern Rock."Thick and Thin"Not a bad track, your basic rocker."Young Man Blues"This is a classic blues song that probably saw it's greatest fame with The Who. Check out "The Who: Live at Leeds" for a rocking version of this song. GKB bites off a HUGE piece of rock and roll nostalgia and blues fame with song. The song works on many level. Some of the lyrics are weak at the end but overall it's not a bad reworking of the song. Glenn is no Rodger Daltry though and GKB is NOT the WHO."This Race"This is a NICE song tucked all the way at the end of the cd. The first time I heard this song I knew it reminded me of something. I soon realized that this song sounds somewhat like the FREE song entitled "Soon I Will Be Gone". I would say the song is in the same key. Irregardless, this is one of the BEST songs on Octane. This is a ballad and the lyrics are quite GOOD. I highly recommend this track. "Your TENDER LOVE IS MAKING ME TOUGH!!"Overall "OCTANE" has a lot of HIGH and LOW OCTANE. I hope to hear MANY other GKB records staying in this Rock and Roll CHRISTIAN Blues format. GKB should be able to reach a LARGE audience with this record. I think the band should work a bit harder on the lyrics though and please avoid cliched song titles and the easy rockers. GKB's easy rockers sound like they were easily put together and as a result some of the tracks mentioned above could have been discarded in favor of some songs that had more INSPIRATION.Overall, I'd like to THANK Glenn Kaiser, Roy Montroy and others for their work on this record. I LOVE the direction of the music and I LOVE your blues influeneces. THANKS.

Glenn Kaiser and the boys have worked up another fine set with this one. They obviously had fun with this, the bouncy jam session sound comes out from that. If you love the blues, these are old school masters just rollin' on that'llmake your head bob and your toes tap.