Our Journey... So Far
Released September 14 2010
Reviewed By Tyler Hess
Sometimes these things sneak up on us. Has BarlowGirl, the contemporary pop rock consisting of Alyssa, Becca and Lauren
Barlow, really been putting out albums since 2004 and have they really come out with five albums (if we include a Christmas album, which we do, because Christmas is awesome) and garnered enough attention to have a “best of” album? Apparently so.
Our Journey…So Far proceeds as a gradual progression through the band’s career, with a few songs off of each album, so that we can see how they have changed over the years without missing out on the tunes that hit the radio over the past half dozen years.
The first four tracks feature songs from the self titled album, including the odd intro piano (keyboard) ballad “Never Alone”, the country-esque storyline of the pop song “She Walked Away”, the Snow White inspired opening line to “Mirror” that features vocals that sound like Dawn Michelle of Fireflight with a slight twang and minus the arena rock tones and finishes up with a stringed ballad in “Surrender”.
Things get a bit spunkier with a trio of songs from Another Journal Entry. Beginning with the song title that no Christian band or artist has ever, ever, ever, ever come up with in “Let Go”, followed by our need to keep our hearts close to God in “I Need You To Love” and the apparently British “Grey” inspiring an end to compromise in our lives.
Moving onto BarlowGirl’s Junior album, we are introduced to a bit of maturity coming into the band’s lives with possibly their most beautiful ballad (among a surprisingly plethora number of ballads) on How Can We Be Silent’s “Here’s My Life”, the enchanting “One More Round” detailing life being more like a boxing match and finishing up with the messy group vocal sessions of “Million Voices”.
In the middle of all of this is a Christmas song that probably fits better on a B-sides album than a greatest hits, but for what it’s worth it starts out with some sweet xylophone action and a very Christmas Eve church service feel to “Hallelujah (Light Has Come)” about Jesus’ birth.
At this point, I feel like I’ve already been listening to a longer career than I expected, but they still had another come out more recently in Love & War. The final section starts off with the hopeful “Stay With Me” and the playfully whimsical “Our Worlds Collide”, trailed by the worshipful “Beautiful Ending” and the synthesized pop song “Come Alive” that sounds like something Britt Nicole would cook up.
Before waving the checkered flag, the best of BarlowGirl gives us an eerie remix of “I Need You To Love”, I supposed just because they can. No big deal.
For long time fans there is really nothing to see here, this is simply a great way to introduce neophytes to the sisterly rock band and it does well by including a long tracklist that covers the entire span of their career so far with equal representation. Musically, you’re not going to see anything very far “out there” with a band like BarlowGirl, but if you’re looking for some nice pop rock (mostly targeted at younger females) then this is a pretty nice collection of songs that doesn’t feel too disjointed.
Grade: B
- Never Alone
- She Walked Away
- Mirror
- Surrender
- Let Go
- I Need You To Love
- Grey
- Here’s My Life
- One More Round
- Million Voices
- Hallelujah (Light Has Come)
- Stay With Me
- Our Worlds Collide
- Beautiful Ending
- Come Alive
- I Need You To Love (FredTown Manila Remix)
