Release Date: (May 25, 2006)
Label: Ardent Records
Producer: Paul Ebersold & Matt Martone

Grace Hotel 
Overall Rating:  +++-

Satellite Soul. It's an interesting, unique name, but it helps the band stand out in a market full of artists and bands. And its right in line with the colorful names all of the bands in ForeFront's fold carry.

Like most of ForeFront's bands, Satellite Soul is worth the listen, both for their musical talent and for their lyrical prowess. Like their debut CD, this CD is loaded with solid guitar work and thoughtful lyrics. But like all great bands, SS has grown, and their music is much richer this time around. While I might have compared their debut CD (musically, at least) to secular rockers Aerosmith, this CD shows more similarities to label-mates Smalltown Poets and Big Tent Revival.

The title track demonstrates this quite well: heavy bass guitars compliment talented rhythm guitar rips, while high-in-the-mix organ sounds that would be out of place anywhere else seem to fit right into the rough, earthy, grassroots-style rock. On top of that, the song is loaded up with sweet, bluesy harmonica rips bound and determined to get you grooving. In a market flooded with "rock" bands, Satellite Soul stands out as a true, out-and-out rock-n-roll band. The song perfectly fills a niche Audio Adrenaline tried (and in my opinion, did not succeed) to fill with A number of tracks on their BloOm CD several years ago. The song tells in a manner what they think it means to be a Christian band, in effect saying "I don't know where you'll send me next in this great big universe, but I'll take up my guitar and sing and tell You that I love You wherever You send me."

"Always the Same" is at first somewhat depressing song, but with a powerfully inspiring message at its heart, much like the books of Ecclesiastics and Lamentations. The song makes the point that all things are passing, just like Spring's destination is Fall and Winter, when all of creation dies back for the Winter. But as the band says of the song, "The problem isn't that we're dying. The problem is when we don't really live." I like that. We're all dying - that's life. Unless Christ comes for His own during my lifetime, I'll have to die before I meet Jesus face to face. The question, though, is am I really living, or am I simply wasting the 80 or 90 years God has given me on Earth? Intertwined with this question is the beautiful revelation that through it all - through all of the life and death cycles of creation, God is always the same. He is a constant that can always be counted on.

Contrasting the temporal nature of that song is "Single Moment," which is based on Psalm 8:3-4. "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him?" And yet God is mindful of us - in fact, there is not a single moment, not a single action, not a single event that He is not watching. This world may be temporary, but that makes it all the more incredible to see the attention God put into creating it. Look at the sheer variety of wildlife, the intricate patterns on a butterfly's wings, the unique calls of each bird, harsh beauty of the desert, the magnificence of a snowy mountain range. God created all of it, by Himself. If He paid this much attention to detain on this temporary place, just imagine how much attention he must be putting into Heaven, which will last forever! And yet, through all of this, He still takes the time to listen to every prayer and to see every second.

~ David Longenecker

Satellite Soul's second release, Great Big Universe, is a disc that permeates the pores with Midwest folk flavoring. The band's instrumentation, harmonies, and songwriting allow the disc to breathe with cut after cut of strong pop power. Songs like the title track, with its harmonica-laden groove, or "Revive Me," with a dulcimer and strong harmonies, are typical of the promise on the release. Vocalist Tim Suttle is definitely an apt songwriter, both musically and lyrically. Songs like "Always the Same" and "Broken Again" are lyrically strong, while the quality harmonies and melodies soar. The highlight of the disc is the acoustic splendor on the song "Single Moment." Here Suttle, an acoustic guitar, and orchestration combine to form a powerful testimony to the unyielding presence of God. The tune could have been lifted from an early Simon & Garfunkel release and is proof of the songwriting strengths of the band. Great Big Universe is a testimony to a band with a heart for God and a wealth of talent to express it

~ Steven Douglas Losey

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