The newest release from The World Wide Message Tribe, Revived, is a compilation of some of their past hits, new songs, and remixes too. A rather lengthy album at 18 tracks, this CD is a must have for any fan of The Tribe, or any Christian techno/dance enthusiast. I am relatively new to the Christian techno/dance realm, nevertheless, I was dually impressed with WWMT's successful blend of three distinctly different styles of music. The most appealing to me, and the style to start off this particular CD, is a high energy techno sound that will get any party going with powerful strings, aggressive beats, and some intense keyboard. Add to that fast rapping lyrics, and you've got yourself a perfect party-to-go. Six other tracks on the album follow those same rules, each delivering a strong message of it's own. The second style mastered by this group is dance-rap, with an industrial sound and the same aggressive beats that the WWMT is known for, with an unmistakable message delivered by a rapper with a voice reminiscent of Sesame Street's own Cookie Monster. As you can imagine, this makes for some attention grabbing music. The third style is a real gear-change, a soft, mystical, tribal sound sure to calm you down, and even put you to sleep. The vocals, although unfitting to the music in my opinion, carry the same power as the ones in their less tranquil songs. This style carries over the same strings from their techno music, but with a much softer beat, and more harmonious sound.

Overall, Revived is a fitting album to such a well-known group, it is well arranged, and it won't bore you with the many-similiar-tracks-in-row problem that plagues many other CD's of this length. Anyone who is a fan of WWMT, or a Christian techno enthusiast in general, must have this CD.

- Written by Kevin Dervarics, 1997 for Jesusfreakhideout.com