This Time: Dynamic Christian Rock Music by Michael Edie

I met Mike about 25 years ago in a Whippany, NJ diner while out with some friends; moreover, I had the pleasure of listening to a couple mixdowns of tracks. Since then, he continued to mature and today blesses us with a straight-forward, exciting rock sound that incorporates an all-around top-flight, tight sound, thoughtful lyrics, and passionate delivery. His voice has a welcome raspiness to it at times, and his rock influences shine bright as a foundation to his own unique style: clearly stated and delivered quality rock music, thoroughly American, with a positive, Christian influenced message. His vocal and instrumental technique are rock solid, and it shows.

To top it all off, this is a good guy. Mike Edie has the experience of many years of performing rock in the club scene of New Jersey and New York - and elsewhere. Yet his assistance and performance with church youth groups is truly a laudable undertaking, a blessing for him and, undoubtedly, for those who have collaborated with him.

Mike is the owner of indie MJM records of Wayne, New Jersey, and splits his music endeavors between writing, singing, performing, recording, and producing.

Mike Edie has the first few songs of his new album available now for download. These are a nice mix of driving rock and ballads that deliver messages with well crafted lyrics and music. Some of the riffs and guitar solos are absolutely cool...ice! Here's my review - without providing too much info or detail: hey, why spoil the suspense! These are really fantastic songs.

Only One has the Van Halen influence and features some impressive guitar solo passages with honest from-the-heart inspiring lyrics. With a driving upbeat tempo, it is a memorable song - one that sticks in my mind well after I've listened to it.

This Time is the namesake of the album and a ballad with a nice hook and descriptive words - all about love. But I'm not going to spill the beans about the message here, other than it is a deep, passionate one. The Christian underpinnings resound throughout this track, and Mike's voice reflects it well - a really well thought out and delivered song. Again, nice guitar solo work!

Take Me provides an exciting, driving beat from the onset using a very effective, sustained instrumental that sets the table nicely for the remainder of this upbeat experience. I can easily see this one being picked up by a major Christian rock artist - simple lyrics, a sweet beat and some cool effects drive this message home. Simply outstanding!

I Believe is a reflective, resounding ballad that is a tribute to America and one man's thankfulness for being an American. This could be sung by any average American who still believes in this country and is unashamed to sing (or speak) plainly about it. In some ways, I found this to be my favorite track (though I don't like to play favorites with so much outstanding material).

So do yourself a favor and grab these and enjoy them. See the links below.

While a date for the physical release of the CD has not been provided yet on his web site, finished songs are being provided on a continuing basis: you can preview and purchase each track (download via iTunes for single track purchases). As of this writing there are four tracks available, and each one is terrific - you'll get a nice sampling of Mike's message and sound plus the ability to download those that you'll want to listen to and recommend to your friends.

To listen to the four samples, link over to This Time: Song Samples
and click on the arrow atop the image that says Play Now.

To grab your downloads via iTunes, visit This Time: Song Downloads