(01-31-2004) Artists Raise Relief Funds Through U2 Covers -- Billboard *

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Artists Raise Relief Funds Through U2 Covers

By Deborah Evans Price

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - Sixpence None the Richer, Tait, Audio Adrenaline, Delirious, Jars of Clay, Nichole Nordeman and TobyMac are among the acts on "In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa," a salute to the music of U2 that will benefit relief efforts in a Zambian village.

The first single to go to Christian radio is Sanctus Real's cover of "Beautiful Day."

"Covering one of our favorite bands and helping to fight AIDS at the same time will probably prove to be one of the most humbling experiences we will ever take part in," Sanctus Real's Chris Rohman says. "We contributed to this project to help raise awareness of a problem that's too large to ignore. If we can get people excited about this record, it's going to help a lot of people in Africa that we might not be able to help otherwise."

"In the Name of Love" includes "Where the Streets Have No Name" by Chris Tomlin, "When Love Comes to Town" by Todd Agnew, "Love Is Blindness" by Sixpence None the Richer and "With or Without You" by Grits, featuring newcomer Jadyn Maria.

Sparrow Records issued the 13-song collection Jan. 27. The label will donate a portion of the proceeds from the project to Christian relief agency World Vision. The funds will go specifically to the Mwakankomba Village in Zambia, Africa.

To date, Sparrow and key retailers already have made more than $50,000 in contributions to support the village. Family Christian Stores, Handleman, Borders Books & Music, Parable Group, Hastings, Mardel, Berean Christian Stores, Musicland, Value Music Concepts, TransWorld Entertainment and Circuit City are among the donors.

In addition to the retail commitments, Sparrow will contribute 50 cents from each full-price retail unit sold domestically. Family Christian Stores has committed an additional 50 cents per unit on "In the Name of Love" sales during 2004.

A portion of the album proceeds will go to the charity on behalf of Jars of Clay's foundation, Blood:Water Mission, which assists the Living Hope Center, an AIDS medical center in Cape Town, South Africa.
 
If you are a hardcore fan like me get this cd.I have a copy and these bands do awesome covers of these U2 songs.Be a :angel: and grab a copy.
 
I just picked one up. Interesting, and probably better than most tribute albums. And it's for a good cause.

However, here's my take on the album from a more critical perspective...

The songs are performed by Christian artists, which makes the song selection all the more baffling. I would expect a better mixture of Christian and humanitarian themes in there -- The First Time, New Year's Day, and Please might be good picks. Even better, why not take a shot at some of the lesser known songs rather than tackle songs that are nearly impossible to do much justice to. The With or Without You cover, which gets a severe Mariah Carey treatment, is an abomination of one of the greatest rock songs ever written, while Chris Tomlin does a faithful retread of the album cut of "Streets," I would venture to say that he never bothered to listen to a live version of the song.

I was just hoping that someone would really have the guts (or talent) to truly reinvent a couple songs.
 
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