Group Name: Crabb Revival
Website: www.crabbrevival.net

Album Title: “Runaway Train”
Song Titles:
1. Runaway Train
2. The Journey
3. Rescue Me
4. The Power Of One
5. Best Friends
6. Both Sides Of The River
7. Smiling Down On Me
8. You Amaze Me
9. Carry On
10. Only A Man
11. Ornament Of Grace

After nearly ten years of singing together, the Crabb Family disbanded last year as a group.  Each of the group members were answering the call of God on their lives in different directions.  Two of them, Adam Crabb and his sister Terah Penhollow, continued to feel God’s call on their lives to sing.  They decided to stay together as a team, and thus “Crabb Revival” was born.  Adam and Terah are joined by Zach Smith (lead guitar & vocals), Micah Schweinsberg (drums), and Jed Richardson (bass guitar & acoustic guitar).

“Runaway Train” is Crabb Revival’s debut album.  The group has a progressive country style that is reminiscent of the old-school Crabb Family sound.  The album cover is nicely designed with a clear picture of the group below the album title and group name.  Inside is a page dedicated to each member that allows you get to know them just a bit better.  I must admit that I would have liked to see the song lyrics instead, but that’s just my own personal taste.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.

The title track is the first song on the album.  “Runaway Train” is an medium-to-up-tempo song that both starts and ends with sounds one would hear in a train station.  This is one of those “hard-driving” songs that is fun to sing, play, and/or listen to.  The tempo stays the same for Song #2, “The Journey”.  Here we get a very good listen to the harmonies the group can generate, and their voices blend together almost flawlessly.  The third song is a slower acoustic ballad entitled “Rescue Me”.  This is a beautiful song that is a pleasure to listen to.

The fourth song is called “The Power Of One”.  This is an up-tempo song with a very powerful message.  This is followed by a medium-tempo song called “Best Friends”.  This song has a smooth acoustic accompaniment that complements the lyrics nicely.  Song #6 is another “hard-driving”, song called “Both Sides Of The River”.  The harmonies and vocal arrangements absolutely make this song, in my opinion.  I also love the message in the lyrics here.

Song #7 is a medium-tempo song called “Smile Down On Me”.  This is a song with some fun harmonies and a nice arrangement.  The next song is the group’s first single to radio.  “You Amaze Me” is a medium-to-up-tempo song with an arrangement that’s more CCM than country.  Still, the words and arrangement should give it good success on the radio.  This is followed by another “hard-driving” song called “Carry On”.  This song gives the guitarists a chance to show off just a bit on some of the breaks.

The tempo slows down for the tenth song, a ballad entitled “Only A Man”.  This song has just a simple arrangement centered around a piano.  The album closes with another slower/medium-tempo song called “Ornament Of Grace”.  I probably would have switched the order of these last two songs.  There is actually a 12^th track, in which we get to hear Adam’s daughter Hannah sing a chorus of “The Journey”.  It also sounds like Adam’s little boy, Charlee, is in the background saying “Hallelujah!”  Don’t get me wrong- this short cut is as cute as cute can be, and I love to hear children talking and singing about Jesus.  However, I personally wouldn’t have put it on a studio recording.

As someone who was not fond of the style of the last couple of Crabb Family albums, Crabb Revival’s return to the old-school country sound of the Crabb Family’s earlier days was a welcome sound.  The vocals and the arrangements of the songs on this album were all excellent.  Song choice was a strength of this album as well, although I might have put them in a slightly different order on the album to make it flow a bit better.  Overall, I would give this album a rating of 9 ˝ out of a possible 10 microphones!

Favorites: “The Journey”, “The Power Of One”, “Both Sides Of The River”, and “Smiling Down On Me”