Okay--When I was told to review a "charity" CD by the innocence mission I was not really looking forward to it. The other guys at Catholic Music Network were raving about it. After the second song, I was hooked! Honestly--the CD has not left my computer long enough to get cool. 

The lead vocals on the innocence mission are both haunting and innocence. Christ Is My Hope is a new charity CD by this three member group of wife and husband, Karen and Don Peris, and bassist Mike Bitts. Karen sings these beautiful old traditional songs that you remember from growing up or that you sang at Mass last week. "O Sacred Head", "Beautiful Saviour" and "It Is Well With My Soul" are songs most all have heard before, but Karen's slightly folk/coffee house voice brings them closer. The black spiritual song "Were You There?" draws you into it. The entire CD has the intimate sound of a group of friends singing together during CCD. Besides the fact that it is a great CD, 80% of the profits go to the charity Food For The Poor. 

If you love songs that tell stories from the heart, then you must pick up the debut CD from singer/songwriter Nick Cardilino. It's his first album, The Workings of Grace, and it's filled with songs about service and justice, married love, family life, and answering God's call. It has a  pop/rock  feel with that clean  guitar sound. I can relate to the song "I Believe In Miracles", a song about the trials of having a premature born child. "Help Wanted" cries out to those who want to spread God's word...and the job ain't easy. Then there is the country love/comedy song "Fax Me": "I am caught in your website, and this surfing's so sweet. Girl, please don't hit control-alt- delete..." a love song for modern times. 

The story of a personal journey through life...On The Way To Heaven. Terry Paul Broadhurst's lyrics reflect on the many beauties of the Catholic faith, from The Holy Wounds to the Mother Of Mercy.
You can envision Christ as he sings "Seaside Saint", with vocals that sounds like a wonderful cross between Billy Joel and Davy Jones of the Monkees. Pope John Paul II made the Divine Mercy Sunday an official feast day and Sister Faustina a saint in 2000. Terry Paul has captured this devotion in the song "Jesus I Trust in You."