Welcome to the Freak Show | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | August 26, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1997 | |||
Genre | Christian rock, Christian hip hop, alternative rock | |||
Length | 78:22 | |||
Label | ForeFront | |||
Producer | Toby McKeehan | |||
DC Talk chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Jesus Freak Hideout | [2] |
Welcome to the Freak Show is a live audio and video recording by DC Talk. Chronicling the Jesus Freak Tour in the spring of 1996, they were released separately two months apart in 1997 on CD and VHS, respectively. A DVD version was later released in 2003. Each version has been certified gold by the RIAA (audio for 500,000 units and video for 50,000 units sold). Track listings differ slightly between the two. Select videos included a bonus audio disc that remains one of the rarest recordings in the DC Talk catalog. The audio version won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album.
Jesus Freak released in November 1995 to first-week sales of 85,000 units, a record for a Christian album at the time. This placed it at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 chart. Anticipation was already high for the scheduled 65-city tour set to begin in the Spring of 1996, but DC Talk's record label, ForeFront Records launched a massive marketing blitz to increase awareness.[ citation needed ] The tour debuted to a sold-out crowd at the Bren Center on the University of California Irvine campus. [3] It later included stops in several European countries (which is documented in the video). Audio Adrenaline opened for DC Talk on the tour.
The audio version was recorded in the Pacific Northwest, more specifically in Portland, Oregon and Tacoma, Washington, as evidenced by the band dialogue in several places, such as following "Like It, Love It, Need It" (Michael and Kevin banter about what they like about Seattle). Of notable absence is "Just Between You and Me" which was the album's biggest mainstream hit. This song's rise on the Billboard charts was a result of the partnership with Virgin Records that came after the close of the tour. "Between You and Me" was not played until the last dates of the tour, which was after this recording had taken place.
No. | Title | Original studio recording on | Length |
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1. | "Help!" (The Beatles cover) | - | 1:02 |
2. | "So Help Me God" | Jesus Freak | 4:27 |
3. | "Luv Is a Verb" | Free at Last | 4:54 |
4. | "Like It, Love It, Need It" | Jesus Freak | 7:58 |
5. | "Colored People" | Jesus Freak | 4:47 |
6. | "Jesus Is Just Alright" | Free at Last | 5:58 |
7. | "What If I Stumble" | Jesus Freak | 6:12 |
8. | "In the Light" (Charlie Peacock cover) | Jesus Freak | 5:02 |
9. | "Mind's Eye" | Jesus Freak | 6:04 |
10. | "It's the End of the World as We Know It" (R.E.M. cover) | - | 7:18 |
11. | "Day By Day" | Jesus Freak | 4:35 |
12. | "Walls" | Nu Thang | 2:16 |
13. | "Time Is..." | Free at Last | 3:51 |
14. | "Alas, My Love" | Jesus Freak | 2:12 |
15. | "The Hardway" | Free at Last | 5:43 |
16. | "Jesus Freak" | Jesus Freak | 6:03 |
Total length: | 78:22 |
The audio recording was awarded the 1997 Grammy Award for "Best Rock Gospel Album". It was certified gold by the RIAA (500,000 units sold) on October 25, 2000. [4]
The video was filmed in a variety of U.S. locations. This is evidenced by the band members wearing different clothes within the same songs. Footage was obviously spliced together. As with the audio version, dc Talk's mainstream hit "Between You and Me" had yet to be added to the set list at the time of recording. "Jesus Is Just Alright" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" were left off the video recording due to time constraints. The video, however, added short segments between songs that were filmed at various stops in Europe.[ citation needed ]
The video was certified gold by the RIAA (50,000 units sold) on March 2, 1998. [5]
The DVD has the main feature of the VHS versions but adds the following bonus features:
Included with an extremely select number of videos in 1997 was a four-song bonus disc. The cover reads "Limited Edition EP" although is more commonly called the "Freak Show Bonus Disc" among collectors of dc Talk's more rare releases. It contains the extremely rare release of "Colored People (Organic Mix)".[ citation needed ]
dc Talk
Live band
Production
DC Talk is the first studio album released from vocal trio DC Talk. It is the most hip hop-oriented of all of their albums as each later album gradually progressed into a more rock-centered sound. Michael Tait stated that their original goal for the album was to sell 10,000 units. It sold 7,142 units in 1989. After their popularity spiked with the release of Free at Last, back sales increased although it is the only of their studio albums to not reach RIAA gold status.
DC Talk is a Christian rap and rock trio. The group was formed at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max Smith. They released five major studio albums together: dc Talk (1989), Nu Thang (1990), Free at Last (1992), Jesus Freak (1995), and Supernatural (1998). In 2002, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music called dc Talk "the most popular overtly Christian act of all time."
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Kevin Michael McKeehan, better known by his stage name TobyMac, is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. He was first known for being a member of the Christian rap and rock trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1987 until they went on hiatus in 2000. He has since continued a successful solo career with the release of ten studio albums: Momentum (2001), Welcome to Diverse City (2004), Portable Sounds (2007), Tonight (2010), Christmas in Diverse City (2011), Eye on It (2012), This Is Not a Test (2015), The Elements (2018), Life After Death (2022), as well as five remixed albums: Re:Mix Momentum (2003), Renovating Diverse City (2005), Dubbed and Freq'd: A Remix Project (2012), Eye'm All Mixed Up (2014) and The St. Nemele Collab Sessions (2019). He became the third Christian artist to have a No. 1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with Eye on It.
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Audio Adrenaline was an American Christian rock band that formed in 1986 at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. The band gained recognition during the 1990s and received two Grammy Awards and multiple Dove Awards. Audio Adrenaline were regular performers at the annual Creation Festival, Spirit West Coast festival, Agape Music Festival, and Alive Festival. In 2007, the group disbanded due to lead singer Mark Stuart's spasmodic dysphonia. During this time, they released eight studio albums.
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Bloom is the third studio album released by Audio Adrenaline. In 1996, the album was certified Gold by RIAA.
Michael DeWayne Tait is an American contemporary Christian music artist. Michael Tait met Toby McKeehan in 1984 when he was in high school. Both Toby and Michael met Kevin Max while attending Liberty University in the late 1980s, and together they formed four-time Grammy winning band DC Talk, with whom Michael Tait has released five acclaimed studio albums. Tait is the current lead singer of Newsboys, and one third of Christian rock group DC Talk. Tait also has had success in his solo career, founding a band called Tait in 1997. He toured as a solo act until 2007. He became lead singer of the Christian pop rock band Newsboys in 2009. Aside from singing, Tait is also a self-taught guitar player. Tait also has a sister Lynda Randle, who is a Southern Gospel singer.
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"Jesus Freak" is a song by the American contemporary Christian music group DC Talk. Released on August 1, 1995, it was the lead radio single from the group's fourth album. The song was written and produced by Toby McKeehan and Mark Heimermann. Lyrically, the song is about standing up for the belief in Jesus Christ in the midst of persecution. Musically, the song has been described as alternative rock and grunge. It received airplay on both contemporary Christian music and alternative rock stations, formats that rarely interact. "Jesus Freak" earned DC Talk three GMA Dove Awards.
See the Morning is the fourth studio album by Chris Tomlin released on September 26, 2006. The title comes from that idea that "our God is as faithful as the rising sun" and is the "Light of the World". The album was originally released in two versions: one with 11 tracks, the other with 4 alternate versions of his songs and a special behind-the-scenes look at the recording of the album. Since then, another version, the tour edition, has been released, which features the standard version, along with music/live videos, along with a sermon by Louie Giglio titled "How Great Is Our God". The first single from the album was "Made to Worship", which was first heard as an iTunes bonus track for the Passion album Everything Glorious.
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