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Music for Christ that Rocks! Reviews: Interviews: Articles: Concerts: Send E-mail. Submit
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Psalm 33:3 "Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy."
Definition:
Alt-Rock combines straight rock and roll
Artist: Glenn
Kaiser Back in my early college days I used to listen to a lot of the Ressurection Band, founded by Glenn Kaiser. I must have seen them in concert at least three times, and each time I came away mesmerized by some incredible guitar playing and grunge metal vocal interchanges with wife Wendi. Those days are long past, but a decade later and with a rock-solid magazine still prospering, Glenn Kaiser has broken from the hard rock mold he helped create and has gone acoustic (at least temporarily). That's right, the king of CCM hard rock has stripped away the distortion and heavy guitar licks for a bluesy, folky, and - gasp - almost country feel. Somehow it still has a hard rock backbone, never really descending into soft rock territory like most folk albums. Part of that is due to Glenn's powerful voice, especially on tracks like "Contact" where you can sense an earnestness when he sings about our need for contact and personal connections. It could
be that I have changed in my stylistic leanings, but this one seems like
one of the better albums that Kaiser has ever recorded. The best song,
"Clear Blue Sky," is simple and yet engaging with soft mandolin touches,
a meandering guitar solo, and an understated message. When he sings "refreshed
in the wind of your spirit" I can sense that Spirit in his music. And
there are no distractions here: just the song itself.
Artist: Hokus
Pick Music inevitably leads to frequent comparisons. That could have something to do with the fact that several thousand CDs are released each year, of which only a small portion are actually on major labels. Whether they like it or not, those in the indie camp (which happens to include most Christian releases) are eventually going to be compared with major-label acts. So, for example, a band like Hockus Pick is not in the mainstream. They won't be performing on David Lettermen anytime soon, and won't probably appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. But despite a goofy album cover and an even goofier name, they have an original concept that, if all things were equal, would give them more recogntion than they will ever get. Part of the reason is this brand of being a Christian artist. Oh, some bands cross the lines (most notably, Jars of Clay). However, it's extremely rare that a Christian band is judged solely on the merits of their musical ability and not filtered through a sive that says "well, it's a CCM band, but other than that..." So, while it's a bit of The Monkees silliness, and some of the Beatles word-play, the style is definitely a uniquely new wave-meets-the-90s sound. I would put it somewhere in the 9-14 age group, although even older teens and adults might appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humor. For example, on "I Know Better" only an adult would recognize the quick "ba-ba-better" line that's an obvious reference to the song "You Better you Bet" by The Who. And unless you've listened to a lot of music, you might not realize that "Christinese" is a spin-off of an early MTV video song that repeated the line "learning japanese" about four million times (...if only I could remember the artist).
"Face the trial that God has given you" screams lead singer Brian Gray on the grunge metal track "Conversations in the Mirror" off their latest full-length album, "Forever." It's a passionate challenge, one that he is apparently issuing to himself. I'm not exactly sure what that trial is, but I do know that it seems to echo the words of Paul in 1 Peter 4:13: "Instead, be very glad because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed to all the world." Of course, at times on grunge records like this I wonder how bad the singer really has it, or whether it's all just an act. But then all of music is an act. The point here, as it has always been for the label-founding Resurrection Band, is to offer something spiritually challenging yet stylistically grungy as an alternative to bands with a different spirit altogether. There's a lot of anger here, mostly directed at the songwriter's own failings. That's an interesting approach, considering there's so much to complain about in the secular world. But these are some biblically based sentiments, and anger at the world isn't going to help as much as personal redemption. One thing that has always concerned me though with this style of music is that it does leave me in a bad mood. Perhaps that's not true for everyone, or perhaps I'm not the intended audience. If someone is listening to death-metal bands singing about desecration, sexual impurity, and other immoral or - worse - amoral behavior, then this might be a good introduction to Christ-centered living.
It's probably somewhat unusual to start a punk rock record with an instrumental, but that's exactly what the Ohio-based band Send the Beggar has done of their aggresive and yet honest and emotive second album, "Closer to Complete." Of course, this is not exactly punk rock. While there is emotion, the anger is somewhat defused by the band's open admission about their own spiritual conditions. No, these guys are not standing on a pedestal claiming to know it all, impuning judgement on a lost secular world. Most of the songs point fingers at their own failings (the despair-ridden "Knot" and "Funeral Song" are two examples). But the band excels at upbeat alt-rock with hints of Toad the Wet Sprocket or even Goo Goo Dolls. The first two tracks after the instrumental are fantastic: "Leaving Jesus" is about how, as Christians, we are "stand ins" for Christ everywhere we go. "Another Letter" is the best song here, borrowing the Third Day concept of singing as Christ in the first-person. "Come to me with arms wide open" sings chief songwriter Chris Freeman, providing a crystal clear lyrical image. More orchestrated than Plankeye, bolder and more aggresive than Jars of Clay, this is one band to keep an eye on for their distinctly personal sound and musical abilities.
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Classic Review coming soon
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All Information on all pages Copyright 1997-9 by John Brandon except where noted.
