FFH (Far From Home) seemed to have a completely unspectacular and normal career in the Christian Music Industry. Over the course of six wide releases by Essential Records they managed to have a slew of number one hits (on Christian radio that is), though they never had an album go gold. They toured relentlessly and managed to maintain a respectable if average following. As was often the case with artists that saw success in a very specific but still broad market (think country or alternative radio) their fortunes slowly dwindles until they seemed to just quietly disappear after their 2005 album “Voice From Home” which was followed up by a worship album that I’m not sure anyone actually heard.
However, in 2009 the “band” returned as husband and wife duo Jeromy and Jennifer Deibler. Those quite years had been spent helping mentor a church in South Africa, welcoming a new child into the world, and dealing with multiple sclerosis on the part of Jeromy. These experiences inspired them to create what I consider their last proper album “Wide Open Spaces, (though they did release a Christmas album and another worship album after the fact). The album opens with “Undone” it’s stand out track that managed to get the last bit of radio play I think the group ever saw. It’s a powerful song about surrender and knowing that the cost of life is sometimes more than what you want to pay. The music of the song is a powerful blend of Coldplay and the singer/songwriter style Jeromy Dobler had always excelled at. The lyrics though can hit with a particular strength such as “Come undone, Surrender is stronger, I don't need to be the hero tonight, We all want love, We all want honor, But nobody wants to pay the asking price”. From there the album follows in kind with songs about essentially quitting the rat race of the music industry (Wide Open Spaces, Who I’m Gonna Be) with special mention to the lyrics of “The Time Of My Life” which doubles as a love song, “I had the time of my life with you, Under the summer moon, I was so consumed, I had the time of my life with you, Acting like a fool, But it was over too soon”. The other half of the songs seem to be about accepting the pain of knowing God’s in control (What It Feels Like, What If Your Best). These songs are especially potent knowing about Jeromy’s struggle with MS, a disease that from what I’ve heard is truly painful and miserable to live through. Lines from “Stop The Bleeding” in particular stand out “How much farther must I go, Til You say that I'm broken? How much heartache must I know, For You to say enough's enough?”. This album is powerful in a way this group only hinted at during their radio years. They had always been half a step ahead of the normal glut of happy feel good artists on Christian Radio, but this was them finally coming in their own and not only admitting their own brokenness but also realizing (and writing about) the amazing amount of grace that can only be found while in that state. Suggest Tracks: Undone Wide Open Spaces What If Your Best
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When I was a young lad of 17 I had trouble believing God loved me, like really actually loved me in the way my parents for example loved me. I also had grown up on a steady diet of contemporary Christian radio with smooth production and ever so slightly distorted electric guitars. This album came along at that time in my life with a perfect blending of that CCM sound and a very strong thesis statement of “Yes, God does love you”.
Tenth Avenue North wastes no time putting their best foot forward with two of the three opening tracks being the big singles of the album. Both “Love is Here” and “By Your Side” have that late 90’s early 2000’s adult alternative rock sound that I personally just really love and “By Your Side” in particular is really big and dramatic, giving the song an almost cinematic feel. The songs stand as twin statements of God’s love, assuring us that God has already done all the sacrificing necessary to cover your sins and you have no excuse not to except His love. The lyrics can feel a little simplistic and almost Sunday school esc at times but for a lot of people, me included, it’s exactly what is needed. A lot of the songs actually work really good in sequence on this album such as the mid-tempo “Let It Go” followed by the closest thing these guys get to a ruckus rocker “Break Me Down” that both focus on the idea of letting go of whatever sense of control or protection that’s keeping you from fully experiencing God. The album feels generally split in between the radio ready first half and the more intimate personal songs on the second half. This can mostly be attributed I think to the co-writers on the more radio ready songs (including artists I appreciate like Bebo Norman and Philip LaRue) and the more intimate sounding songs being written solely by lead singer/songwriter Mike Donehey. The best example of the more intimate songs and the honestly best song on the album in my opinion would be the standout track “Times”. Starting off with just an acoustic guitar before going into the layered vocals “oh oh” that serves as the chorus this song gives me an almost pet sounds melancholy feel, complete with a beautiful, lonely cello. The lyrics though I find really powerful with some standout lines including .“My love is over, it’s underneath, it’s inside, it’s in between…The times that you feel like you’ve fallen from grace…I’m there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame…I’ll never forsake you, My love never ends”. I admit this album may not be perfect and could easily be accused of falling into the generic mid-tempo sound of mid 2000’s CCM, but dang it I don’t find myself coming back to it again and again. Like a comforting bowl of soup sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy the simplicity of hearing about a God who loves you, no matter what. Suggested Tracks: By Your Side Break Me Down Hold My Heart Times Showbread is/was an art punk band originally hailing from the state of Georgia. And by the time this album rolled around in 2012 it was primarily the brainchild of lead singer and chief songwriter Josh “Dies” Porter. The album “Cancer” tells the story of an invading alien species that takes over earth and uses its influence over the media and government to get everyone worshiping the media, government, and if I understand the story correctly the cancer of death itself. In the midst of this a punk rock band rises up and attempts to defy this great power. However the band finds themselves falling under the alien influence themselves and ultimately having to fight for their very souls.
In case it’s not clear this is a very head on the nail metaphor for the band fighting against the powers of darkness in our very real and present world. This ultimately works to the bands advantage as many of the best tracks from this album work as standalone tracks or within the context of the story. Take for instance the opening track “I’m afraid that I’m Me”, a seven minute epic that manages to jump between punk, ska, and the albums main musical influence, glam rock. It lays out very clearly Josh Dies feelings on the politicization of the church and how he feels about patriotism in general (hint, he doesn’t feel favorably about it). The song climaxes in the righteous fury of, “’blessed are the meek’ succumbs to might makes right, ‘turn the other cheek’ succumbs to pre-emptive strike, ‘love your enemies’ is fossilized beneath the frozen tundra, and ‘blessed are the poor in spirit’ is devoured by ‘God bless America'". I don’t’ recall this specific song shaping my political opinions but it certainly spells them out for me. Another stand out track is the anthem “Anarchy!”. Another track rejecting patriotic fervor that includes some standout bass work from Patrick Porter. However where many punk songs in history have called for revolution by way of violence this song’s lyrics instead states, “ Non-violent non-resistance, sworn to honor our true King” before giving a fist pumping “Anarchy, anarchy, anarchy!” for good measure. From bold face rebellion to despair, the middle tracks can be a little depressing if taken out of context. Thankfully the album ends on a hopeful note with the twin tracks “You Will Die in a Prison”, “You Will Not Die in a Prison” which together act as a 14 minute mini opera. Bringing the glam rock to full force. Hear we are treated to epic guitar solos and ultimate hope we have in Jesus Christ and his return someday. The closing lyrics say it best, “Now we’re dancing, swept up in love. Jesus, King forever, You are King forever! Leaving sorrow and death behind, He’s beaten them forever”. This album was produced with an accompanying (and at times super trippy) film. As of this writing the film can be found on Joshua S. Porter’s YouTube page, but the stress of making that film ended up causing a creative breakdown for the band, leading to the what was intended to be the final album and breakup of the band. The band has ultimately resurrected in one form or another in the years since but through it all this album tends to be a forgotten footnote and that’s really a shame. For me personally, this album stands as almost a blueprint for the way I view politics as an adult. Beyond that, it is an epic rock opera that carries through with a hopeful story, without ever getting bogged down in narrative. For that reason and just it’s solid replay value this album is on my list. Suggested Tracks: I’m Afraid That I’m Me Sex with Strangers Anarchy! You Will Not Die in a Prison Jars Of Clay are one of those bands unfortunate enough to have their biggest hit and signature tune “Flood” come from their debut album in 1995. This had the interesting effect of the album sales halving every album cycle with their self-titled debut selling 2 million records, and then their sophomore effort “Much Afraid” still selling a commendable 1 million copies, before ending their box office success with their third record “If I Left The Zoo” going gold (though they did have a surprise gold record from an acoustic/live recordings double disc set in 2005). This left the band in an interesting place by the time they crossed the millennium. Were they have beens? One hit wonders who were at their “eleventh hour” as it were? With these questions and an ever changing music industry in front of them they went back into the studio to record their fourth album “The Eleventh Hour”.
Self-produced due to being unable to secure their preferred producer the album has an almost “indie” feel to it that still carries that distinct Jars Of Clay vibe, including wonderful interplay between guitarists Matt Odmark and Stephen Mason and subtle keyboard and sound effects from Charlie Lowell. Additionally the groups live backup band were brought into the studio giving this album a real shot in the arm of energy and coherence. While certain songs seemed hand crafted for specific markets I appreciate how this band takes what could be seen as a cynical approach and turns in some of my favorite tracks. A good example includes the beautiful Adult Contemporary rock of “Fly”, which to my ears sounds like the better version of Mercy Me’s “I can only imagine”. Another single “I Need You”, was a self-titled album throwback that fit nicely in the emerging worship genre of Christian radio while still playing into vulnerable human emotions. The rest of the album has a poetic and mysterious quality to it. Tracks like “Something Beautiful” and “The Eleventh Hour” have a very mellow coffee house vibe, while other tracks like “Revolution” do their best to be straight up rockers. The real highlight of the album though is the lyrics, with a consistent theme of being the middle of an uncomfortable or even bad situation and hoping, praying, for God to make it better. Even when the lyrics could be about God or a human relationship, they still work on the level of just praying things will work out in the long run, such as these lyrics from the chorus of “Something Beautiful”, “Close my eyes and hold my heart, cover me and make me something, change this something normal into something beautiful”. Probably the high point of this poetry and mystery is the track “Silence” a song that has some of the most simple and yet profound lyrics, "I thought You were silent, and I though you left me, for the wreckage and the waste, on the empty beach of faith“ before later stating "All I pray is wrong, and all I claim is gone...I got a question, where are you?”. An honest and often hard question to ask of God when we feel like we’ve hit bottom, or even when we’re just in the mundane but no less fun “middle”. Really that is the main theme of this album and one I have related to and continue to relate to so strongly. Life involves a lot of slow moving drudgery before we get to the good parts and this album is the perfect soundtrack for that. All in all, this album laid the groundwork for where Jars would go moving forward. No longer set on selling millions of records the band seemed content to just be themselves and make the music they wanted to make. Asking questions all along the way. Suggested Tracks: Disappear Fly Silence Scarlet If you have spent any time around Contemporary Christian Music during the 2010’s you are most likely familiar with John Mark McMillan’s signature song “How He Loves”, a song written after the tragic passing of a close friend. Chances are though you probably heard someone else covering it rather than his original version (for some reason everyone gets all uptight when you include “sloppy wet kiss” in your worship song). Because of this JMM has forever been branded as a worship artist, for better or worse. If he is indeed a worship artist, then he takes more after the King David than Chris Tomlin.
Over a decade after “How He Loves” McMillan appeared to have a crisis of faith. Between severe anxiety and a western version of Christianity that seemed less and less like God, it’s really quite easy to understand. So, he wrote about it, how God is so much different than what he feels like he’s been chasing all his life, how the more he tries to control things, the more they spin out of control. Through it all he wrote about the disconnect between Godliness and the life he thought he wanted, and about just wanting to be closer to God. Individual songs demonstrate McMillan’s ability to merge a thinking man’s singer songwriter song with the modern worship genre. Some highlights include “Mercury & Lightning”, which uses the Greek god mercury as a metaphor for chasing your own satisfaction, “God’s of American Success”, a biting criticism of how capitalism has invaded church theology and the hauntingly beautiful “Death in Reverse”, which include the great lyrics “Then I build my life around, someone who I thought that I was, but it turns out, all the things I do to feel young, they only make me old”. But it’s really the complete album that tells the full story and I highly recommend listening front to back a couple times. To say I think this album is good would be underselling it. Between the synths, pounding drums, and lyrics that could be gone over for days, it’s something special. This album proves to me that art is not dead, particularly art made by people looking through a Biblical lens. This album is honest and raw in a way a lot of Christian artists are afraid to be and looks toward redemption in a way a lot of other artists can’t seem to find. Suggested Tracks: Mercury & Lightning Gods of American Success Death In Reverse Magic Mirror I have a brother who always says he loves abstract art, because you can put any meaning you want into it, and it still works. This album by Radiohead (made up of Thom Yorke on vocals/guitars/keys, Johnny Greenwood on any instrument he felt like playing but mainly guitar, Colin Greenwood on bass, Ed O’Brien on guitar/backing vocals, and Philip Selway on drums) in so many ways is abstract art. There could be (and are) a hundred different meanings that can be attached to the music and the lyrics, and they may all be right, and they may all be wrong. Either way it’s entirely up to the listener’s experience.
Kid A was recorded after Radiohead had stopped touring for what up to this point had been their biggest album “OK Computer”. Due to the high stress of the tour, and various personal factors, lead singer (and primary lyricist) Thom Yorke was having what tvtropes.org describes as a creator breakdown. Partly due to this the band decided to move away from the conventional rock of their previous albums and instead started cobbling together a project made up of lots of electronica noise, lyric fragments, and free jazz. The resulting album was an unlikely success, went platinum and catapulted the band towards even bigger heights. For many critics at the time and especially now days this album is considered one of the best of the decade if not the century. However the hype can definitely turn some people off and I can understand that. For me this album is a lot of my introduction to experimental music. Tracks like opener “Everything In Its Right Place” (man that haunting piano riff is still so great) “Kid A” and “Idioteque” make your head spin with all the sound effects, uncommon time signatures, and abstracts, hard to pin down lyrics. However, Radiohead is still fundamentally a pop band and tracks like “The National Anthem” (with an amazing bass riff as the main hook) and “How To Disappear Completely” (which honestly sounds the most like a traditional Radiohead track with it’s sad guitar and lyrics about alienation) demonstrate this pop sensibility nicely. The lyrics definitely touch on the previously mentioned themes of alienation (as pretty much every Radiohead album does in some way) but for the most part stay pretty word salad. This is by design as a lot of lyrics were literally cut up and pulled out of a hat to see what would happen. The lyrics could be about alien abductions, global warming, or human cloning, ultimately this is an album that leaves much up to your imagination and your personal interpretations. Radiohead would go on to make music that was both more conventional and more experimental than this album. However because Kid A was the first album in the bands discography to do something truly different and because of the great craftsmanship on display, it stands as an artistic accomplishment and personal favorite. Suggested Tracks: Everything In Its Right Place The National Anthem Optimistic Idioteque |
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