We all like to root for the underdog. It’s part of the American
\npsyche. We love it when David beats Goliath. Perhaps that’s why
\nCCM’s Goliath band – Audio Adrenaline – named their latest release
\nUnderdog<\/i>.<\/p>\n
After the creative high they rode with 1996s’
\nBloom<\/i> and 1997’s
\nSome Kind Of Zombie<\/i>, expectations were high for Will
\nMcGinniss, Mark Stuart, Bob Herdman, Ben Cissell, and Tyler Burkum
\nto take that next step to solidify their reputation. Maybe that’s
\npart of the problem – perhaps expectations were too high.<\/p>\n
Whatever the reason,
\nUnderdog<\/i> comes off as a half-baked attempt. Undoubtedly,
\nbecause of the loyalty and the way the CCM industry works, it will
\nbe a huge success, but it’s not the disc Audio Adrenaline should
\nhave made at this point. It’s the “safe” disc.<\/p>\n
Rumor has it the first single, “Get Down,” has been given the
\nprime end-of-the-concert spot previously reserved for their
\nbreakthrough hit “Big House.” That’s unfortunate because “Get Down”
\nnever really takes off and shifts into high gear – and it’s not as
\nfun to sing as “Big House.” The lyrics, though simplistic, speak to
\nthe times in our lives when we’re feeling overrun by the demands of
\nour lives, but the music is lacking – something. It’s just there,
\nand that’s not good.<\/p>\n
“All I need’s another day\/Where I can’t seem to get
\naway\/From the many things that drag me down, yeah\/I’m sure you’ve
\nhad a day like me\/When nothing seems to set you free\/From the
\nburdens you can’t carry all alone\/In your weakness He is
\nstronger\/In your darkness He shines through”<\/p>\n
Musically, this disc is all over the map – from the pseudo jump,
\njive, and wail feel of the ridiculous “DC-10” (“If a DC-10 ever
\nfell on your head and you’re\/Laying in the ground all messy and
\ndead.” What is that? Poetry by an 6th grade boy?) to the
\nVeggieTales Silly Song reject “The Houseplant Song” to a bizarre
\ncover of Pete Townshend’s “Let My Love Open The Door” (what were
\nthey thinking?) – the guys never quite seem to pull their act
\ntogether.<\/p>\n
There are some highlights to the disc — some very nice touches.
\nThe Charlie Peacock produced “Good Life” beautifully melds music
\nand lyrics. Set to a full pop-music palette, the song gives
\ntestimony to how the bad things in our lives can lead us to “true
\nriches.” The chorus (“this is the good life, I’ve lost everything”)
\nperfectly captures the idea of giving up our own lives and the
\nthings we want for Christ, and His will in our lives.<\/p>\n
“Loneliness has left me searching\/For someone to
\nlove\/Poverty has changed my view\/Of what true riches are\/Sorrow’s
\nopened up my eyes\/To see what real joy is\/Pain has been the
\ncatalyst\/To my heart’s happiness”<\/p>\n
Another plus is the band’s updating of the classic hymn, “It Is
\nWell With My Soul,” featuring the exceptionally gifted Jennifer
\nKnapp, who has a sort of Tracy Chapman thing going on in this
\nsong.<\/p>\n
“Jesus Movement” started off promising to be one of the most
\ninteresting pieces of the album musically with a harmonica leading
\ninto a mild calypso feel, but in mid-song all that dies as there’s
\na complete music break and a Spanish-speaking woman talks for
\nseveral bars before the music stumbles back in.<\/p>\n
Thematically (the song is about coming to the realization that
\nJesus doesn’t just belong to America) I understand what they were
\ntrying to do, but the break was unfortunate. At that point all
\ninterest in the song dissipates. Perhaps if they’d taken the time
\nin the booklet to translate the woman’s speech into a couple of
\ndifferent world languages so all those listening would know what
\nshe’s saying it would have worked better. But, for all I know, she
\ncould be giving instruction in how to change a tire.<\/p>\n
The title song also loses something because of a break mid-song
\nto bring in a spoken passage. This one would have worked except the
\nband brought the music back in before the speaker was done – and
\nthen you’re trying to listen to two different messages and catching
\nneither. dcTalk successfully pulled this type of thing off with
\ntheir song “Mind’s Eye” from Jesus Freak, but Audio Adrenaline is a
\nbit off the mark.<\/p>\n
This disc disappoints not because it’s bad, necessarily, but
\nbecause it’s not what it could have been. Perhaps the problem lies
\nin the fact the disc is mostly self-produced. The band needed
\nsomeone to tell them, “Hey, guys, this really isn’t working. Let’s
\ntake a different approach.” The three songs on the disc produced by
\nthose outside the band are the high points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":25131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6168],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-36336","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-audio-adrenaline","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36336"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36336"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}