Jon Gibson has been creating some of the most interesting
\nR&B\/pop music in the Christian market since the early ’80’s –
\nand yet, despite amazing success, he remains outside the Christian
\nmainstream and has yet to become a household name.<\/p>\n
During his career, he’s recorded 22 top five singles – and seven
\nof those went to number one. Many less deserving artists release
\n“greatest hits” packages with less success than that. Regardless,
\nafter a five-year absence Gibson has returned to the work he loves
\n– and does so well – with this great collection.<\/p>\n
Heavy on the balladry,
\nThe Man Inside<\/i> shows a more mature Gibson – but one who
\nstill knows how to lay down a groove, as well. Gibson wrote, or
\nco-wrote, all 15 songs on this disc.<\/p>\n
Gibson opens with the infectious title tune – a call to
\nreconsider society’s preoccupation with the external – race,
\nethnicity, and physical appearance:<\/p>\n
What about my children when they play with yours?\/They don’t
\nnotice red, nor green, nor blue\/Not talkin’ ’bout black or
\nwhite\/not talkin’ ’bout wrong or right\/talkin’ ’bout the man
\ninside.<\/p>\n
Most of Gibson’s songs deal with interpersonal relationships. He
\nwrites about God within the context of his marriage, family, and
\nfriends – as well as within the bounds of larger society. There’s
\nno easy believe-ism in Gibson’s world, but there is what I call a
\nvivid God-reality.<\/p>\n
Gibson’s God is not just an external being he worships and prays
\nto – He is intimately involved in all aspects of life. In the song
\n“The Best In Me,” Gibson puts God front and center.<\/p>\n
Going through the motions, my little family by my side\/Tryin’ my
\nbest to live a godly life and to shake this foolish pride\/Whoa,
\nJesus, you’re the only way for me\/Let Your light shine, so that
\neveryone can see\/Lord, You are the best in me.<\/p>\n
In the song “Fly With The Wind,” Gibson contemplates his career
\nand his seeming lack of recognition:<\/p>\n
They said I wasn’t good enough, no, no\/And maybe I should find
\nanother bag, yeah, yeah\/They said I wasn’t wise enough, wise
\nenough\/Maybe I should have zigged when I zagged, yeah, yeah\/Instead
\nI’m going to fly with the wind, sail like an eagle, and get over
\nagain.<\/p>\n
Gibson has been without a record deal since releasing 1992’s
\nForever Friends<\/i> on Frontline Records – which, incidentally,
\nwas named Album of the Year by
\nCCM<\/i> Magazine. He released one independent project,
\nLove Education<\/i>, in 1994 before B-Rite picked him up for this
\nlatest release. Maybe, finally, Gibson will get the recognition he
\ndeserves, but I doubt it because he likes to do things his way –
\nrather than the way a “successful” label would.<\/p>\n
In other words, he wants to put out his music, the way he
\nbelieves God has led him, without having to concentrate on creating
\nthe “hit single” that the industry looks for. So far, he’s been
\nable to do that AND find the hit single so Gibson must be doing
\nsomething right.<\/p>\n
At times Gibson has an eerie Stevie Wonder-like sound to his
\nmusic. He’s even recorded a number of Wonder songs, such as “Have A
\nTalk With God” from Wonder’s landmark
\nSongs In The Key Of Life<\/i> album, and “Happier Than The
\nMorning Sun,” from Wonder’s
\nMusic Of My Mind<\/i> project.<\/p>\n
But, his songs differ from Wonder’s in where the focus is
\nplaced. Wonder, while a musical genius and one of my favorite
\nartists, has a faux spirituality to his work – especially in his
\nlatest efforts. It’s more of an “I’m OK, You’re OK, Let’s All Hug
\nBecause God Loves Us” mentality. Gibson sees the deeper
\nimplications of belief in God.<\/p>\n
In the song “God Will Find Ya” Gibson tells the story of a
\nperson who is playing hide and seek with God all through his life.
\nEventually, that person is going to fall – and when they do, if
\nthey call out to God, he will catch them:<\/p>\n
Someday you are gonna see a change in your heart\/Cuz you are
\nliving the kind of life that’s bound to fall apart\/And while you
\nare tumbling down\/God will recall your prayers\/And you will find
\nout that in this life\/He’s the only one who cares<\/p>\n
Plus, Gibson is not afraid to admit to his own failings, knowing
\nthat God will forgive. In the song “Let It Be Done” he pleads for
\nforgiveness for himself – and for the world, sort of like a
\nmodern-day Abraham pleading for the Lord to spare the righteous
\npeople in Sodom.<\/p>\n
Gibson deserves more recognition than he gets, but I have the
\nfeeling that man’s recognition is not what he’s striving for. If it
\ncomes, great, but if not, he’ll find a way to do what he does and
\ncontinue making God real and available to the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":25357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6299],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-36563","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jon-gibson","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36563","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=36563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36563"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36563"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}