If ever a various artists project (and there are loads of them
\nthese days) screamed “significant” and “momentous” with every sinew
\nof its marketing tendons,
\nRoaring Lambs<\/i> is that project.<\/p>\n
Let’s look at the projects’ pedigree:<\/p>\n
* It’s based on a book that is a touchstone to the contemporary
\nChristian, Bob Briner’s
\nRoaring Lambs<\/i>.<\/p>\n
* Briner died of cancer in 1999, at a too early age (61).<\/p>\n
* It was nursemaided by Steve Taylor’s Squint Entertainment,
\nhome of arguably 1998’s biggest roaring lamb album, Sixpence None
\nthe Richer’s self-titled disc that contained the monster secular
\nhit “Kiss Me.”<\/p>\n
* It boasts the return to recording of both Taylor and PFR.<\/p>\n
* It assembled 16 of the biggest (and coolest) CCM recording
\nartists to contribute specially written songs based on the
\nRoaring Lambs<\/i> concept.<\/p>\n
Success is positively guaranteed. There can be no bad reviews of
\nthis project – and you won’t find one here either. For most part,
\nthis truly is a project to get excited about. Oh sure, like any
\nvarious artist compiling, there are stronger and weaker songs, but
\nno one embarrasses themselves – and some turn in downright stunning
\npieces of work.<\/p>\n
What is a roaring lamb?<\/p>\n
In brief, a roaring lamb is a Christian who is working\/living
\nwithin the secular culture to expose that culture to Jesus Christ
\nin ways it can accept. Or, as PFR sings in their contribution,
\n“Kingdom Come”:<\/p>\n
If actions speak louder than words Then let me live loud enough
\nto be heard Louder than a scream<\/p>\n
Jars of Clay open the disc with the song “Headstrong.” Sounding
\nlike a song they forgot to include on their latest disc,
\nIf I Left the Zoo<\/i>, “Headstrong” includes a solid vocal
\nperformance from Dan Haseltine as he tells the Christian (or is it
\nthe non-Christian?) that everything they believe is wrong:<\/p>\n
I don’t know what you’ve been told But it’s wrong And I can’t
\nhold you when you fall So headstrong. Headstrong, headstrong<\/p>\n
One of the cool things about this release is that many of the
\nsongs work on so many different levels – encouraging Christians,
\nplanting a seed for unbelievers, entertaining everyone.<\/p>\n
Another aural highlight is the pairing of rock queen Ashley
\nCleveland with dc Talk’s Michael Tait on the song “Salt And Light.”
\nWhile there’s no mistaking the intent of this song (Christians —
\nif you don’t go into the world with the truth of God, who will? So
\nget up off your butts and go! But speak the truth in love.) it’s
\neasy to get caught up in the experience of the song alone.<\/p>\n
Tait and Cleveland play off of each other perfectly– and throw
\nin Kenny Greenberg’s guitar playing and you’re in song heaven. The
\nsong declares the problem, issues the challenge, and includes a
\ncaution — while still allowing for a positive response from the
\nlistener:<\/p>\n
Here I am, I will go Feet and hands, body and soul You make an
\nordinary girl shine bright In a world that needs salt and light<\/p>\n
This disc is the best of what CCM can be — when it reaches out
\nto the world at large. It doesn’t bludgeon the listener with the
\nname of Jesus Christ or God, but the intent is crystal clear. In
\nthis industry, that is a brave step to take, indeed. Other
\nhighlights are contributed by Brent Bourgeois and Ginny Owens (“One
\nThing”), Sixpence None The Richer (“The Ground You Shook”), Over
\nThe Rhine (“Goodbye”), and Deliriou5? (“Touch”).<\/p>\n
But the return to recording of Taylor and PFR has to be the
\nhighlights of this disc. Taylor’s contribution (“Shortstop”) is the
\nmost musically interesting song here and his legendary
\ntongue-in-cheek humor shines through. Who else could include a line
\nabout an athletic supporter in a song on a Christian album?<\/p>\n
Musically, Taylor includes a fantastic mid-song break of drums
\nand horns – and with the extensive baseball imagery (the credits
\ninclude John Butler and Jay Swartzendruber as Baseball Coaches)
\nthis will be the perfect blare-it-from-the-radio summer song.<\/p>\n
Here’s hoping the return of PFR is not just a one-off. The group
\ndisbanded because they thought they had taken their sound as far as
\nit could go, but I for one am not tired of hearing their unique
\namalgam of vocal harmonies and orchestral backing. And Joel Hanson
\nand Patrick Andrew prove they can still write a solid song.<\/p>\n
Strong points on this disc are many. There are, however, a few
\ninstances where someone didn’t put their best foot forward. While
\nnot a complete mis-step, the high-powered superstar duet between
\nSteven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith (“Out There”)
\ndisappoints. Even though it’s produced by Taylor, it sounds too
\nmuch like what you’d expect from these two – it’s too reserved. It
\nwould have been nice to hear them go all out a little more.<\/p>\n
And, I was disappointed in the song from Ladysmith Black Mambazo
\nand Charlie Peacock. Peacock is listed on the song and I naturally
\nassumed he would be singing – but he’s not, he’s playing piano.
\nNow, it’s good piano, but if you see Peacock’s name in this kind of
\ncontext, then the expectation is he’s going to sing. All
\ninstrumentalists on the project were not given the same
\nprominence.<\/p>\n
But, those are minor quibbles in a project this strong. There
\nare also excellent contributions from Burlap to Cashmere (“Daisies
\nAnd Roses”) and Bill Mallonee and Vigilantes Of Love, who
\ncontribute a stomping remake of Bruce Cockburn’s “Wondering Where
\nThe Lions Are.”<\/p>\n
\nRoaring Lambs<\/i> is a great disc — and a great tribute to
\nBriner. Time will tell if Christians take its’ message to heart.
\nAnd if you haven’t read the book yet – for Christ’s sake, pick it
\nup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":25478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5827],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36684","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-various-artists","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36684","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=36684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36684"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36684"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}