Tables of Stone is an independent band, so you probably won’t
\nfind their 1997 disc,
\nEngraved<\/i>, in your local Christian bookstore and certainly
\nnot in any of the mall-based, national-brand music stores.<\/p>\n
But, this is a disc that would be well worth your while to
\nacquire if only so you can say to your friends “I knew them before
\nthey were a big huge success – and they were good then, too.”<\/p>\n
Which is not to say this Canadian band’s debut is without fault,
\nhowever, what’s good about is good enough to earn them a shot if
\nthey can get heard by the right people.<\/p>\n
Colin Genereux fronts the band. He plays guitar, sings lead and
\nwrites or co-writes the songs with other band members. Genereux’s
\nvocals are reminiscent of the late great PFR’s Joel Hanson. In
\nfact, Tables of Stone picks up where PFR left off musically, mining
\nthe same vein of Beatle-esque sound.<\/p>\n
These days it’s hard to find a group that doesn’t describe
\nitself as “Beatle-esque”and that’s part of the reason why this disc
\nis not “A” rated. I love the Beatles and always will, but Genereux
\nand Tables of Stone have enough going for them that I’d like to see
\nthem break out from that purely pop mold and be a little
\ninnovative.<\/p>\n
I know it’s not fair to ask an independent band with little or
\nno financial backing to be innovative when they’re just trying to
\nsurvive from one project to the next, but often it’s in those
\nsituations where something totally new can be created. I love what
\nthey’re doing, but I think I love what they could be doing even
\nmore.<\/p>\n
\nEngraved<\/i> opens strongly with the song “Choose to Live.” It
\npercolates along with a bruising guitar intro by Genereux and some
\nstandard, but propulsive drumming by Chris Selim. The song declares
\nthat, despite his worst intentions and inclinations, the singer
\nchooses to live a Christian life.<\/p>\n
“It would feel good to be doing my own thing\/I’m just like any
\nother normal human being\/With every rule I break\/There’s every
\nbreath I take\/To remind me of Your love\/I choose to live\/I choose
\nto give\/For today is the day of salvation”<\/p>\n
“Hello Jesus” is a warm, welcoming song. Genereux sounds his
\nbest on this tune. In the line “I’m the one who goes away, though I
\nalways want to stay” you can hear the truth in his voice – and the
\nregret. But, it’s not a down song. It’s encouraging because though
\nthe song acknowledges that humans often drift or turn away from
\nGod, He’s always there when we come to our senses and find our way
\nback.<\/p>\n
In addition to Colin Genereux and Selim, Tables of Stone is made
\nup of Ken Mahoney and Marco Belanger on various guitars and
\nbackground vocals, and Colin’s brother, Sylvain Genereux, on bass
\nguitar and background vocals.<\/p>\n
One of the strengths of Tables Of Stone lies in its lyrics. They
\nare very much in the singer-songwriter tradition with lyrics that
\nspeak to experiences the author has gone through or emotions the
\nauthor is feeling.<\/p>\n
The song moods range from pensive to worshipful to affirming to
\nsad to awestruck. In the song “There Is A God”, Mahoney and Colin
\nGenereux share their idea of “proof” of the existence of God. The
\nsong is written as a refute to another who claims there is no
\nGod.<\/p>\n
“Not a sound, not a word has been said\/Yet there lay His wonders
\nin the heavens\/His truth unfolds\/Graceful words\/With eternal
\nmeaning\/Eyes for seeing\/Haven’t you heard\/They’re for believing\/He
\nis the wind of the raging sea\/And the precious peace with
\ncertainty”<\/p>\n
Since they’re an independent band, the disc is a little harder Give this band a try. You will be pleasantly surprised. Beatles
\nto find. But, it is available from a couple of different Internet
\nsources, including
\nwww.musicforce.com<\/a> and
\nwww.christiandiscs.com<\/a>
\nor from the band: Tables of Stone, P.O. Box 36067, 1318 Wellington
\nSt., Ottawa, Ont., K1Y 4V3, (819) 458-2238.<\/p>\n
\ninfluences aside, these guys really have something going for them
\nthat you won’t want to miss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":27518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7357],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-38892","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-tables-of-stone","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38892","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=38892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38892"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}