Kevin Max has always been the \u201cinteresting\u201d one when it comes to his life as part of dcTalk — you know, the way Paul McCartney was the \u201ccute\u201d one with the Beatles? <\/p>\n
For that reason alone, I\u2019ve always looked forward to his music projects; I find it exciting not knowing what to expect. But, honestly, all of his solo projects have been decidedly mixed bags. The Blood<\/i>, his third full-length, non-Christmas project, continues that trend.<\/p>\n
Max has said this disc is \u201cnot a classic hymns project,\u201d and that is certainly true. Neither is it, he said, \u201ca white\/homogenized version of black gospel or soul music.\u201d This also is true. But what is <\/i>it? <\/p>\n
He\u2019s called the disc a \u201csensitive and stylized adaptation of the music that was at the root of rock and roll, blues, and popular culture.\u201d Really?<\/p>\n
The album opens with a blessedly short, fairly standard interpretation of \u201cThe Old Rugged Cross\u201d that segues into yet another dcTalk reunion — a remake of \u201cThe Cross\u201d from Prince\u2019s 1987 album Sign O\u2019 The Times<\/i>. It is just exactly what you\u2019d expect from dcTalk if they were still together (where is Michael Tait these days, anyway? TobyMac is everywhere, but Tait hasn\u2019t released a disc since 2003.)<\/p>\n
Much more interesting is the first single from the album, \u201cRun On For A Long Time,\u201d which features a duet with 2007 American Idol Top 10 finalist Chris Sligh. Sligh and Max (SlighMax — doesn\u2019t that sound like a great group name?) find some energy by collaborating on this cautionary tale about evangelizing sinners. But that energy is unfortunately short-lived. Max returns with an interpretation of \u201cTrouble Of The World\u201d that sounds like it was ripped right out of the Jonny Lang songbook — only without Lang\u2019s guitar playing. And it goes on like this, with Max dancing close to originality and creativity only to back off and retreat to tired musical clich\u00e9s. Along the way Amy Grant (?!) and Vince Gill join in for a spirited version of \u201cUp Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air\u201d that is fine, fine, fine. But then he retreats to familiar \u201cI Wish We\u2019d All Been Ready\u201d territory with a version of Stevie Wonder\u2019s \u201cThey Won\u2019t Go When I Go\u201d from Fulfillingness\u2019 First Finale <\/i>(1974) that swoops and soars where it should retreat and cower. Max should have asked Sligh what the American Idol <\/i>judges always say about covering Stevie — \u201cdon\u2019t do it, dawg.\u201d I long for Max to show us who he is. I refuse to believe he hit his creative peak with Stereotype B<\/i>, his first solo disc. As good as that disc was, it was inconsistent, too. He can do better — but will he?