It\u2019s important to know what you\u2019re getting up front. This is a review of a Christian rock album by someone raised in a Southern Baptist environment. In other words, I\u2019m well-versed in Christian words and music, so it would take a lot to impress me in this regard. Some would even question my appreciation of Christianity, and I understand that. I apparently find Christ an admirable person for reasons that differ from the mainstream. For instance, I\u2019m much more interested in the radicalism of Christ as a means to shape a better society. Confessions and declarations have their place, but when you tackle Christianity musically in such a way, you\u2019re competing with old-school hymns, and you\u2019re not going to top them the majority of the time.<\/p>\n
This disposition is why my review of Jon Hainstock\u2019s A Pale Blue Dot<\/i> might be somewhat harsh, but really, the album isn\u2019t terrible. I simply don\u2019t find its overall message compelling, and I don\u2019t like some of Hainstock\u2019s lyrical decisions. <\/p>\n
Hainstock obviously cares about his work. In addition to handling vocals, songwriting, and instrumentation (guitars and keyboards), Hainstock produces here, and while there is nothing overly impressive about the production style, the album is crisp and has plenty of space. I can also appreciate Hainstock\u2019s variety of guitar styles. If not distinctive, the guitar playing is appropriate in many places, and I like the jazziness during the bridge in \u201cEmpty Glass\u201d and the slide guitar in \u201cHolding Love.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
But the substantive elements of the album are questionable. Perhaps the following point is a petty observation on my part, but my problem with the album starts with its title, A Pale Blue Dot<\/i>. Taken by itself, it\u2019s a modest title, nothing objectionable. But Hainstock details the story behind the title in the liner notes. Basically, the title refers to what Earth looks like from a great distance in space, as shown by photographs taken from Voyager 1. Hainstock says, \u201cThat\u2019s when I realized how small I really am in the grand scheme of things and how big God is.\u201d From my standpoint, there\u2019s nothing inspiring about that sentiment in the least. I\u2019ve heard that kind of talk since I was a kid, again and again and again. And while there is some value in the viewpoint, the message comes across as a clich\u00e9 on this album. Hainstock says he wants to make a difference, but he seems to stop at the \u201cI\u2019m a pale blue dot\u201d statement and doesn\u2019t give us any insight in enacting positive change. <\/p>\n
Again, I am jaded because I\u2019ve seen this message for much of my life in a variety of forms, but Hainstock\u2019s lyrics tend to get in the way of me enjoying the album for what it is. \u201cRecord Machine,\u201d for instance, has noble anti-materialism intentions and a catchy chorus, but lines like \u201cI don\u2019t need more material things, no\u201d are a bit too obvious, and their blunt seriousness might even elicit a chuckle rather than a nod. The first track, \u201cI\u2019d Do Anything,\u201d is also potentially laughable in that Hainstock can come across as a teenager with a crush rather than a Christian with lines like \u201cI want you to notice me when I\u2019m around.\u201d <\/p>\n
I mean, perhaps these lyrics can help someone new to Christianity, but I believe good actions that result from self-empowerment via the teachings of Christ are a better starting point than the personal relationship approach, where everything that happens to you is important and somehow relates to God. I must clarify that it is indeed important to analyze one\u2019s life in a spiritual context, but conceptually, the idea is uninspiring unless one has better lyrics and more powerful vocals to make it matter for both non-Christians and listeners like me. \u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other hand, when Hainstock takes it easy and comes back home from outer space, you get a pleasant and uplifting song like \u201cLooking For Redemption,\u201d which benefits from roots music influences. It\u2019s not that Hainstock isn\u2019t talented or dedicated to his mission. It\u2019s that often the words and theme behind his mission don\u2019t make me want to take the stand with him. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":30314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8572],"rating":[5619],"class_list":["post-41969","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jon-hainstock","rating-rating-c"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41969","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\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41969"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}