Here's another album that I only listened to due to the whims of nostalgia and pure curiosity. In mid-2005, the folks at Rocketown Records decided to gather an eclectic group of young musicians and pay tribute to some of the classic songs of Michael W. Smith, the seminal CCM singer who hit it big in the 80's and 90's. It's noteworthy that he's also the boss at that particular record label, so, to quote their own press materials: "Now we've just gotta hope he doesn't fire us."

I've gotta admire the approach here. A lot of these artists are quirky and fun in their own right, and that infuses this project with the sort of lightheartedness it needs. MWS might take on more of a serious, adult-friendly tone with a lot of the music he makes these days (which, frankly, I've become rather bored with), and it's easy to forget the popularity with youth that he attained in his early years. This compliation largely covers that set of songs, focusing on his 80's material, for the most part. While it's notable that they've gone back to the vaults and dug up tracks from Smitty's very first album, I'm slightly miffed that only one track from after 1990 - and I believe his strongest period to be the 90's albums Change Your World, I'll Lead You Home, and Live the Life - was included. Having said that, the song in question is my very favorite of Smitty's compositions, so I can't complain too much. But there's still the matter of this CD running at a scant 10 tracks - certainly they could have found more artists willing to interpret this man's work. Couldn't they?

Well, it should suffice to say that not all of this material has aged well. It's one thing to take programmed pop crafted with then-popular elements of keyboard wizardry taking the stage, and recast it as edgy modern rock. At the time, MWS was one of the edgier voices in Christian music, with his energetic stage presence, trademark raspy (though powerful) vocals, and the ever-present five o'clock shadows. You can laugh, but Christian music has only recently become a sub-genre that stays somewhat in step with its mainstream counterpart in terms of modern sounds, and it's because of that that these updates, even when a bit cheeky, are mostly appropriate to the source material. What doesn't translate as well despite the fun musical updates, though, is the lyrics, which is no surprise. Not everything that is "classic" in Smitty's catalogue stands out as a great example of fine songwriting. Some of it is actually rather blunt, dogmatic, and uncreative, when it gets right down to it. In those moments, the artists involved can only really hope for camp value, but the success of this collection is that they frequently attain it. I'd only say that two or three of these songs really lag behind in terms of overall quality.

I can't say that Ultimate Music Makeover: The Songs of Michael W. Smith is great art, or even that it's a consistent collection, but when it gets down to it, it's a lot of fun, and it brings a few worthy songs up to speed for a new generation. It might just be the nostalgia talking, but I'm going to say that this ain't a bad thing.

Go West Young Man
Why must I wander like a cloud, following the crowd
Well, I don't know
But I'm asking for the will to fight, to wear the crown of life
And you say go...
Remember how Michael's Go West Young Man album started? With the whinnying of a horse and the clip-clop as it galloped away into the sunset? Cheeky power-pop band All Star United offers a humorous variation on that by throwing in the sound of a car whizzing by, as if the poor cowboy is suddenly quite out of place. This gives way to their zany take on a song that admittedly was never one of my favorites - a bouncy tune in 6/8 that compares goodness and sin with the western frontier and the old, traditional life of the Eastern states. Yeah, it's not a brilliant analogy, and the music doesn't really fit the theme in either case. All Star's version is jerky, much like their songs "Tenderness" and "Theme from Summer" or their take on "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". It's almost too obnoxious for its own good, and the shouts of "Go west! Go west!" that punctuate the chorus push it a bit over the top. Definitely not the strongest way to start off such a collection.

You Need a Savior
Made a friend last night, or you thought you did
Had a drink, had a talk, took a drive
Shared the night, gave up part of your soul
Now she's gone and you're a little less alive...
Here's a song that was actually new to me in 2005, despite being over 20 years old. Judging from the lyrics, I'll be thankful that it was left off of Michael's hits collection The First Decade, which was my introduction to Smitty over 10 years ago. Throaty rock singer Sarah Kelly takes this one on, and I'm really starting to appreciate the strength of her voice after this and some notable guest appearances with Toby Mac and Jars of Clay in recent years. It's a strange fit for a song that marries chunky modern guitars with a thumping 80's rhythm track, but then, without that obvious tie to the 80's, the song would sound pretty stupid. It basically chastises a person for a one night stand and a wayward lifestyle, and then tells them that the fear that they feel is an indication that they need Jesus. The complete lack of tact shown here is enough to make me suspect that this was an early Wayne Kirkpatrick contribution, but despite that, its a good slab of kitschy fun. Funny how that works out.

Rocketown
What was his mission? Where was he going?
Why was his heart light always glowing?
All I was missing, he stood there holding
What was his secret? Could I know it?
The first truly excellent cover comes from Shaun Groves, who amusingly ends up saluting his record label with this high-energy cover of the song that the label was named for. It's definitely one of Smith's strongest lyrics, depicting a troubled town paid a visit by a strange, Christ-like figure who left his mark on the place. The original had a lot of keyboard effects and synthetic bass driving its odd 6/4 rhythm; Shaun Groves takes a surprisingly pop-punkish approach that totally puts the "rock" back into "Rocketown". It comes that close to being irreverent, but since the song is about a radical guy who causes extreme change, it kind of makes sense. In any event, Shaun gives a gutsy performance on the level with his own song "What's Wrong with This World" - it follows the original rhythm perfectly despite being revved up a bit, and the only minor quibble I have is with the repeated shouts of "Rocket, Rocket, Rocketown!" at the end. Aside from that, it's flawless. It sure beats the rather lakcluster version that Brave Saint Saturn came up with a few years ago.

Secret Ambition
Some say, death to the radical
He's way out of line
Some say, praise be the miracle
God sends a blessed sign
A blessed sign for troubled times...
Seems to me like the David Crowder Band was all over the place last year, and for good reason - they really stepped it up musician-ship wise and established themselves as one of CCM's finest acts. As far as their compilation appearances went, they're 2 for 3, with their Narnia-inspired "Turkish Delight" hitting a home run, their WoW Christmas contribution of "Feliz Navidad" being a strikeout (as pretty much any version of that song is), and this take on one of MWS's most powerful classics being a total grand slam. Replacing the relentless thumping drums of the original with their own glitchy but danceable beat, the band's real success here is in how they stay true to the original and keep it easy to sing along to (David's attempt to mimic Michael's edgy and energetic vocals is quite amusing, especially when he gets to the memorable shout, "NO!!!" near the end of the song). And yet the band makes it their own by tricking it out with synthesized bleeps and blurps and augmenting the guitar solo just to make it that much cooler. The original version of this song always hit like a ton of bricks, painting Jesus as a radical guy who received both profound love and venomous hate from the people whose lives He changed during His walk on earth. It's very difficult to pull off a lyric with such gravity with a musical backdrop that just oozes coolness - Smitty managed that balance, and the DCB reflects it brilliantly on the album's standout track.

Pray for Me
Here is where the road divides
Here is where we realize
The sculpting of the Father's great design...
OK, so here we have one of Michael's most remembered ballads recast as... a dance track? Drill-n-bass? What the fudge? It's certainly not what I'd have expected, even from someone more modern-rock oriented like Plumb. Something about those thumping beats and skittering electronic chirps filling in the space between the solemn lyrics depicting a tearful goodbye, rushing those lyrics along like there's no tomorrow, just doesn't sit right with me... and yet, it's more interesting than the original because, again, not one of my favorites to begin with. Plumb turns in a good vocal performance and all, and I suppose I'm entertained at the end of it, but something seems fundamentally wrong here... like when they put out that dance remix of "My Heart Will Go On".

The Race Is On
Lord, I try running my own race
Losin' ground, losin' hope, losin' sight of Your face
And I'm ready to retire
Then I'm back on your solid ground
You remind me of the strength that in You I've found
And you fill me with Your fire...
Michael W. Smith's own son, Ryan Smith, applies his rather sleepy and muddled voice to a song that his parents co-wrote, likely before he was even born. If you've heard one cheesy "running the race" analogy in a Christian song, you've heard 'em all, and this being from Michael W. Smith's debut album, you can bet it's not a shining example of his most enduring work. Again, we've exchanged dated keyboard wizardry for modern rock, though Ryan's particular style of modern rock is more workmanlike and a bit sleepy, to tell you the truth. Any chorus that starts with the words "Come on and go, leave behind the sin you find yourself in" is begging to be skipped, and unless he's a phenomenal songwriter in his own right (or there's a case of nepotism going on), I'm not expecting to hear a full album by the young Mr. Smith any time soon.

Lamu
I hear you telling me of the place we soon will be
A rebirth from life's demise
Where the world is still, it's ideal, anything you dream is real
It's Hotel Paradise...
Here's another older song that somehow managed to escape me until now - I kept hearing the title tossed around when classic MWS songs were mentioned, but I had never checked the song out for myself. I now regret that - judging from Taylor Sorenson's interpretation, this was an early epic in the MWS catalogue, and it deserved more exposure. I'm guessing its sheer length is part of what kept it from being more popular - Taylor's version stretches out to about six minuts, so I'd assume Michael's was at least five. (Then again, that never stopped "Secret Ambition".) Setting aside my mild annoyance with the slightly grating, nasal tone of Taylor's voice, I'll say that he's got a fine rock track on his hands here, the electrified instrumentation echoing the exhilirating feeling of a journey to a beautiful new place (in this case, an island called Lamu off the coast of Africa). This earthly paradise is only an illusion, Michael reminds us by way of Taylor, and there's this glorious, triumphant feeling that something even better awaits us later on. A U2-like drum coda (think War/The Unforgettable Fire-era) proves to be the most memorable part of the song, but it's a uniformly strong performance.

Missing Person
Guarded and cynical now, can't help but wondering how
My heart evolved into a rock beating inside of me
So I reel, such a stoic ordeal
Where's that feeling that I don't feel?
Alright, so Tree63 often sounds like Delirious?, and Delirious? started out sounding an awful lot like U2, so you can tell that it's not a stretch for Tree63 to cover this shimmering, guitar-heavy rocker from a much more recent album - 1998's Live the Life. The newer material sticks out like a sore thumb, making this the only track on the album that doesn't really seem to need an update. Indeed, with the exception of the Titanic-like intro of the original (which doesn't show up here; they just launch right into the guitar riff), John Ellis and Co. follow the original pretty much note for note, sound for sound. Like several entries on the U2 covers disc that came out last year, these guys are basically singing karaoke, and they're doing it on my very favorite MWS song, so they sound awfully good doing it, but then, that's not so hard to do. Lots of points for listenability and singability here, but none for creativity. These guys are South African - maybe they should have done "Lamu", or one of MWS's songs with African elements such as "Seed to Sow".

On the Other Side
I'm not how I used to be
When we hung around
Back when it was you and me
Tearin' up this town...
"Oil and water" is the best way to describe this one.
The last time I heard from Todd Agnew was actually on that aforementioned U2 compilation (funny how that disc keeps coming up as I review this one), where his rough, lower-pitched-than-Creed powerhouse vocals were well applied to the bluesy "When Love Comes to Town". Here, they're applied to an upbeat, danceable tune about the changes a converted Christian undergoes, originally from Michael's i 2 (eye) album, and it totally doesn't work at all. Todd just doesn't have the voice for upbeat, peppy tracks, and while the music sounds a little better off with its thick bass and earthier electric guitar, it's not the type of song that works with Todd's growling "soul" applied to it.

Friends
Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
Can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter in your life is through...
So, even if you didn't find some of the preceding cover choices to be a bit laughable, you're certainly going to get a good guffaw over this one, because who did they find to cover Michael's most well-known (and in younger circles, most dreaded) classic but the newly reformed Stryper, the band that put "Christian metal" on the map during the same years that many of these MWS songs were popular. All of the natural laws of the universe should dictate that the chances of this song actually working are roughly the same as Ralph Nader's chances of getting elected President, but somehow, it manages to be quite enjoyable. Styper manages to change the melody up, giving it a darker, more acoustic flair, before allowing the electric guitars to amp things up somewhere around verse two. Michael Sweet, thankfully not singing in as ridiculously high of a register as he did on some of Stryper's classic ballads, performs it like he's really feeling it, and as cheesy as the line "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them" will forever remain, the emotion behind the song remains intact - perhaps it's even intensified, in ways that Plumb simply didn't know how to do with "Pray for Me". They go totally hair metal on the final chorus, which is a hoot, though the song ends a bit too soon (also ending the album a bit prematurely) after that point. It was fun while it lasted, even if I still prefer the punked-out Ghoti Hook version of this song.

This album really should have had 2 to 5 more tracks on it, as well as a few more well-known participants. No "Place in This World" or "Give It Away"? No "Live the Life" or "This Is Your Time"? How about a fun update of "Picture Perfect" or "Cry for Love"? Since these sorts of albums are always hit-and-miss, I figure it can't be bad to load them up with a lot of attempts, even if they're really off the wall, because there'll be a higher chance of curious fans of the artists included, as well as people who remember more of the original songs, checking such an album out. As it is, I've still gotten a lot of enjoyment out of this one, and I imagine I'd still like it quite a bit even if all of these songs were new to me.

I actually hope that this Ultimate Music Makeover thing becomes a series. As long as the covers are done as fun musical updates that pay attention to what styles will work with the original lyrics and intent of the songs, I'd love to hear more modern artists take on classic CCM artists who have work that has managed to hold up over the years and that deserves the ears of a younger audience today. That may not always be true for Michael W. Smith, but this is still a good starting point, and I'd be fascinated to hear what they could do with Amy Grant, dc Talk, the Newsboys... or shoot, even Stryper.

ALBUM WORTH:
Go West Young Man $.50
You Need a Savior $1
Rocketown $2
Secret Ambition $2
Pray for Me $1
The Race Is On $.50
Lamu $1.50
Missing Person $1.50
On the Other Side $.50
Friends $1
TOTAL: $11.50

Websites:
http://www.allstarunited.com
http://www.sarahkelly.com
http://www.shaungroves.com
http://www.davidcrowderband.com
http://www.plumbinfo.com
http://www.taylorsorensen.com
http://www.tree63.com
http://www.toddagnew.com
http://www.stryper.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving