I'm starting to really hate book/movie tie-ins that come from the Christian music community. They often mean well, but in the rush to strike while the iron is hot, record labels seem to end up emphasizing big-name recognition and vaguely positive encouragement over songs that specifically relate to the topic at hand. Case in point: the disastrous compilation The Passion of the Christ: Songs that came out last year, timed to capitalize on the hype surrounding Mel Gibson's controversial film. It was little more than a collection of teary-eyed love songs that did little to bring to mind the intensity, brutality, or ultimately the significance of the story. (And one didn't have to see the movie to know about that.)

This year, we have a disc which purports to be Songs Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia. I was hopeful about it - the well-loved children's story by C. S. Lewis is rife with analogies to the redemptive story of Jesus found in the Bible, and even to those who don't know and/or don't care about all that, it's a fun fantasy tale. Like many young-at-heart people nationwide, I was excited to see it get made into a movie this year. Due to the need to capitalize on marketing hype, though, we got this compilation album before we actually got the movie... or even the movie's official soundtrack (which sounds a lot more interesting, judging from its use in the film). It's a collection of well-meaning, radio-friendly Christian artists who hadn't seen the movie, but who had certainly read the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and that should have been a sufficient enough source for some truly imaginative and otherworldly songwriting to push a few of these guys out of their pop/rock comfort zones. I was game for giving it a listen.

Alas, what we get here is often little more than a lot of ruminating on how nice and powerful Jesus is. That's not a bad thing for a Christian artist to write about, of course, and of course the Christ figure served as the inspiration for Lewis' untamed lion Aslan, but that doesn't mean we should throw together a bunch of simple Jesus songs and label it as something Narnia-specific. If your song's about Narnia, then it should reference some aspect of the analogy. Whether or not it talks about the Biblical parallels is for the songwriter to decide - most of us Christians are smart enough to notice the similarities on our own, so it's fine with me if they maintain the fantasy story-telling tone. And a few of the artists manage something like this... but there are several tracks that are honestly so non-specific that they could fit on just about any CCM compilation. I mean come on, what are artists like Jeremy Camp, Kutless, and Chris Tomlin, who are generally very plainspoken songwriters, doing on a collection like this? They may have read the book as kids and enjoyed it, but that doesn't automatically make 'em capable of writing songs that fit with the spirit of the book. And while radio-ready pop/rock, as a musical style, doesn't exactly inspire the flight of fancy that is the world of Narnia, it sure fits better than the rap/rock stylings of one Toby Mac. Other, more imaginative artists like Jars of Clay and Nichole Nordeman fare much better, but it's actually the David Crowder Band, a formerly plainspoken worship band that took major creative strides this year, that steals the show late in the album. The rest is a real hit-and-miss affair of artists chosen because of their familiarity to a mass audience, not for their ability to successfully evoke the story.

I purposefully waited to write this review until I had seen the film (which, by the way, was fantastic - my favorite film of the year, actually). I hadn't read the book in a while, and I figured, hey, maybe I was missing some key phrases or ideas that got presented in the story, which were central to the songs. But no, not really. I'm still as baffled by most of this album as I was before I paid nine bucks to spend a few hours with the Pevensies. Unlike the mighty Aslan, this album is quite safe, and consequently, not terribly good.

Waiting for the World to Fall
I'm afraid it's been too long to try to find the reasons why
I let my world close in around a smaller patch of fading sky
But now I've grown beyond the walls to where I've never been
And it's still winter in my wonderland...
I can't really complain about the fact that my favorite band, Jars of Clay, was chosen to start things off. Their strength lately has been in their subtlety, so it's no surprise that they lead off with a medium-paced, softly evocative song, where the way the acoustic guitars are allowed to breathe does offer a mental picture of a world slowly turning from winter to spring. Given that the song is about this (well, vaguely), it's a good sonic choice. The lyrics aren't quite up to par with Jars of Clay's usual thoughtful style... this could really be about any experience where one sees the world anew. And as much as I hate to do this, I have to dock them points for falling back on a "Come undone" cliché at the end of the chorus. However, I'm always a sucker for the way these guys' voices blend together, as evidenced by Steve Mason echoing Dan Haseltine's observation in the bridge that "My view is changing me". It's a beautiful moment in a decent song that probably just needed a bit more work to make it another classic in the Jars canon.

Remembering You
The brave death, the last breath
The silence whispering all hope was lost
The thunder, the wonder
A power that brings the dead back to life...
Hey, look! I can say "Steven Curtis Chapman" and "musically interesting" in the same sentence! The guy mostly bored me with his last album, so I'm glad to hear him making a musical comeback with the bright acoustic guitars, light drum rolls, and most importantly, the Celtic-sounding flute (which reminds me a bit of the instrument played by Mr. Tumnus in the movie) fluttering along to the playful 3/4 rhythm. This sort of musical arrangement really would helped to get a dull song like "Much of You" off the ground. Steven also ruminates on the changeover from winter to spring, also making references to Aslan's sacrifice and rebirth, which are crucial to the story and the most obvious Christlike elements in that character's story. The lyrics touch on the story just enough to be an acceptable part of this quasi-soundtrack, though the song could fit in on Christian radio without anyone being confused as to what Steven was talking about. The song's got good momentum, a strong melody, and decent word pictures, which is honestly more than I was expecting from Mr. Chapman these days.

Open Up Your Eyes
And the time has come to realize
And see the plan you've been designed for
So face the fear of all unknown
And see the heart inside...
Here's case number one of an artist who just doesn't belong anywhere near this project. Jeremy Camp, a man who is arguably more popular due to his testimony than the music that he makes (he's the everyman with a slightly gruff voice and a guitar who sings simple songs of praise and surrender, basically), tries to hit us with a convicting message of needing to face reality and stop playing childish games, because we've been designed for a bigger plan. This slightly muddy acoustic rock number never really gets going, much like a lot of the songs that fill out his albums, and while he claims that the song was inspired by the character of Edmund, there's not much conflict here that I can see - no temptation, no turning from the dark side... just a lot of vague cliches. I actually think more of Peter making the move from cynic to warrior when I hear this one, but it's so vague that you could really interpret it any which way you want, and it doesn't help that Jeremy's vocal work has squat for personality as usual.

Hero
And what is love without much risk?
You were a man of great sorrow
The world that You created kept You at a distance
You weren't recognizable...
Now it's Bethany Dillon's turn. She's a promising teenage folk/pop artist whose debut album I had a lot of good things to say about, and she was so inspired by Lewis' works this year that she wrote two songs about Narnia (the other of which appears on her sophomore album, Imagination). This one finds her in more of a rock mode, similar to her song "Great Big Mystery", with a strong vocal hook at the beginning, and a nice balance of acoustic and electric elements woven through it, making it feel less like something that came from the Nashville machine. Bethany is the first on this album to spell out the analogy explicitly, referring to Aslan as "Almighty God in the flesh", and we can all tell that the song is really more about Jesus than Lewis' portrayal of Him in animal form. As such, it's one step removed from the actual story, with more of the specific references fitting Jesus than fitting Aslan. The chorus simply concludes, "You're the hero we've been waiting for, You have done the impossible", which is a bit of a disappointing conclusion since it doesn't really explain what's been done, or how. Her voice also seems strangely muffled at times - it's pretty, but it's tough to make out some of her words due to the way she enunciates. It results in a song that would've been a definite highlight on her album, but here it kind of misses the mark.

Stronger
We're getting closer every day
Into Your arms I'm here to stay
We're much stronger when we're one
Hallelujah, here we come...
The familiar hum of strings signals the start of a song that I know I've heard before, because it's the lead track on the latest Delirious? album, The Mission Bell. "Shameless marketing" is the only explanation I can come up with for this one, because there's not even a fraction of a hint that Martin Smith had Narnia in mind when he wrote this one. It's a retread of a rerun of your typical "We're going to win the spiritual battle"-type Delirious? anthem, and even in the context of their album, it's an inexcusably weak track, with its unimaginative lyrics ("We're getting stronger every day/We're getting braver in every way") and its dull, plodding, we-wish-we-were-Coldplay rhythm. I suppose you could apply this one to all four of the Pevensie children, since they do attain great amounts of strength over the course of the story... but you could apply it to the freaking American Gladiators if you wanted to. It's a boring song that has no business being here whatsoever.

Lion
I'm scared and not sure that You are safe
But Your eyes seem to say that You are good...
Thankfully, Rebecca St. James shows up to inject a little bit of passion and imagination back into the album. She's never been much for specific songwriting, which might explain why "Wait for Me" was a surprise hit that ended up being her best-known song, but here, she makes an admirable attempt to put herself in Lucy's shoes, and approach Aslan with a sort of fear and trembling. The basis for this song is Lucy's observation (which got moved around a bit in the movie, but it's still a key line when it appears) that Aslan is not "safe", but she knows that he is good. The opening piano chords and the eccentric way that Rebecca enunciates the verses really add to that air of mystery, and it's only when the song reaches the chorus that it disappoints me a bit, becoming more adult contemporary in nature and employing cop-out lyrics about "facing tomorrow together" and how "the lion is an angel". The mushiness doesn't really jive with the more reverent nature of the verses. Still, I admire Rebecca for at least making an attempt at role-playing here.

New World
She says she's seen the land beyond
She said she's walked her Babylon
She felt the cold beneath her feet
And time stood still where the winter won't sleep...
Oh, brother. Here comes the subtle-as-a-sledgehammer rap-rock attack of Toby Mac. Normally, I enjoy the style quite a bit, but it just totally isn't appropriate for a song about a little girl entering a winter wonderland. Toby's thin singing voice is an interesting enough fit on the subdued verses, but as soon as he breaks into his usual rap-speak bravado, the spell is broken and we're back in the suburban world of white-boy rap. Hey, at least he doesn't mask the story so that it could be about any old vague thing - his is the only song that actually mentions Narnia by name, even if it comes across as more of a commercial theme song for some sort of cyberpunk sci-fi film. The sound snippet of a child saying, "There... just beyond the lamppost" is cute, though I don't think it was actually in the movie. Catchy song, but just... No. It doesn't work.

I Will Believe
One of us is big and brave
And one of us is tenderhearted
One of us is tempting fate
And the last, but not least of us
Has faith enough for each of us...
Nichoel Nordeman has always been a songwriter apt at balancing the wonder of childlike faith with a mature theological perspective. Here, she employs her classy voice in a bit more of a poppy setting (one of her piano ballads would have actually worked well here), bringing another strong melody and some interesting use of programming and looping to the table as she attempts to take on the spiritual journey of all four Pevensie children. Obviously, this ends up getting handled in pretty general terms, but thankfully, she really nails the personality traits that make them all tick (even poor Susan, who generally gets the shaft when characters from this story are remembered). The track works really well, even if it's not as fantasy-evoking lyrically as I'd like it to be. I find it to be more memorable than most of Nordeman's Brave album, and it's probably the second best track on this disc.

Turkish Delight
I would sell you out
I'd give you all away
A life of treats might do me in
But I gotta get another taste...
Now this is more like it. Fully immersing themselves in the story, and having a blast of a time doing it, is the David Crowder Band, who ends up showing quite a bit of quirky personality in one of the few instances where we'll likely ever hear them breaking from more vertical, worship-oriented lyrics. (Not that their worship songs are bad... I'm just sayin'.) A nice, shiny rhythm track and a little bit of guitar funk provide the basis for an unabashedly disco rendering of Edmund's struggle with temptation... and this, by all means, should not work, but something about the highly danceable groove just oozes gleeful hedonism. You really believe that David is fully immersed in the character, willing to sell out his own blood relatives for the allure of his favorite snack. The band pulls this one off with plenty of charisma and tongue-in-cheek exuberance, and I have to give them credit for going the unexpected route and taking the "evil" point of view in order to help tell the story. (Now, if someone had just done a song from the perspective of the White Witch, that'd have been spectacular). Best track on the album by a dang sight!

More than It Seems
Passing through darkness into my own world
Will I be more than when I left
Never letting go of the lessens I learned
This will make a change, a change within me...
Alas, we now have to return to corporate mush-rock drudgery with the poster-boys for lifeless and unimaginative power chordage and grade-school songwriting known as Gutless... er, I mean Kutless. Ironically, my favorite critical whipping boys don't turn in a terrible song here - just due to the fairly pleasant melody, the 3/4 rhythm, and the fact that Jon Micah Sumrall isn't grunting or screaming at all, this would be a pleasant spot, likely even a highlight, on one of the band's otherwise abysmal albums. But guys... this is a Narnia album, remember? These guys seem to have no concept of imagination whatsoever, let alone evocative imagery, and it shows in the truly sorry lyrics about reality versus dreams, and how "I am capable more than it seems". (They're keeping up the bad grammar quota; knew I could count on them for that!) The fact that they at least sound more tolerable doing melodic mid-tempo mush only further serves to prove my point that they've all but given up on posing as a "hard rock" band.

You're the One
High in a hidden world is where You are found
Where every living thing circles around
I find myself again where I used to be
With the rescued ones falling on my knees...
And we end the album with the mild-mannered stylings of one Chris Tomlin, a fairly successful worship leader whose songs are near-ubiquitous in today's contemporary churches, and a guy whom I generally respect. But not here. Why? Again, it's the lack of specificity. He's written a rather workmanlike rock song that does absolutely nothing to evoke the story, instead using recycled praise song lyrics as a template for one last forgettable song. Hey, it's great if the Narnia story inspires Christians to worship God and ponder His infiniteness, His imagination, His mercy, etc. But the application here is too broad, and once again the song just takes up space that could have been occupied by someone more creative.

There are certainly more interesting songs about or inspired by Narnia out there. I've heard a song that Relient K wrote called "In Like a Lion (Always Winter)", a piano ballad that digs more into the emotional response a person has to being stuck in a spiritual blizzard with no sign of Christmas. That's a good example of writing a personal song using Narnia as a springboard. But it didn't make the cut, and for what reason? Seven years ago, Michelle Tumes featured the insightful song "Untame Lion" on her marvelous debut album Listen. And way back in the Jesus music days, 2nd Chapter of Acts dedicated an entire album to the Narnia story (the David Crowder Band's song may actually be a nod to that one). Beyond that, C. S. Lewis has been a source of inspiration to many Christian artists who could undoubtedly have written poignant songs on the topic (it's a shame that Sixpence None the Richer and Poor Old Lu, whose very names were inspired by Lewis' writings, aren't around any more, eh?)

But alas, the dark side has won the marketing war for now, with a few hints of spring peeking through the gloom on this otherwise cold and distant echo of what such an album could have been. Skip this one and go straight for the official soundtrack if you really want to recapture the spirit of the movie.

ALBUM WORTH:
Waiting for the World to Fall $1
Remembering You $1
Open Up Your Eyes -$.50
Hero $.50
Stronger -$1
Lion $1
New World $1
I Will Believe $1.50
Turkish Delight $2
More than It Seems -$.50
You're the One -$.50
TOTAL: $5.50

Unofficial Website: http://www.narniafans.com/movies/mov_st.php

Recommended: No