Pros: Well-performed praise & worship music that is at once rocking and intimate.
Cons: Distracting spoken interludes here and there; a few songs get long and repetitive.
The Bottom Line: Out of all the praise & worship albums to come out in the past five years, this is definitely one of the best - good combination of standards and originals.
One thing I have noticed in listening to a wide range of Christian rock over the years is that some bands like to simply write about the Christian life and all of its complexities, and some bands like to keep a very direct focus on God - who He is and what He does and what His relationship with His children is like.
SonicFlood emerged in 1999 as a praise and worship band with an upbeat, modern rock style, establishing themselves as a distinctly "God-focused" bands, and drawing in amazing numbers of people with their fun covers of well-known praise songs, as well as a handful of their own ventures into modern hymn-writing. Not that this hadn't been done before. Petra, one of the biggest names in Christian rock, had attempted this a few times, but I don't think it was as successful as they hoped. Other established artists such as Michael W. Smith and The Choir had worked with an array of musicians to put out some high-quality worship albums as well. There were also, of course, the Insyderz' Skalleluia albums, a source of debate regarding what worked and what didn't work in a praise and worship setting. By the time SonicFlood came along, the stage was definitely set for this to be an album that Christians would just drink up.
A little bit of background on the band: A couple members of SonicFlood used to be in a band called Zilch, a wacky pop/rock outfit that was mainly a side project of dc Talk's tour band. Confused yet? Don't worry. These songs are definitely good enough to erase any notions of SonicFlood simply being "a band within a band within a band". The idea for this album started out with the members of Zilch, who decided they wanted to do a praise album, translating some well known songs into their fun, zippy style. I didn't think this would work at first - Zilch could be almost as silly as Five Iron Frenzy at times, but thankfully, they ended up working with a great songwriter (lead singer Jeff Deyo) and releasing the album under a new band name, giving them a chance to "start over" as a band. But the loose connection to dc Talk definitely didn't hurt them, and those who like dc Talk's punchy, tightly produced pop/rock style will find a lot to like here as well.
The CD opens with a spoken Invocation, simply calling on Jesus to be present in the making of the album and be glorified in everything they do. While I sometimes skip over this track, it definitely tells you upfront of the band's focus, a focus that all Christian bands should have, praise & worship or otherwise.
Suddenly some buzzing guitars rise up and I Have Come to Worship gets underway, immediately drawing you in and ensuring you that these guys pack a little more punch than your average worship band. This song is a great choice for opening a worship album and drawing in the listener - I believe it originated from one of the Vineyard churches (but please correct me if I'm wrong). It depicts a long, hard journey through deserts, across rivers, and so forth, stating that it is all worthwhile in seeking God and longing to worship Him. The band definitely has a multi-layered sound here, layering two or more vocals at once toward the end, reminding me of some enjoyable songs I've sung in church where one part of the room would
"split off" and sing an entirely different line concurrently with the other part of the room.
A tight ending pops immediately into the fuzzy guitar intro to Holy One, one of four songs that the band wrote themselves. It seems at first to be a more ordinary, midtempo song, but the chorus is quite powerful. This song grapples with the magnitude of who God is, understanding that we can never contain Him, but we can definitely still admire Him. If your average worship team was a little more guitar-heavy, many churches across the nation could make this song one of their own - it's got a great melody, a memorable chorus, and a killer bridge. The closing "na na na"s are a nice touch as well, overlapping a final verse, until the whole thing finally drifts off into space.
Almost immediately, a punchy drum intro kicks in, announcing the arrival of I Want to Know You, the single that made nearly everyone stand up and take notice of this band, and with good reason. It's a great adaptation of Andy Park's praise song (better known as "In the Secret"), given a more syncopated beat and some trademark "bah bah dah bah"s just to be sure you're hooked. The only unfortunate thing about this interpretation is that you can practically sing Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life" right over it. I don't know whether this was purposeful or not, but it's kinda fun to interject those trademark "doo doo doo"s and so forth. In any case, it's definitely a highlight of the CD. The band just needs to be careful that they're not trying too heard to sound like whatever's on modern pop radio. The end of this track contains a rather lengthy spoken interlude that gets a little too preachy for my tastes about how this nation has lost its foundation and so forth; I often skip it because it drives me nuts during a worship service when the lead singer or someone else feels the need to interrupt the flow to share a lengthy message. It's just my personal taste, but most people I know skip this part.
My Refuge follows next, another SonicFlood original, and quite possibly my favorite worship song of all time. It starts off unassuming, establishing a solid, medium tempo and overlaying some slightly bluesy guitar playing. The verse doesn't sound too different from the usual praise song: "I take my refuge in the palm of Your hand/I take my comfort in Your perfect plan/I take my sorrow and lay it down at Your feet/I take my refuge where I can be free", and the chorus seems nice enough, but then... BLAM! All the walls seem to cave in and the band goes full force, still maintaining the reverence of the song but creating a powerful river that mows down anything in its path. This is a perfect example of a worship band "rocking out" without feeling the need to be extreme or show off with a bunch of guitar solos or anything hard like that. It's simply a beautiful composition, flowing effortlessly through a few choruses, a quieter bridge, and a little more of that vocal weaving leading up to a sudden ending. If I ever learn to play guitar, this will be the first song I learn. I love it that much.
I Could Sing of Your Love Forever comes swooping in next (it's really an excellent transition). You'll of course recognize this one, originally performed by Delirious?, and almost omnipresent in modern churches. This adaptation sticks to the acoustic guitar-dominated nature of the original, while adding a simple programmed drum beat. Jeff Deyo does a nice duet here with Lisa Kimmey Bragg (the oldest sister and chief songwriter of Out of Eden, which is no surprise given that both groups are on Gotee Records, founded by dc Talk's Toby MacKeehan) that gets a little repetitive toward the end, but is still a nice cover. A little more bass and urban feel, and it could have been an Out of Eden track. Thankfully, they decided not to go that route (I like Out of Eden, but I'm guessing most modern rock listeners probably don't). I get a little tired of the coda, which seems to be a lo-fi recording of the group singing the chorus as if they were all sitting around a campfire with a lone guitar or something, but it does add to the intimacy of an otherwise polished record.
Holiness begins what I think of as the "slow" segment of this digital worship service, bringing in some nice, dramatic strings, which really help to color in an otherwise repetitive song (which is somewhat infamous for being one of those "camp" songs due to each new verse being constructed by placing a new word in place of "Holiness"). Due to a little playing with the chords, they give it a little more of an alternative sound, but after a few verses and choruses, they make a big mistake by slowing it down even further. Apparently they wanted to emphasize the line "Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for", but at this point, it's pretty much a broken record. Sorry, guys, but worship teams need to learn that slowing down a song doesn't always make it more beautiful (and conversely, speeding up a song doesn't always make it more fun, though SonicFlood has been more successful with that approach). This song apparently features some vocals or guitars or something by Micah and Lori Wilshire (known simply as Wilshire), but I can't make them out from the rest of the band.
Carried Away finally gets underway after the 7+ minutes of the last track. This is another SonicFlood original that carries a similar driving, sweeping force to "My Refuge", but for some reason this one doesn't hit me as hard. It's definitely a good song to listen to while looking at the various depictions of people underwater found on the album, with its metaphor of "Getting lost in Your waves". The strings are still present, and once again, they add a certain touch of drama that helps the listener to appreciate the power and majesty of the God being described here. SonicFlood is pretty good at choosing an appropriate musical backdrop for this song, not simply trying to impress you with a wall of sound at every second.
Something About that Name adds a weird, Middle Eastern sort of twist to an old-school Bill Gaither classic that was written in the mid-70's (making it the oldest song on the project). A lot of people like this one because Kevin Max from dc Talk duets with Jeff Deyo here. Personally (and this has often been my complaint about Kevin Max whenever he's singing something I'm already familiar with), he makes it rather difficult to sing along, deviating from the main melody and rhythm of the song and generally refusing to play it straight. It's an interesting interpretation, but some have noted that it sounds a little too much like something off of Radiohead's OK Computer album (which is apparently the hip thing to do among modern rock bands these days). One other complaint is that this song is tracked wrong - the short spoken intro from Kevin is stuck at the end of Track 8, not as a minus track on 9 (which may not seem like a big deal, but if you like to play things on random, then trust me, it's a big deal).
I Need You is the last of the four songs that the band wrote themselves. It's a nice, warm, piano-based ballad with a really simple chorus, but some wonderfully descriptive verses that deal with the ups and downs of human life (You can read my empty page/You can feel my rage) and how we need God in the midst of each moment, good or bad. Later in the song, it changes to "We need You", and the music builds a little more, as if making sure to bring this personal reflection back around to a more corporate expression of worship. Playing it straight here was much needed after the weirdness of the previous track (I don't think that worship can't be weird; it just didn't do it for me that time). And of course, once again, we have another vocal part repeating over the chorus near the end. Unfortunately, we get another bit of dialogue as this track fades out - a reflection on the nature of worship that really is touching, but is once again rather long. I'd almost rather that these reflections be written in the liner notes or posted on the band's website or something so that the flow of the songs wouldn't get interrupted. But I do realize that these reflections are part of what the band feels is important about worship.
Open the Eyes of my Heart is another highly visible praise song in churches today, mainly because it is easy to learn, having repetitive verse and a simple chorus with an overlapping refrain of "Holy, holy, holy/I want to see You." The band definitely jams on this one, taking it closer to the musical territory of Zilch (this might have been one of the songs they were working on before the conversion to SonicFlood). The one weird thing is that this song has a lovely overlapping vocal part, and the band doesn't do the overlap, even though they did it on so many other songs. Still, it's a rocking interpretation with a dreamy guitar intro, and I love it.
The Heart of Worship bleeds in with a simple guitar as "Open the Eyes" fades out, which was a smart bit of production, since the opening lyric is "When the music fades and all is stripped away/And I simply come". This song was originally written by the popular British worship leader Matt Redman after a bit of fallout in his church with people trying to jazz up worship music for all the wrong reasons. It closes the album with a much-needed reminder: "We might impress you by making cool modern worship music, but if your focus is on us or the music and not God, we haven't done anything useful." This is indeed the heart of the band, and the simple, lone guitar interpretation works perfectly.
Of course there would have to be a bonus track; unfortunately, it's not a very interesting one. It's just a few different members of the band talking about the making of the album and how the band was brought together. Again, I'd rather have this printed on the CD, or posted on their website, or on a CD-ROM portion of the disc or something. It is interesting information (a good chance for them to be abundantly clear on what the band is all about), but not interesting listening, and again, a pain if you have the CD on random.
Sadly, there have been some major changes in the band since this recording. Jeff Deyo was "voted out" of the band for reasons that I believe have yet to be explained to a number of rather confused fans out there (possibly conflicts on what direction they wanted to take their music next, but that's only a guess), and a few other members have left as well, leading to many unfounded rumors of their breakup. They're still together, but with a new lead singer and chief songwriter, you can bet they're gonna sound a whole lot different. So, if you love direct and powerful praise & worship music that packs a musical punch, go pick up this CD while the band still lasts, because no one can guarantee just yet that SonicFlood is gonna last much longer - though I hope they do, because Christian music needs this.
TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY Excellent: My Refuge, I Want to Know You, Holy One, Opene the Eyes of My Heart
Good: I Have Come to Worship, The Heart of Worship, I Could Sing of Your Love Forever, Carried Away, I Need You
Decent: Something About That Name
Weak: Holiness
Skippable: Invocation, spoken interludes
Band Members (at the time of this recording):
Jeff Deyo: Lead vocals, guitar,
Jason Halbert: Keyboards, programming
Dwayne Larring: Guitars and other noise
Aaron Blanton: Drums
Website: http://www.sonicflood.com
Great Music to Play While: Worshipping (once again, duh).
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