Chris Rice has always been a bit of a quiet and unassuming personality in Christian music, ever since he arrived on the scene with his hit song "Deep Enough to Dream" four years ago. As the flagship artist on Michael W. Smith's new Rocketown label, he couldn't help but attract some attention with his stripped-down folk/pop sound, reminding some older fans of James Taylor. But even though this garnered him an opening spot on Michael W. Smith's Live the Life tour, and he had some of the top Christian radio songs of the subsequent years, he wasn't much for diving headfirst into the Nashville lifestyle. Instead, Chris preferred to do what he had been doing all along - youth ministry. He first wrote songs for the kids he worked with, and those kids remained his priority. When it came time to release his third album, Smell the Color 9, in the fall of 2000, Chris made a bold move, realizing that the touring, interviews, and other celebrity duties were making it difficult for him to stick to his roots. He consulted his management and asked them to essentially promote the album without his help. He recorded the songs he wanted to record, and Rocketown did the rest. This of course meant very few concert dates, which must have been hard for some fans, because this album is some of Chris's best work yet. He's built off of his usual acoustic sound, adding a fuller band and some programming and effects where appropriate, without letting it dominate the simple, carefree, comfortable style that's won over a lot of fans who have tired of the normally overproduced sound of Christian pop.

As the first track, Questions for Heaven, fades in, you are immediately immersed in the sounds of a circus, which explains the whimsical artwork on the album cover. This track has an almost polka feel to it, led by a guitar and an accordion, and a plethora of intermittent sounds, such as an audience gasping and the crash of cymbals, as if acrobats are performing stunts right before your eyes. But this doesn't distract from the theme of the song - Chris is musing about random tidbits of life that he doesn't understand, in a rather humorous way. It all starts when he wakes up in the morning (a clumsy fly interrupts a dream about Heaven - sound familiar?) and finds his head spinning with questions for God like "Do our jokes make You laugh? What's Your favorite cartoon? Do You ever play tricks on the angels?", and he even asks twice what causes deja vu. If you are familiar with his older songs, you'll catch a few references to some of them. The song ends in under three minutes, with Chris realizing that he'll have an eternity in heaven to ask all of these questions, and "it's a good thing forever's forever."

Smell the Color 9 picks up immediately, continuing the bouncy 3/4 beat, but taking on a more pop/rock feel. As the song builds steam, Chris relates some of his spiritual struggles to us - he wonders why he doesn't seem to feel God's presence. The conclusion he arrives at offers solace to many who are struggling to have faith - trying to sense God with the senses we're used to is like trying to "smell the color 9" (it may sound like a stupid title, but it comes off as quite profound). Many people who have been Christians for a while have felt the pressure of nagging thoughts like "Are there special revelations meant for everybody but me?" - Chris nails these insecurities perfectly, and manages to break down his theology in terms an idiot could understand. Musically, this song lays down a solid acoustic rock groove, and once again Chris is at it with the sound effects - during the bridge, there are all manner of dogs barking and kids screaming and other things swirling around.

Belong, although it is underpinned by some faint spacey noises, is essentially a stark piano ballad, which seems to hit the musical brakes a bit too soon for me, but it's a nice song, and it's short and sweet. Here Chris is telling a story of sorts (the verse and chorus change slightly each time to keep the song from getting repetitive), in which he is a lost soul awakened to the need to find a place where his life is meaningful. Though he curses that realization at first (ignorance is bliss), it eventually leads him into the arms of "brother Jesus".

The Face of Christ takes its time to get going, fooling you at first into thinking that it's one of Chris' acoustic ballads, but it's really another light pop/rock song. The song carries an important message for Christians, taken straight from the Biblical idea "Whatsoever you do unto the least of these, you do unto Me." He describes meeting a few down-and-out characters - a homeless man and a convicted felon, and feeling sorry for them, but realizing that he should not be looking down on them, because he "might be dealing with the face of Christ." As the song builds in drama toward its conclusion, Chris' message hits home, as he warns us all that we had no choice where we'd be born, "Whether daddy would be rich or whether momma stuck around at all." It's a tough concept to chew on, but Chris isn't one for taking the easy way out.

Home Tonight basically retells the story of the prodigal son, once again using a piano and little else (though some light percussion joins in after the first chorus). The song has a bit of a weary, jazzy feel to it, reminding me of "I Need a Hero" from Chris' first album. You can feel his remorse - he understands that his father would have "Every reason to slam and deadbolt the door", but instead he leaves a light on the porch and sings his song, softly calling his son home. An age-old story, nicely
retold.

Magic Wand is definitely a high point of the album, and probably the closest thing on here to one of Chris' more traditional acoustic guitar ballads. He describes being a kid and watching a magic show, wishing that he could harness that power and make all of the evil in the world disappear. (You have to love that he uses the word "prestidigitator", which I can't even spell.) Instead of writing another hippy-styled "Give peace a chance" song, he examines himself and the things that are wrong with him, acknowledging that there is no "easy way", no shortcut to change. It simply requires a lot of patience and prayer. The song builds off of his guitar, introducing some light programming and keyboard tones underneath - it reminds me of David Gray's hit song "Babylon".

Sailing with Russell is another story song, though I don't know who Russell is - maybe one of his buddies or one of the kids in his youth group. Anyway, he describes a boat trip that they went on one day, which sparked a conversation about Jesus walking on the water. Chris recalls how that conversation inspired and changed him, encouraging him to put his faith into practice. Once again, Chris pulls a lot of tricks out of his hat in terms of the sound - it's underpinned by a low, whimsical doo-wop vocal loop, and at one point Chris's voice sounds like it's underwater. Okay, so this song can get a bit cheesy at times, and I guess Chris has to do something cheesy at least once on each album (think back to "Smellin' Coffee" and "Good News"). Despite that, I think it's great that Chris doesn't take himself so seriously that he insists on being a purist - he can bend and change his musical style to fit the mood of a song.

My Prayer is the last of three piano-based ballads on this album - this one has a certain level of tension and drama to it, but without needing to rely on some sort of a bombastic inspirational buildup. It describes a quiet moment alone with God, in which Chris is attempting to pray by putting his thoughts down on paper. He becomes frustrated because he has no idea what to say to God, and yet he is sure God is there listening. I think it's a common experience even among Christians who pray constantly - sometimes you feel like you're talking to the walls, and it's really just God trying to get you to hush up and listen. Without any clear conclusion or moral to the story, Chris seems to find solace, and ends the song on "Thank You, Amen", yet lingering on a slightly unresolved note - you wouldn't expect the song to end here, but it does.

Somebody's Watchin' is a nice way to follow up this theme - it's the last of the upbeat songs on this album. It's somewhat bass-driven, taking us back into the light rock territory that Chris has become rather comfortable with on this album. The message of the song is pretty clear from the title - God is looking after you even when it feels like you're all alone. Chris has composed this song with the right balance of tension and resolution, but it really doesn't say anything that wasn't already said in a more clever fashion in "Smell the Color 9". It's not a bad song, but probably the closest thing on this album to what I would call "filler".

Life Means So Much ends the album (much too soon!) on a softer note, maintaining a soft beat but focusing mostly on Chris' vocals as opposed to any particular instrument. The song is pretty much Chris's manifesto, an exhortation to not waste your time, to "count the days" and "make the days count". He makes a brilliant analogy in the second verse, describing a bank in which people deposit and withdraw their time - and we're all given the same amount each day. It's a challenge to the listener - are you going to do something that matters, or just float through life? It explains perfectly Chris's approach to his career - his calling is youth ministry, and that must come first, and the Christian music star business is just fluff. His music is a wonderful, God-given talent, but he seems to create more because he needs to get the thoughts out of his head, and because people seem to relate to them - not to attain notoriety (though he inadvertently has).

I do wish that Chris Rice could give us more than the standard ten songs (though if you count the hilarious hidden track "Cartoons" on his last album, there were eleven), but then again, I'd rather have ten songs that are densely packed with subtle wit and wisdom than fifteen songs that only showed a few flashes of brilliance. If you like some of the mellower side of Christian music (especially if you're a Steven Curtis Chapman fan), this is worth checking out. I mentioned David Gray earlier; there are a few similarities there as well, for those of you who listen to more mainstream music than Christian music. This album has its upbeat moments, but don't buy it expecting tons of ear candy. Buy it expecting a springboard for prayer, meditation, celebration in the character of God. Will it make you feel the presence of God? Well, given what Chris has assured us of in many of these songs, that's kind of a moot point, now isn't it?

TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY
Excellent: Smell the Color 9, Questions for Heaven, Magic Wand
Good: My Prayer, The Face of Christ, Home Tonight
Decent: Belong, Sailing with Russell, Somebody's Watchin', Life Means So Much
Weak: NONE
Skippable: NONE

Website: http://www.chrisrice.com


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying