And so the U2 obsession continues. Well, sort of. I've decided to take a side trip from my exploration of one of the world's greatest bands, and discuss a project designed to honor the band - both for their music and for the charitable work that they (particularly Bono) have thrown their hearts into in recent years. Released on January 27, 2004, In the Name of Love: Artists United for Africa comes as the first item in a lengthy list of albums I've been anticipating in this new year. The concept is pretty simple - 13 Christian artists (both established favorites and newcomers) coming together to cover some of their favorite U2 songs, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to help rehabilitate an AIDS-stricken village in Zambia.

Bet I almost lost you on that "Christian" part, didn't I? I guess I can't blame you for being skeptical. U2 has been "tributed" many times over the past few decades, and the results have often landed somewhere between mediocre and frightfully bad. And there's a commonly held belief in the mainstream music world that "Christian music" is sub-par in both composition and execution, allowing the message to be an excuse for taking the easy way out in terms of creativity and energy. That may perhaps be true to an extent, though U2 themselves stand as examples of Christians (three of the four guys, anyway) who have risen above that myth to create powerful music that pulls no punches in terms of getting its message across. Of course, U2 never considered themselves strictly a "Christian" band, despite a few of their albums pointing to Jesus more frequently than a number of the CCM albums released at around the same time. Understandably, a lot of young Christian rockers found solace in U2's music, and so their influence can easily be heard in a lot of CCM's most popular bands. And yet CCM as a community has never fully embraced U2, generally remaining uneasy about the band's politics, or those weird 90's albums that most Christian fans gloss over as being their "heathen" period. Let's be honest here - any attempt on the part of the Christian music community to tribute U2 is going to require a bit of revisionist history in order for it to sit well with most potential consumers. So we can kiss the material from Pop and Zooropa goodbye right off the bat. Sad, but true.

Thankfully, what we have left to work with is an acceptable overview of the band's finest work, touching on every remaining album except for Boy. The roster of artists providing their own takes on this material ranges from nu-metal to mellow pop, and even a few left-field hip-hop entries. (Or should I say, "hip-pop"… whatever.) More importantly than any nitpicking that I might have over the individual performances (and I'll get to that, just you wait), I have to say that this is an admirable project, because it helps to put another dent in the crisis that Bono and his boys hope to stamp out - the epidemic of AIDS and poverty in Africa. In partnership with WorldVision, fifty cents for every album sold will go to the village that the organization has "adopted", so to speak. Another unspecified amount will be contributed to the Blood: Water Mission, a non-profit organization started by the band Jars of Clay which seeks to educate college students and community leaders about how they can help Africa overcome this crisis. I realize that it sounds like those greedy old artists and record companies may be giving a piddly amount to charity and keeping the bulk of it to themselves, but consider all of the people who get a piece of the pie during the process of getting a CD from the recording studio to store shelves, and you'll realize that the artist doesn't have a huge cut of it to give away in the first place. I think 50 cents per album is actually going to add up if this thing sells well. But hey, if that doesn't sound like enough, there's nothing stopping you from bypassing the CD and giving it to one of these organizations, or whatever charity you deem worthy.

Admittedly this CD is best suited for the faithful who already enjoy a lot of the Christian artists found within, and who aren't so attached to the original U2 recordings that they don't mind a modern update of most of them. Most hardcore U2 fans will likely scoff at these versions because, let's be honest, few vocalists can stand up to Bono, few guitarists are as versatile as The Edge (though his trademark bell-chiming sound actually isn't that hard to emulate - we've been doing it for years), and few bands are as tight as the Irish foursome overall. But most of the takes are admirable. Perhaps the most successful numbers are when a band who doesn't have such an obvious U2 influence to begin with manages to warp a song just enough to put their distinctive stamp on it while still respecting the original. Few cover songs manage to do that. What generally remains are note-perfect Xerox copies that lack the passion of the original, or unforgivably blasphemous desecrations of scared classics. If I sound like a fanatic, it's because I'm trying to warn those of you who are fanatics to brace yourselves. There's at least one such cut on this project. But for the most part, Sparrow Records has pulled together a pretty good compilation here. In that respect, since nobody in their right minds would normally dump all of these artists onto the same CD (except for perhaps me), and because I can't recall the last time Christian music put together a "tribute" type record for an artist who didn't exist within the CCM bubble, In the Name of Love is something of a landmark recording.

And yet I'm still a bit disappointed with it. Indecision sucks, doesn't it?

Sunday Bloody Sunday
When the Kansas-bred hard rock outfit Pillar gets going with an oh-so familiar drum cadence, you'd swear you had just popped in a remastered version of War. The differences soon make themselves apparent, though, as dry, crunchy guitars join in and lead singer Rob Beckley begins to echo Bono's anti-violence protests with his low, growling voice. I'm sure some of you are cringing at the prospect of a rap/rock remake of one of the most beloved songs in rock music, but rest assured, there's no rap here. Pillar simply adds an extra dose of crunch to the original tune without sacrificing the melody. The track is actually a sensible choice for these guys, because they've always been a rather militant band, and this was one of U2's most unflinchingly political songs from their early years. There is one uneasy point where they play with the melody of one of the verses, pulling off an odd key change as they go back into the chorus, but I can't help but smile as Rob shouts, "To claim the victory JESUS WON!" Ironically, for a band that's supposed to be so edgy, the U2 version still comes across as denser and more passionate. (Please take the liberty of cutting and pasting that last sentence to the end of every paragraph from here on that describes a rock band covering U2. It's an almost universal principle.)

Beautiful Day
Jumping unexpectedly from U2's distant past to one of their most recent hits, Sanctus Real takes on the driving "Beautiful Day" and has a blast with it. Sanctus might just be one of the few true rock bands still signed to Sparrow, and thankfully they give this one a worthy power-pop treatment, foregoing the keyboards and programming that went into the U2 version for a slightly rawer sound that will likely prove more palatable to younger fans than the original. Lead singer Matt Hammitt has a much thinner voice than Bono, so don't expect to be dazzled by any attempts at matching the glorious falsetto that added so much color to the original. Do expect little bursts of energy that drive this song into full party mode. Aside from an awkward moment when the noise drops away in between the bridge and the last chorus and the band doesn't seem to know how to emulate the atmospheric "Yeah!"s from the original, this is another solid cover with character.

40
So I've never heard of this band Starfield, but they've been tapped for a modern rendering of U2's classic take on Psalm 40, also from War. I can't find much of anything that stands out about this band - their lead singer has a hushed tone during the verses that makes me think of Starflyer 59 (or is that just the name giving me subliminable messages?), and when the band locks into a more straightforward rock groove on the simple chorus, he doesn't sound too far removed from Sanctus Real. One gets the feeling that they've emulated what elements they can of the original - basically the bass and the guitar. Their drummer apparently can't keep up with the uber-cool drumming that Larry Mullen graced the original with. Admittedly, I found myself somewhat frustrated with the original because it faded out so soon, after only two verses and two choruses, and Starfield seems to correct this by creating a generic bridge out of thin air and then going back through the first verse. I guess that's allowed - it's essentially a worship song and worship songs are suited for repetition. But it's not very interesting to listen to, especially when this song has already been done better by dc Talk.

Love Is Blindness
Man, I can't tell you how stoked I was when I found out that Sixpence None the Richer would be taking on one of my favorite hidden gems from the U2 catalogue. Tucked away at the very end of Achtung Baby, this dark and thrilling song never quite got the attention I thought it deserved, and so it's surprising to hear its enigmatic message reprised on a "Christian" tribute to the band. My excitement was somewhat dampened when I realized that Sixpence had recast it in a steady, gloomy 4/4 rhythm, instead of the throbbing 3/4 that worked so well for the original. But then, it's kind of cool to hear the chime at the beginning, which follows the well-known organ intro note for note in the original rhythm even though everything else is in 4/4. Leigh Nash's angelic voice adds a touch of irony to the song as well - at times she seems to be behind the beat a little (bound to happen when you remove a song from its native rhythm), but the words have all of the spine-tingling force that they did when Bono sang them 13 years ago. The song does seem to pass by a bit too quickly at this pace, and there isn't much of anything to fill the space where The Edge's nervous solo would have gone after the bridge (which is surprising given the cool guitar effects Matt Slocum has provided on some of the band's recordings), but I'm extremely happy that Sixpence tried to make this one their own. It hasn't been covered to death already, and the band realizes they're not meant to be U2 junior, so they take it in their own direction.

Gloria
Another overlooked track that I've come to love shows up here, this time entrusted to the care of Audio Adrenaline. I'd actually heard that they had originally picked out another U2 song, but this one was chosen for them instead. (Pity, I'd love to know what that other song would've been.) Audio A has run the gamut between cheesy rap-rock (way before it was popular), bluesy stripped-down rock, and mellow worship over the course of their career, so it's no surprise that they can take the style of early U2, in all of its post-punk new wave glory, and emulate it in a way that makes it seem like no time has passed. Well, almost. There's this weird programming at the beginning and end of the song that just doesn't fit, wasn't provided by any of the band members, and honestly isn't welcome. Other than that, Mark Stuart does the best he can to match the fervor of young Bono with this song's half-English, half-Latin words of devotion, and Tyler Burkum nails his part on the electric guitar. Once again, I'm suffering from the "I've heard another Christian band do this better" syndrome, thanks to Circadian Rhythm, who actually introduced me to the song back in 2001. (It was track 5 on their CD too, come to think of it.) To Audio A's credit, playing it closer to the original than Circadian did works well for them, even down to the cheesy percussion and bass break in the middle.

Grace
I don't know what the deal is with Nichole Nordeman and covers. She has this way of offering a warm sense of familiarity when covering artists ranging from Stevie Wonder to Cyndi Lauper, and yet she always seems hesitant to take a leap of faith and make the song her own. As a pop-oriented singer/songwriter, she's a bit of a fish out of water here, but her style is actually a natural fit for this gentle ballad, the concluding track from All that You Can't Leave Behind. (Interesting that no less than four of the songs covered on this project were the closing tracks on their respective albums.) I thought this one would've worked extremely well with the gentle, solo piano style that Nichole has applied on some her classic ballads. Instead, we get the exact same keyboard tone that didn't thrill me that much on the original, plus a programmed beat that, like much of the percussion on Nichole's most recent studio album, does nothing to excite me. A song about grace that uses the girl's name as a double entendre was a great choice for Nichole, but man, she really punted on this one.

All I Want Is You
God bless Jars of Clay. You can always count on my boys for an unpredictable take on Christian-themed pop/rock. In a gutsy move that will likely irritate several fans of the sweeping, climactic ballad that finished off Rattle and Hum, the boys take an even bluesier, rootsier turn than what was found on their latest album, turning the song into a playful romp that contrasts Matt Odmark's crisp acoustic guitar with Steve Mason's gritty electric. It was fun in concert, and while it doesn't translate as well to the recording, also flying by too quickly to make as much of an impact as it probably should have, it's still a blast to hear Dan Haseltine wrap his unique voice around the classic lyrics - "All the promises we made, from the cradle to the grave."

Mysterious Ways
I was almost certain that Toby Mac was going to completely ruin one of the finest example of U2's electronic-inspired 90's material. Then I put a hand over the mouth of my inner cynic for a second and reminded myself that the original version of this song fused rock music with a hip-hop beat, which for its time, was pretty darned innovative. Thankfully, the white-boy emcee from dc Talk knows how to give props to his elders, because he stays pretty faithful to the source material, amping up the beat a little bit because he can, adding a little bit of modern guitar fuzz without overpowering everything else, and even bringing in new Gotee Records signee Sarah Kelly for a little bit of soulful flavor on the second verse. Toby has always had a bit of a thin singing voice, and that's apparent here, but Bono's vocals on Achtung Baby didn't always take the go-for-the-throat approach anyway. The important thing is that Toby doesn't litter the landscape with any embarrassing raps. He sticks to the lyrics he's been given, and in this case that's a good thing.

Pride (In the Name of Love)
I must admit, the atmospheric, bass-driven intro confused me at first. I had to check the CD to find out which song was being covered. But it wasn't long before it became painfully apparent that Delirious? was taking on the band's tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. So it's a tribute of a tribute, I guess. When listening to this one, I can just hear the hecklers remarking that this was an easy one for Delirious?, they've been imitating U2 all along anyway. Which isn‘t entirely fair - the British worship innovators have treaded a decent amount of their own ground in recent recordings. But man, it's more than obvious that Stu G. comes from The Edge's school of guitar-chiming, and Martin Smith comes from Bono's school of charismatic passion. I can't really find any flaws in this performance - perhaps if I nitpick, I'll remember that once again, most drummers are hopeless to match Larry Mullen in the cool cadence department. That pulls a little bit of density out of the song, which is unfortunate. It's still a good version - but I'm kind of left wondering what the point was, other than perhaps to give a version of the song to Christian fans who aren't comfortable owning any "secular" albums. (Like it makes a whole heck of a lot of difference in this case!)

One
If there's a vocalist on this project who I expected to be up to the task of doing Bono justice, it would be Michael Tait. He and his band (simply named Tait) offer up a rather subdued cover of one of U2's show-stopping ballads from the early 90's, replacing some of The Edge's subtle electric work with an acoustic guitar. It's a welcome enough change from the largely synth-driven shlock that permeated the band's last studio album. The song is also a logical choice for Tait, since it has an overarching theme of longing for grace and acceptance in a world that discriminates and loves conditionally, and Tait and his old group dc Talk have revisited the subjects of discrimination and reconciliation time and again. I'm not blown away by this version, but then, the original wasn't one of my favorites anyway. (I still like it a lot, but I think a lot of the other songs on Achtung Baby deserved more attention.) Still, I'm glad to see these intriguing and profound lyrics make their way to a younger set of fans who have probably never heard the song. (As an aside, it's a crying shame that Kevin Max, the biggest U2 freak out of the three members of dc Talk, was not invited to participate on this record. He's been known to do a killer version of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" in concert.)

With or Without You
No. No, no, no, no, NO! You just CANNOT DO THIS!!! "With or Without You" may well be the most beloved song in the entire U2 canon, and it's one of my personal favorites too, and to see it flat out desecrated like this just breaks my heart. And yes, I do mean "desecrated" - the usually savvy Christian rap duo Grits turns the whole thing upside-down by matching Adam Clayton's memorable bass line with a sped-up hip-hop beat, pulling in young vocalist Jadyn Maria to sing the hook, and the verses, and pretty much the entire song, while the guys just hang out in the back ground and repeat the words. I was worried, as I was with Toby, that this song would be reduced to a self-inflating rap showcase with only the chorus of the original song kept as a hook. Hearing the final product, I think I might just prefer that to the idiotic noise that Grits fills this thing with. On her own, Jadyn isn't a bad vocalist - she fits in somewhere between a young Crystal Lewis and Stacie Orrico, and while her take on the song is significantly lacking in feeling compared to Bono's (again, this is really an unfair comparison, but hey, it's his song), it's pleasing to the ear, and actually somewhat believable in its new context. But Grits completely ruined it. For the love of God, please skip this track…unless you're a huge fan of Puff Daddy or something.

When Love Comes to Town
Sweet! I'm not all that familiar with Todd Agnew's usual style (last I checked, he did an awkward recasting of "Amazing Grace" into verses/chorus form that made me decide to avoid his album), but man, has he got the right voice for this song! Originally conceived as a bluesy duet between Bono and B. B. King, Todd takes on the vocal work all by himself, and his voice just comes roaring out of the speakers. I'm normally not a fan of this type of vocal performance, but dang, this guy's good, even if it takes him a verse or two to really get going. I won't bother comparing his performance to Bono's here, since even Bono got worked by B. B. in the original version. Todd and his band have definitely cooked up a winner here, utilizing the guitar to echo Bono's loud "Yeah-yeah!"s from the song's intro, and transitioning into a slower blues jam at the end of the song. I may need to give this guy another chance!

Where the Streets Have No Name
It seems odd to have The Joshua Tree's euphoric opening number at the end of the record (I hate to be a traditionalist about track order, but "40" would have made a lot more sense here), but in any case, here it is. It's performed by Chris Tomlin, a worship leader from the Passion camp, and since that's a worship movement heavily inspired by the work of Matt Redman and Delirious?, well, big surprise, that means that this version sounds exactly like U2. Just not as good. Those classic, ringing guitars, and the Brian Eno-influenced, atmospheric fade-in are just as you'd expect them to be, following the original version pretty much verbatim. It's kind of odd to hear a well-known worship leader singing a song which isn't specifically a worship song, and while he does a good job (his voice is a bit higher-pitched than Bono's and it doesn't pack nearly as much wallop), all he's really doing here is singing karaoke. Alright, maybe there are a few differences - the guitars and bass are pretty much the same, but Chris's backing band doesn't seem to have a full understanding of the dramatic chord shifts going on under the surface that made the original version so sublime. Yet again, I'm reminded that this song was done better (even if it was a somewhat rougher recording and I still have no idea what record it came from) by the Christian roots-rock band Polarboy.

I hate to nitpick like this when these artists, along with the record label and the numerous other folks who had to have contributed to make this whole thing work, obviously put a lot of time and effort and love into something they didn't plan on getting full compensation for. Good causes tend to make admirable albums, but they don't always make great albums. Ultimately, the good outweighs the bad, and so I'd say that if you're an existing Christian rock aficionado who appreciates the work of U2, or even a curious U2 fan with an open mind and some cash to spare, you'll probably enjoy most of this record. (It might even introduce you to some bands you hadn't gotten into previously.) But don't buy this just out of charity just because you believe it's for a good cause. It is for a good cause, but like I said above, if this isn't really your style, you can just skip the middle man and donate directly to the cause, and you'll have one less CD lying around that you rarely listen to.

Whatever the case, do educate yourself about what these bands, and U2 themselves, are trying to do about the suffering in Africa. I think it'll be worth your while.

ALBUM WORTH:
Sunday Bloody Sunday $2
Beautiful Day $1.50
40 $0
Love Is Blindness $2
Gloria $1.50
Grace $.50
All I Want Is You $1
Mysterious Ways $1.50
Pride (In the Name of Love) $1
One $1
With or Without You -$.50
When Love Comes to Town $1.50
Where the Streets Have No Name $1
TOTAL: $14

CONCLUSION: Worth it if it's on sale.

Informational Websites:
http://www.inthenameoflovecd.com
http://www.worldvision.org
http://www.bloodwatermission.org
http://www.datadata.org

Artist Websites:
http://www.pillarmusic.com
http://www.sanctusreal.com
http://www.starfieldonline.com/
http://www.sixpence-ntr.com
http://www.audioa.com
http://www.nicholenordeman.com
http://www.jarsofclay.com
http://www.tobymac.com
http://www.sarahkellymusic.com/
http://www.delirious.co.uk
http://www.taitband.com
http://www.grits7.com
http://www.jadynmaria.com
http://www.gracelikerain.com/
http://www.christomlin.com

Recommended: Yes