I bet some of you are really tired of hearing about Steven Curtis Chapman by now. I mean, the guy hardly has to bat an eyelash and he can make a killing at the Dove Awards every year that Michael W. Smith doesn't put anything out. To many people, he is the be-all-end-all of Christian male vocalists who can wield a guitar. And you know what, I like the guy. I really like him. But still, I don't think he's all that. At his best, he can be a prolific and poignant songwriter, and he can move easily from full-throttle rock to delicate, moving acoustic ballads. Heck, he's even decent on the piano. There just happen to be other singer/songwriters within CCM that hit me on a deepr level, or that dazzle me more with their guitar playing, etc.

Still, I've been pretty loyal to SCC over the years, ever since my teenage years, when I played Heaven in the Real World over and over just to hear the fun rhythms of "King of the Jungle" and "Dancing with the Dinosaur" and that cheesy-but-fun rap verse in "Treasure of You". In some ways, I grew up with SCC - I bought everything he put out (Christmas recordings not withstanding) basically on faith, from Signs of Life (which I still consider to be his best album) up through the romance-themed All About Love. He went through a few stylistic changes, and to be honest, not a single one of those albums was wall-to-wall consistent. But I've always been happy to get new music from him on some level, and I've rushed to stores to get his stuff the day it comes out.

Steven may soon find that this privilege has been revoked. Because his latest project, 2004's All Things New, sounds like anything but that to these ears. It's the first SCC project, even including the wildly inconsistent The Great Adventure, that has caused me to feel genuinely irritated when listening to it. Who knows, maybe SC-squared was super-cheesy back in the day, too, and I was just too young and naïve to know the difference, causing those old songs to be colored by nostalgia when I look back on them and now... but for the most part, I thought Steven was past being cheesy and sounding like he was trying to hard to appeal to the kids. It's true that he sounded younger with every record from Heaven in the Real World on (not counting All About Love), but if that's the case, he's grown backwards to the point where he's no longer lyrically engaging or musically relevant. And that's just not the kind of ground you want to be treading on if you're a veteran CCM artist. Sadly, many do - and it seems that Steven was not immune after all.

I guess I have to respect Steven for trying. I mean, All Things New isn't horrible. It's just so not what I was expecting, and not in a good, "this is weird and it might grow on me after I listen to it 10 times" sort of way. I had heard that Steven had recorded the album in Los Angeles instead of his beloved Nashville, that he had written most of the songs on piano instead of guitar, that he had gotten inspiration from some of the music his kids had been listening to, and that he had enlisted the help of some notable guest stars. Change is generally good for Steven, like when he decided to take the more earthy approach on Signs of Life or when he decided to record with his touring band on Speechless. While I'm hearing some sounds here from time to time that I didn't expect on an SCC record, and that produces the occasional intriguing song, but those songs are few and far between, separated by other numbers that are trying too hard to be lyrically clever, or to appeal to a very young audience with embarrassingly cheesy programming and surprisingly sterile attempts at "rocking". It seems to me that if you're going to try to do something truly new, you might not want to go with veteran CCM pop producer Brown Bannister! But regardless of whose fault it is, this record is pretty much dead in the water. It's got a few songs that I really care about, and that's pretty much it.

All Things New
You spoke and made the sun rise
To light up the very first day
You breathed across the water
And started the very first wave...
It's truly unfortunate that the first moment where I get irritated with this record comes within the first minute of the first song. SCC records generally start off with a grandiose, upbeat, sometimes even rocking song that defines the theme of the album - in this and many other cases, it's the title track. A quiet piano intro provides an unexpected and pleasant opening, but it's ruined all too quickly as the main rhythm track kicks into gear. I mean, this is the absolute worst choice that one could make for a song intended to be so awe-inspiring - it sounds like they just hit a pre-programmed rhythm button on a cheap Casio and let it run through the whole song, eventually drowning it out with real drums and electric guitars that only sort of salvage the song's attempt to rock out. Even if I could get over the awful programming, I'd still have a tough time with the rhythm of the verses. In between each line of Steven's lyrics about God breathing life into Creation, there's this unnecessary pause that goes on for longer than it needs to, allowing little other than that wretched beat to be heard. No matter how many times I listen to it, I just can't figure out when exactly to start singing the next line. Steven gets to his chorus early, which of course repeats the song's title a few times (you'll hear a lot of that on this record), but he changes his mind the first time around and slips back into another verses, so the song is almost half over before it picks up any sort of momentum. I guess this all goes to show that experimentation doesn't always work - it's certainly a bad idea to structure your lead single in such a shoddy manner! Oh, and did I mention that Jason Wade, lead singer of Lifehouse, makes a much-publicized vocal appearance on this song? Well, I might as well not have mentioned it, because I sure as hell can't hear it.

Much of You
And how can I kneel here, and think of the cross
The thorns and the whip and the nails and the spear, the infinite cost
To purchase my pardon, and bear all my shame
To think I have anything worth boasting in except for Your name...
It's interesting to have a more laid-back song in 6/8 time as the second track... I don't think Steven's done that since "What Kind of Joy" on For the Sake of the Call. While this song is sonically very rich, with the acoustic guitar glistening nicely on top of the thick electric backdrop (it's not heavy, but the song does burst in rather loudly), it's disappointingly amateurish in the lyrics department. See, Steven really decided that he liked the title "Much of You", so he's going to work it into the lyrics as many times as he can. I get the idea that we're here to glorify God and not ourselves, but after a while I get tired of hearing him referring to how we're gonna make much of Jesus without telling exactly how he plans to do that. To all budding songwriters out there, never let the need to pepper your song with continual references to your title so that people who hear it on the radio someday know what CD it's on take precedence over your need to actually write a meaningful song. Otherwise you end up with stuff like this, which sounds nice, but which doesn't amount to "much" in the end.

Only Getting Started
And now the years have come and gone
I'm still singing that same song
You might think that by now I would have reached the end...
OK, since we didn't start with the typical fun youth-groupy song (to Steven's credit, the first track didn't sound like it had the same tune as "All About Love", "Live Out Loud", and "Dive" - though I do like those songs), we might as well put it here. If those frisky slide guitars and lyrics about Steven wanting to know God even in his youth sound familiar to you, that's because you've heard it done better before - it was called "Lord of the Dance". Here, what virtuosity is shown on the guitar here is all but drowned out by distracting drum programming and record scratching. It sounds like Steven was experimenting in the studio with Toby Mac on a really bad day - oh wait, that was called "Got to B Tru". Never mind. Of course, the biggest victim of this ridiculous hip-pop posturing isn't Steven himself, but blues guitarist Jonny Lang, who gets relegated to the background for a pleasant solo that probably isn't nearly as scorching as what he's capable of (though to be fair, I'm not familiar with his work). It's another highly-publicized guest appearance that comes across as about as tame and under whelming as Boyd Tinsley's guest appearance on a Third Day song earlier this year.

Last Day on Earth
And if tomorrow comes to fine me
Looking in the face of Jesus
Will I hear Him say the words "well done"?
I really like the sound of this song. It's one of few that I'd give an "A" for the music alone on this record. I can definitely see how Coldplay served as the inspiration for the music here (that's what Steven claims), though I strongly disagree with those who would say that it sounds like a Coldplay song. Yes, it has piano triplets. They're going up and not down, and Steven is actually counting in 3's all the way through even though it's a 4/4 rhythm - in Coldplay's big hit "Clocks" they were cutting off every third triplet - 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2, 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2, etc. The way that the acoustic guitar and drums add momentum to the song later is totally not Coldplay. It's a pretty unique sound for Steven, and it fit's the moodier lyrics about watching a passing funeral procession from his window and waxing philosophical about his own last day on Earth. (He officially shares a song title with Marilyn Manson now - for some reason, I find that amusing.) The song isn't without its faults - the chorus lingers for a bit too long to really pack the desired punch, and the song jumps to its bridge without so much as a second verse, leaving the interesting story that Steven set up in the first verse incomplete. But overall, it's a song that comes across as more genuinely convicting, and creative for Steven. On this album, that's a breath of fresh air.

What Now
I saw the face of Jesus in a little orphan girl
She was standing in the corner on the other side of the world...
Here's another song where Steven makes good use of a piano base and builds gradually into more of a rock song. It starts with a light, tinkling piano rhythm in 6/8 time, as Steven tells a story of a little orphan girl (likely the latest one he adopted from China - his wife gets mad props for keeping up with all of their biological and Foster children!) who was hungry and needed his help. Meanwhile, here's Steven, trying to be a good Christian and praying to know Jesus better, and this is what he's confronted with. Like the Bible says, whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto Him, and this song captures that sentiment perfectly as it challenges the listener: "What will you do now that you've found Me?" The second verse continues by telling another story of a homeless family that he feels compelled to help. The bridge is where the guitars take over, giving the song a stronger rhythmic backing as Steven repeats the simple line "Come and know Me now". I wouldn't go so far as to say it's an instant classic, but it's one of the top two songs on this record... which is actually kind of sad, when you think about it.

Please Only You
This is what it means to be
The reason why I live and breathe
To know that I am totally existing for Your pleasure...
Boy, that Steven sure is clever. He realized that the word "please" has two meanings, and he wrote a song about it! Alright, so some of my favorite songwriters have thrived on homonyms and double meanings - Chrisitne Denté being chief among them. But this song is just silly. Amidst a semi-catchy melody that doesn't always land on the chord you expect it to and some slightly interesting guitar runs, Steven lays down this awkward mid-tempo rocker that spares no cliché in order to say that please, he wants only God. Or is it that he wants to please only God? Yeah. I can just hear your eyes rolling. The lyrics in this song are so forced and cliché that it just isn't funny, and that nullifies any curiosity that might be generated by the music.

Coming Attractions
A day is coming that won't fade to night
There'll be no more hatred to endure, no wars to fight...
Get out your popcorn, ladies and gentlemen - Steven's gonna play the soundtrack to a hot new movie for us! Alright, so I like the tension created by the lonely piano and strings that lead off this moody little song. The whispering at the beginning is interesting too, and I love the tension in the acoustic guitars. Heck, this is probably the best job of "rocking" that Steven does on this album - not that I think his primary job is to be a "rock" artist, but you know, if you're gonna do it, might as well do it right. Some sources would have you believe that this song sounds like Linkin Park. Well, if you're going to compare anything with crunchy power chords, eerie piano, and a little bit of programming to Linkin Park, then you can believe that absurd lie all you want. As much as I like Steven's attempts at being youthful, I don't want him to sound like Linkin Park, thank you very much. And he really doesn't. If anything, his lyrics are too nice and sterile (and believe me, that's saying a lot - LP may be angry, but they're not really as cutting or creative with their words as they think they are.) Are you ready for the clever punch line here? Steven apparently came up with a brilliant analogy about the second coming of Christ, and decided that it was like a movie, and that he wanted his life to be "a preview of coming attractions". Wow. I don't know about you, but that certainly leaves me on the edge of my seat, holding onto my popcorn bag for dear life! (Or using it as a barf bag. Take your pick.)

Big Story
Captivating, fascinating, all consuming, never concluding
One and only, ever unfolding, story of stories...
You know, some of you old-school SCC fans might just get a kick out of this one. Assuming that you've been stuck in a timewarp for the last 10 or 15 years and you haven't heard anything Steven's done since, say, "My Turn Now", then this cheery, bouncy, string-driven song will be right up your alley. See, there's a God who's in control, and that's a big story. No, man, I mean it's huge! Front page, breaking news, BIG!!! What is that story? I have no idea - I was too busy bobbing my head to the irresistibly cheesy beat. Maybe it'll hook you PfR fans, too - if you can tune out the lyrics. There are some electric guitars in there somewhere, so it kind of rocks. I mean, could you have possibly thought of a more logical follow-up to "Coming Attractions" that this? I've had whiplash on Steven Curtis Chapman albums before, but... sheesh.

Believe Me Now
I set the world in motion
I know all the fears you're feeling now
But do you remember who I am?
Here, at long last, we stumble across the album's only guest appearance that ends up being worth a darn. By that, I mean that the guest vocalist - Mac Powell from Third Day - doesn't get drowned out by everything else that's going on. I guess Mac and Steven have been hanging out lately, since they also did that song with the guy from MercyMe for that laughably bad collection of songs inspired by The Passion of the Christ. It's actually more of a cameo appearance, since Mac doesn't show up until the end. Until then, you get a mostly humdrum ballad-type song which is led off by an interestingly moody electric guitar that dissolves into some rich 12-string acoustic guitar playing, but which falls flat as soon as we get to the lyrics. It's a song from the point of view of God, and apparently God speaks in rather generic terms and repeats song titles as often as Steven Curtis Chapman does! Who knew? Steven vaguely refers to doubt, enemies closing in, things like that, but this is all rudimentary CCM songwriting. There's nothing engaging here about God's plea to "Believe me now", and by the time Mac finally shows up to echo Steven, it feels a lot more like a celebrity appearance scheduled to rekindle interest in the album, rather than a collaboration which actually adds something meaningful to the song.

Angels Wish
What does God's voice sound like when He sings, when He's angry
These are just a few things that the angels have on me...
This is one place where an artistic comparison made by other critics actually makes sense to me. It's an imaginative piano ballad that finds Steven slipping into falsetto from time to time, and his chorus melody does in fact have shades of Five for Fighting in it. (One out of three ain't bad, right guys?) In a lyric that most seminary students probably wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole (really, our society has romanticized angels to the point where we completely misunderstand their purpose and assume that we'll become angels upon reaching Heaven and stuff like that), Steven asks the question of whether angels wonder what it's like to be human, to sin, and to experience grace. Despite my feeling that we're somehow making angels into something they're not here, I have to admire the childlike wonder of the song - it's a lot like something Chris Rice would write, and it actually reminds me of the movie City of Angels, where an angel actually desired to become human. Steven figures that there's a lot of knowledge and experience on both sides that the other would covet, and I enjoy that sentiment as long as I don't read too much into it.

I Believe in You
Didn't we both agree you'd never grow up
And now here you are, and here you go...
I've reamed a good number of the songs on this album, but man, this one is a complete waste of space. I can't even say anything funny about it. I mean, what veteran artist writes a nondescript mid-tempo song called "I Believe in You", and expects his fans to notice or care? I know, I know, it's all about his daughter (one of the biological ones this time) and how he believes in her and wants her to have confidence and go out and conquer the world, yada yada yada. Nothing is said here that he didn't say three times better in "Fingerprints of God" (from Speechless). That song didn't amaze me either, but it surely had more interesting lyrics than banal lines like these. "So spread your wings and fly on the winds of knowing I believe I you"??!?! Is he serious? (Oh, by the way, Kendall Payne rounds out the guest appearances by singing backup here, but as usual, it doesn't make me care about the song any more.)

Treasure of Jesus
And if I can sing, let my songs be full of His glory
If I can speak, let my words be full of His grace...
Steven chooses to finish off the album (and thank You, Lord, for the mercy of letting this thing finally end) with another simple piano ballad - his closing tracks tend to be rather simple, straightforward Jesus songs, and that's not a bad thing. He's picked a pretty and subdued piano melody to ask what he can do to share the treasure of Jesus with the world. Nothing enlightening here, but since it's only one reflective verse and a chorus, I can't be too hard on it either. It's pleasant and it doesn't bug me. At this point, I'm very happy for that.

Man, can you believe it? An entire album of new songs, with a supposedly new sound, and Steven Curtis Chapman, who I've stuck with for so many years, only manages to come up with three, maybe four, songs that I actually care about? Sure, All About Love was repetitive at times, and it certainly had its share of misses, but even that personal project was more of a compelling disc than this, his return to making pop albums for mass consumption. Is the guy just running out of ideas, or was he forced to make another "normal" album under a tight deadline, or what? How do you account for stuff like this?

Well, I for one won't make excuses. Not for a veteran artist, and not even for one of my perennial favorites. Steven, you've been around long enough to have some clout. You've been on some interesting trips and adopted three kids with interesting stories, and if you took the time to let your songs develop instead of letting the powers that be rush you into getting something done, you might be able to come up with strong albums like you used to. If you don't have the power to do that, then you need to find a new record deal or just take some time off, or something One more album like this, and I can promise you I won't be back for more.

ALBUM WORTH:
All Things New $.50
Much of You $0
Only Getting Started $1
Last Day on Earth $1.50
What Now $1.50
Please Only You $0
Coming Attractions $.50
Big Story $0
Believe Me Now $0
Angels Wish $1
I Believe in You -$.50
Treasure of Jesus $.50
TOTAL: $6

Recommended: No