Here is a list of things that, to me, are obvious:

1. Teen pop, love it or hate it, is here to stay.
2. Music critics love to bash teen pop acts - particularly, boy bands.
3. Christian music arrived a little late to the boy band party.
4. Plus One was formed as an attempt within the Christian music industry to cash in on the popularity of the Backstreet Boys and N*Sync.
5. The members of Plus One had very little creative control over the songs on their 2000 debut, The Promise.
6. The aforementioned debut album SUCKED.

I’ll make no apologies for that statement. I’ve taken a lot of flak for that opinion, but a reviewer’s gotta do what a reviewer’s gotta do. I felt that the only thing validating the existence of these five young men as a group was a perceived need for a carbon copy of the “secular” boy bands with a supposedly “wholesome” message. Aside from the fact that the teenage variety of pop is not particularly a flavor of music that I happen to enjoy, I was rather uncomfortable with a lot of things about Plus One. The fact that they had a good number of young female fans and that their faces graced magazine covers before their album had even been released was a strong indicator that the industry was once again placing style above substance.

I did my best to give The Promise a fair listen, trying to evaluate it in comparison to what I’d heard from their mainstream counterparts. I remember actually being impressed by how bad it was. While I’m no fan of the Backstreet Boys or N*Sync, they blew these guys out of the water. Aside from a few canned dance tracks, the album was an assortment of mushy ballads designed to lull the listener into thinking Jesus was some sort of a cosmic boyfriend in the sky. I got a lot of criticism for being so harsh on them - I was even accused of saying that the members of Plus One weren’t really Christians. That was actually quite amusing, given that The Promise revealed nothing personal about anyone in the band. How could it have, when almost all of it was written before the auditions were over? I’ll make it clear now - there is no question in my mind that the members of Plus One are committed Christians who love God with all of their hearts and are dedicated to their ministry. I just felt that they made an unwise decision to record an album when they hardly knew each other, to be puppets for someone else’s money-making scheme.

Thankfully, the situation seems to have improved with Plus One’s sophomore album, Obvious. While the title isn’t terribly original (self-proclaimed “man band” 4Him having used it four years ago), it’s good to see the boys stepping up and owning more of their work. I had commented on a message board a few months ago (on which I was rather unpopular due to my dislike toward Plus One) that I would start to respect the group when they started writing their own songs, playing at least a few of their own instruments and possibly even getting involved in the production of their own albums. Someone replied back to let me know they were doing exactly that - and here we have the result. A good 10 out of the 12 songs here were co-written by at least one of the boys, and a few of them took their turns on an acoustic guitar, a keyboard, perhaps even a mixing board. If I’m not mistaken, one of the songs on this record was written and produced entirely by the group.

While I won’t say that I’m blown away with the result, it’s light-years better than their first outing. Some of these songs try harder to communicate the feelings of an individual as opposed to being effortless attempts to merge Max Martin with Diane Warren. There are more upbeat songs (something that the boys admitted was desperately needed in their concerts), and almost every song is colored with electric or acoustic guitars, or edgier keyboard sounds, or something to keep the whole mix from sounding like a heartless machine. Surprisingly, even though there’s still a high cheese factor, none of these songs made me want to barf the way nearly every single song on The Promise did. That may be the downside for people who are big fans of the whole “boy band” genre - there’s not as much here to make the young girls swoon. But I can’t say that I mind. It’s not that I expect Plus One to stop sounding like a boy band altogether, to alienate their core audience. I just expect them to challenge that audience instead of keeping them sedated - and Obvious seems to be the beginning of that process.

Camouflage
The album’s lead-off track (and first single; that’s the way it usually works in the land of pop!) hit’s the ground running with skittering electronic effects and more abrasive vocals than you might be used to from these boys. Whoever’s singing lead on this track (sorry, I haven’t learned to tell the guys’ voices apart) is doing a pretty good impression of Justin Timberlake, which does sort of scare me, since Plus One could easily be accused of following N*Sync’s move into more creative territory. Come to think of it, this track is a lot like “Pop”, though not as self-referential. Instead of complaining about how critics hate them for their style of music, the boys are complaining about their own tendencies to stay quiet and hide their faith in front of an audience. It’s good to know that they’re aware of the dangers of being “camouflaged” in an industry where it’s disturbingly easy to succeed without ever even mentioning God. Though some of the elements of this song may seem a bit out of place and it ends a bit abruptly (again, very much like “Pop”), it’s definitely a good start. (They get bonus points for using the words “tractor beam” in the first verse.)

Use Me
The chorus to this song seems to butt in rather awkwardly, but the track overall is pretty smooth. A throbbing R&B rhythm and an overall denser musical setting than anything on their debut propel it along nicely - the boys have become more confident in sounding “urban” (again, likely due to N*Sync’s success with a similar sound). The song has a pretty simple theme - it is a prayer for God to use the boys as part of His plan. There is a definite evangelical focus to the album (yes, I said the “E” word), though I’m glad to say it doesn’t generally come off as preachy, because the boys are focusing on their own walk with God and not telling others what to do. This track also ends abruptly - both tracks so far have clocked in at under three minutes. I’m not amazed by the lyrics, though I do like the line “’Cause I know in my heart that You won’t deceive me.” There are enough quirks in the music and vocals to make this track stand out as an album highlight.

Let Me Be the One
This one takes on more of a medium pace, taking us a step closer to the old Plus One sound, except they seem more confident now. The main hook of the song is an assertive “dun-DUN!” piano line that repeats throughout the verses - it’s very boy-band-ish but kind of cool at the same time. The electronic effects that take over during the bridge are a nice touch, even if the “video game” sound of it is an uncomfortable reminder of track #3, “The Game Is Over”, on N*Sync’s latest. (It should scare you that I’ve mentioned N*Sync in every paragraph so far.) Lyrically, the song is probably meant to be from the point of God, asking a troubled soul, “Let me be the one/Loving you when you’re weak” and so forth, though it’s vague enough to fit in better with the group’s older songs.

Under the Influence
Speaking of ripping off titles… This one was used by R&B Gospel/act Anointed a few years back, and likely many groups before them, so we know right out of the box that this song isn’t going to be terribly original. It starts off at a relaxed, medium pace and picks up steam as it goes, thanks mostly to the electric guitars and the edgier vocals. Another abrupt ending causes this song to mesh together with “Use Me” in my mind, but that song was pretty good, so I’ll let this one slide. I could take or leave the lyrics, since the meaning is pretty much the same as it always is whenever a Christian band uses the whole “under the influence” metaphor.

You
The first true ballad on the project (The Promise had already been through a few by this point) very nearly risks making me gag with its syrupy keyboard effects, but it barely redeems itself with an interestingly lyrical approach. It seems to be a simple love song to God - which I suppose is acceptable so long as they wouldn’t try to over-romanticize it with the music! - but there’s a nice contrast between the verses, which talk about the selfishness of focusing on “me”, and the chorus (which is a bunch of two-words phrases strung together (“I want”, “I need”, “I crave”, “I trust”… etc.) simply followed by “You”. Again, nothing brilliant, but it’s nice to see some different writing styles work their way into the group’s repertoire.

I Don‘t Care
Here’s where things really start to pick up. It may just be my personal preferences that cause this song to stand out in my mind, but it’s definitely the edgiest thing Plus One has ever done. Starting out with some capable acoustic finger-picking and a light programmed-beat, the verse grabs the listener as one of the boys recounts an experience of being put on the spot and not knowing how to defend his faith. This leads into a slamming electric chorus (featuring guitar work by Pete Stweart, of all people) where the boys declare “I don’t care what it takes/I don’t care what it shakes/I don’t care what they say/I’m gonna do it Your way/Even if I’m afraid/Don’t want to make You look fake/I don’t care bought anything/It’s not about me.” This track manages to tickle all of my sensibilities in just the right way, between the solid beats, the blend of acoustic and electric guitars, the gutsy vocals, and even a brief rap break during the bridge. Is it all just a calculated maneuver to win over fans who listen to more aggressive music? I suppose it could be. The music wouldn’t mean anything if it didn’t fit with the lyrics, or if the lyrics were on the level of “Everybody, rock your body right, Plus One’s back, alright.” But these lyrics, I can actually get into, and I’d recommend that any detractors of the group take a good listen to this song before throwing their stones.

Kick Me
The second half of the records kicks off (pun intended) with the main vocal line from this song’s chorus: “Why can’t you be there for me/A friend is nowhere to be found.” We’ll ignore for the moment the fact that this opening reminds me very much of “I Want You Back” by guess who? N*Sync again! Aside from that, the boys are definitely very moody here. It seems that a few years spent enduring the harsh words of critics and other concerned citizens have caused the boys to questions who their real friends are. (Okay, so maybe I feel a little guilty.) Picking up where the last song left off, this song does a fine job of blending the processed boy-band sound with a more rock edge, reminding me a little bit of one of the darker entries on an Echoing Green album. The line “If you ain’t so perfect, then don’t throw another stone at me” really clinches the heart of the song, and the vocal breakdown in the bridge is just killer, albeit brief.

Going Crazy
Fading in after the ending of the last song, this one is a tad slower but continues on the same musical and lyrical ideas. This song looks to God as the source of sanity in the midst of an industry where the boys are continually being watched, and I really like the feeling expressed in lines such as “Can’t push stop ‘cause my life is recording”. It’s a good balance between frustration and hope - I feel like the lyrics on the first record talked so much about the solution that they barely even acknowledged the problems that made it necessary to find solace in God. There’s something subtle about the way this song moves along that captures the lyrical idea of this unstoppable video tape quite well - again, not an original idea, but well executed. The song might have fared better if not place immediately after two musically similar songs, but then again, they all make for a nice one-two-three punch before things start to slow down again.

Start to Fly
I think this was the song on the album that a few of the boys produced by themselves - but I could be wrong. In any case, this one also attempts to blend the lighter and darker elements of Plus One’s sound, but does it less successfully. It sounds like they came up with a heartfelt ballad about a friend struggling to find a reason to believe in God, decided it was too sappy, and then started throwing in effects to make it edgier. The weird electronic sounds that introduce the song seem out of character compared to the rest of it, and there are a few spots where the boys’ singing sounds purposefully flat. The chorus, while bold enough to clearly encourage the friend to “let God inside”, sounds like I’ve heard it somewhere before. The strings are a nice touch because they’re not as syrupy as the usual pop strings, but the overall mix is less than satisfying. I’ll regard this one as an admirable attempt. I’m sure a lot of Plus One’s fans will be weirded out by some elements of it. It probably would have sounded better if they hadn’t tried so hard to be different, ironically enough.

Calling Down an Angel
Gentler strings start this song off - this is definitely a softer ballad, but not a love song as you might expect from the title. True to the theme of the record, this song also seems to deal with an unbelieving friend. It’s a prayer that God might send some sort of a sign as the boys are “calling down an angel to help you believe” (or something like that; I don’t have the lyrics in front of me at the moment and the group’s website is rather poor in that it doesn’t list them all). It’s got a more acoustic touch, and it’s probably best compared with the title track from The Promise.

Forever
This one picks the tempo up slightly as the record draws near to a close. I like the acoustic intro and the layered “ah”s that open the song, but as things get going, it sounds a bit too similar to a lot of 4Him’s recent attempts at a more modern sound. I just can’t get into the lyrics on this one. They basically seem to be saying that the singer chooses to spend forever with God because “forever is a long time”. I guess I’ve heard it stated more eloquently, but then, I should know better than to look for eloquence on a teen pop record. I think this one is the “safe” adult contemporary single, though I have no idea how well it’s doing. Probably about as well as the average 4Him song.

Who Am I
Big surprise - the record ends with a heartfelt ballad. I like the almost choral opening, even if it’s too brief to make the song really stand out. While nothing fascinating musically, it mostly avoids the cheese factor. The song seems to be a final word of praise to God as the boys muse about who they are - to be loved by God and to possibly be used as part of God’s plan. I think a little more specificity in the lyrics department would have helped songs like these to stand out a lot. I know the boys have personal testimonies, and I wish there could be more to help them stand out as individuals in quieter songs such as these. It’s not a bad ending, I guess.

Overall, Obvious has a few nice surprises, a few tracks that I can really sink my teeth into and that will likely be a blast at the group’s concerts. I’m happy to see the boys take a more “mature” approach and get involved in the songwriting and all that - I’d honestly rather hear bad songwriting from them than decent songwriting from the usual Nashville suspects. And their songwriting ain’t that bad, even if it’s nothing profound yet. I have the feeling that the boys will age well. On their first record, they became part of a trend, no questions asked. On their second record, they observed how the trend was evolving (especially in the case of N*Sync) and did their best to keep up (which was a wise move even if the evolution of the two groups is a little too similar for comfort). Perhaps on their third record, they’ll learn how to truly develop their own sound. I’m sure they’ll still sound very much like a boy band, and I have no problem with that sound if it’s done well. But it’s still hard to distinguish them from their peers, aside from the more spiritual lyrical focus, and believe me, other groups like True Vibe will assure in no time that this isn’t a unique thing for boy bands any more.

I guess you could say Plus One has their work cut out for them. But their hearts are in the right place. That much should be obvious.

TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY
Excellent: I Don't Care, Kick Me, Going Crazy
Good: Camouflage, Use Me
Decent: Let Me Be the One, You, Start to Fly, Calling Down an Angel, Who Am I
Weak: Under the Influence, Forever
Skippable: NONE!

Group Members:
Nate Cole
Gabe Combs
Jeremy Mhire
Jason Perry
Nathan Walters

Website: http://www.plusoneonline.com



Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Waking up