I thought it was only fair, since my last review thoroughly bashed the latest SonicFlood album, to counter with a somewhat more positive review of a worship album I actually enjoy that resulted from the falling out of the original band. I won’t rehash all of the drama again, but suffice to say that when the original lead singer Jeff Deyo was asked to leave the group, his tenure as a worship leader was far from finished. Now, I don’t know how the legal side of things works when a band splits in the middle of a recording contract, but SonicFlood is now an entirely different band on a smaller label, and Jeff is still signed to SonicFlood’s original home, Gotee Records.

Jeff’s solo debut, Saturate, released in March 2002, roughly half a year after SonicFlood’s Resonate confused many fans who didn’t realize the band had changed completely. And to fans like me who were disgruntled over the change in personnel (and more importantly, sound quality), Saturate is like a breath of fresh air. It’s not a solo album in the strictest sense of the record, since Jeff has assembled a capable band who accompanies him all the way through, but perhaps the biggest difference between this and the first SonicFlood album is that it’s more personal. The first record featured eleven songs, seven of which were covers of fairly well-known praise choruses, whereas this album only has three songs that listeners will be familiar with (unless of course you attend the church where Jeff leads worship). The rest are Deyo originals. Other than that, the sound is pretty much what we would’ve expected if the original band had recorded another album together - which basically shows that Jeff was the main impetus behind their sound.

Now when I say personal, I don’t necessarily mean that this album is full of a ton of introspective, complicated story-songs about the various things God is doing in Jeff’s life. It’s tough to explain, because the process of generalizing Jeff’s personal relationship with God into songs everyone can sing would be expected to result in an album critics would consider to be trite and unchallenging. I’ll admit that this happens some of the time - the modern rock/worship atmosphere here isn’t as fresh as it was three years ago, and Jeff pretty much follows the template of his old band’s breakthrough album, with a few notable divergences. There’s just something about his songwriting (and selection, in the case of the covers) that, while it may not be totally impressive when taken one song at a time, is remarkably cohesive over the course of an album. Jeff’s always had a very passionate style of singing, even if his voice can come across as rough and unrefined at times, and this makes his theme of unselfishness even more noticeable. It’s commendable to have so many songs strung together that stress the importance of God’s will over man, the freedom to be found in surrender, the wonders God will accomplish through humble, willing hearts.

Paradoxically, the album is consistent almost to a fault! There’s nothing that’s really musically innovative here, but then, the focus isn’t supposed to be on the players. Still, there’s enough ear candy, and a decent “flow” from fast songs to slow songs and back again, that offers enough variety to get you through the hour’s worth of music without falling asleep. Best of all - remember those annoying spoken sections that interrupted the flow of the last album? There are a few of those here, but they make a lot more sense, and come across as a lot more heartfelt and less contrived. Cramming a mini-sermon in between tracks on an album is a risky prospect, but what Jeff has to say is meaningful enough that I don’t mind having worship and sermon rolled together into one. I normally hate it when artists talk at any length in the middle of their albums or concerts.

Still, for all of the good things I’ve had to say about Saturate, there are times when it comes across as a little stale. It’s tough to record a worship album without at least a few weak moments, so it doesn’t bug me too much. I just know that for all of its upbeat rock songs and its proud, modern production values, this isn’t a CD I put on to jam along to in the car most of the time, or to impress my friends. It works better when I’m in a more reflective mood. With that out of the way, let’s get into the songs, shall we?

Opening Prayer/More Love, More Power
And I will worship You with all of my strength, for You are my Lord…
Just as he did on the original SonicFlood album, Jeff starts off with a quick prayer, dedicating the recording to be used for God’s glory. The music flows a little better into the first song this time around, and if you really don’t want to hear this every time, you can skip directly to track 2 without too jarring of a start. Interestingly, Jeff takes the modern classic praise song written by Jude del Hierro and transforms it into an electronically-driven rocker, adding an additional verse that begs for “More faith, more passion, more of You in my life.” Interestingly, he starts the song off with the chorus (“And I will worship You…”), which gives it the sort of feel of joining something that was already going on before we got there. Of course, guest vocalists are part of the fun of the SonicFlood tradition, and for the second time on record, Jeff gets to sing with a member of dc Talk. Last album, it was Kevin Max: this time it’s Jeff’s executive producer (and the boss of his label!), Toby Mac. Toby’s guested on so many songs lately that it’s almost cliché at this point, to be honest. He doesn’t add too much other than a few Kirk Franklin-like interjections of “I gotta have more, I gotta have more”. Thankfully, it doesn’t drag down the song too much - it’s still an expertly-crafted number dripping with rocking attitude and worshipful atmosphere. (Here’s hoping Tait shows up on the next record.)

Let It Flow
We pledge to give ourselves that the world will know Your grace…
The first “Deyo” original picks up nicely right after the final echo of “I worship You” that closes out the previous song. This one’s got more of a syncopated pop-rock feel - not as powerful as the last song, but still upbeat and easy to sing along to. Jeff’s cry here is for God’s people to be united and take part in seeing God’s spirit “moving through the streets”. It comes off as a little corny at times, and the shift from the chorus into the bridge is a little awkward, but the song redeems itself with a brief guitar solo before the final chorus.

Lose Myself
I‘m crying out to You to change the way I think…
The album gets its title from this song - In the chorus, Jeff asks God to “Saturate my life, fill every part of me with You”. Though the metaphor of God “filling” a person is a bit overused, it takes on a different meaning here, because the whole idea of being “saturated” implies being immersed in something and soaking it up rather than just having it poured into you. Anyway, the musical mood here is fairly frenetic techno-rock, opening with the weird sound of guitar feedback but ultimately sticking with a fairly pleasant tune that’s easy on the ears. For all of the band’s rocking out, they generally keep things pretty “major key” and shy away from being on the more “alternative” side of the equation.

I Give You My Heart
Every breath that I take, every moment I‘m awake
Lord, have Your way in me…
The album’s second cover shows up here - this one was borrowed from the Australian phenomenon known as HillSongs. Once again, Jeff and co. take a song normally sung slowly, and give it an upbeat makeover. Remember what Jeff and the old band did with “I Want to Know You (In the Secret)”? This is almost exactly the same thing, starting off with more guitar feedback and a series of catchy “doo doo”s. Okay, so it’s more on the fun and catchy side than the serious side, but for the most part, it works, especially when the band pulls off a key change before the final chorus, and pulls off a nice abrupt ending, just like many of the endings on the old album.

All I Want
I pray that You won‘t remain silent
That You‘ll stand here beside me, that my heart won‘t call out in vain…
The album’s first slow song appears here, staying light on the percussion at first to create more of an atmospheric sound (though it’s still fairly straightforward pop/rock). The song represents a very simple longing to feel God’s presence in the midst of weariness, to let go of the cares of the world and not let them influence the joy of being close to God. Nicol Smith, from the fairly well-known vocal group Selah contributes some soothing “aah”s at the beginning of the song and later belts it out right along with Jeff in a powerful bridge that looks forward to full communion with God in Heaven, not needing the sun or the moon or anything physical. After the track fades out, a brief spoken interlude appears. Here Jeff gives a challenging message on his own selfish nature and how he may be guilty of not always wanting to love Jesus, but knowing that He can still ask to be given that desire - “I want to want to love Jesus.” It’s really convicting when he points out a truth that we can all too easily hide from - that if anything is more exciting to us than God, “that thing’s an idol”.

Satisfy
My heart has heard Your call, but I have closed my ears
I‘ve said I would follow You, but still I chased the wind…
The interlude actually sets things up quite nicely for a more confessional song, where Jeff admits his double-minded nature over a gurgling bed of electronics and a slithering syncopated beat that breaks in suddenly. The chorus is more straight ahead pop/rock, but the song gets pretty intense and passionate near the end, which is just the way I like it. It’s good to hear an artist dispelling the myth that anyone standing up there on a stage, leading a crowd in worship, must have everything right with God and not a care in the world.

Let Me Burn
You are the flame that splits through the darkness
To burn up my sin and point where to go…
My absolute favorite worship song of all time is “My Refuge” from SonicFlood’s first album, and though this song doesn’t quite approach the power that one has over me, it still barrels along with an unbridled intensity that sweeps the listener away like a river. It’s a semi-ballad in 3/4 time, buoyed by melancholy strings and solid percussion. The lyrics here are a little more universal than some of the personal reflections of the previous songs, and as such they’re a little more on par with your typical worship material, but the music definitely makes up for that! There’s almost a bit of Old Testament flavor as Jeff cries out on behalf of a people who have allowed their hearts to be hardened: “Let the nations rejoice in You/Let Your people return to You/Let the source of my life be You/Let me burn for You.” The sung runs past six minutes, taking on more of a “spontaneous” worship atmosphere, much like a classic Delirious? song, where Jeff is basically crying out various lines from the song near the end, along with whatever else is on his heart. Some people might find it a little tedious, but I think it’s cool.

Many Crowns
The King of all would rather serve than reign…
Another rocker follows here, recasting the theme of the hymn “Crown Him with Many Crowns” in Jeff’s own words. It actually starts off as a fairly simple song, musically speaking, with the guitars backing off to give room for Jeff to describe the crown of thorns Jesus wore as He was mocked by those who crucified Him. The song describes the humble character of Jesus, who obeyed God when He could have rebelled against the men who hated Him, and suddenly in the middle of the song, the band just lets loose with a torrent of energy and a sweet guitar solo. This is definitely one you’ll want to turn your stereo up for, and it’s likely to be an emotional highlight at Jeff’s concerts. Beyond that, it maintains artistic merit for its interesting juxtaposition of the line from the classic hymn and the “crown of thorns” mentioned in the Bible.

Thank You for Life
You stole heaven‘s heart, in Your pain You pleased Your Father
Angels stood in awe while You carried the shame meant for me…
This is the point where it starts to feel like there’s one too many Deyo originals on this album. I’m sure he had plenty of time to write songs for the worship services he was leading over the years, so I’m not faulting him for recording more of those as opposed to the songs everyone’s hear 10 covers of already, but this one isn’t very interesting. It’s a mid-tempo number with a lazily sliding electric guitar roaming through it. The lyrics are basically an expression of thanks for the sacrifice that was made on the cross - sort of a continuation of what the last song led up to. It is interesting to note that Deyo delves into a little theology here, mentioning that Jesus’ sacrifice was what was necessary to please God. It’s a tough concept for a lot of us to grasp - why did someone have to die, and why does that make God happy? Seems a little cruel if you’re new to Christianity. Kind of weird to bring it up without taking the time to explore it in greater detail. But then again, I don’t know if we can ever fully understand the meaning of the things we have faith in. Just my theological .02.

You Are Good
Some would say that You cannot be found
Some would say that You are far away…
I’m not sure why, but Jeff decided to break this song into three tracks. Track 11 is the “Piano and Cello Movement”, which calmly mulls over a basic but fairly pretty tune that Deyo wrote. It seamlessly leads into Track 12, which is the actual song that Deyo wrote and sings with little more than an acoustic guitar and an orchestra to back him up. It’s a lot like the old band’s rendition of “The Heart of the Worship”, except intentionally more dramatic. One would think from the fairly minimal lyrics and the suite-like treatment Jeff gave the song that it was a classic that had meant a lot to him for a number of years - but it turns out he wrote this one, too. It’s pleasant and all, and it has a nice message about how God isn’t a God who is satisfied to keep us in the dark and leave us distant from Him and confused - but it gets a little repetitive since the three tracks add up to about nine minutes altogether. Track 13 is the “Orchestral” movement, which features some wordless, opera-like vocals from Fleming McWilliams (one half of the odd duo known as Fleming & John). Somehow I don’t think that’s gonna sit well with younger listeners, but it’s an interesting peek at some of Jeff’s other musical tastes. Track 13 concludes with another spoken interlude - this time he’s reminiscing on the song “I’d Rather Have Jesus” (which he’s about to sing) and how the words struck him despite it being an “old” song, and how he wanted to make the song a rallying cry for our generation.

I‘d Rather Have Jesus
I‘d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand…
From out of left field, a brief chorus of monks that hearkens back to Jars of Clay‘s “Liquid” bursts out, and then the band kicks in, once again employing the strings that were used in “Let Me Burn” for another melancholy, 3/4 time intro. As expected, Jeff has given the George Beverly Shea tune a dose of caffeine, which results in a feel similar to (surprise, surprise) the old SonicFlood’s rendition of “There’s Something About That Name”, just sped up a bit more. There are a few points where Jeff puts awkward pauses in the familiar hymn, which I guess helps it to work in the modern verse/chorus/bridge/chorus format, but it’s still a bit too weird for me to take it seriously sometimes. It is, however, a song that has always connected with me on a deeper level, taking all the material things I could ever want and sticking them right in front of my nose, and reminding me that they don’t mean dip-squat in the grand scheme of things. I don’t quite see this song becoming the rallying cry Jeff wants it to be for our young people, but I appreciate the attempt to modernize it.

Sing to You
I‘ve only one prayer, and only one plea
To delight myself in You…
In a shocking move, Jeff and his band end the album off with a peppy dance number, instead of the expected soft ballad. Rebecca St. James shows up to sing a duet with Jeff, though she’s really playing more of a backup role (as all of the guest vocalists have this time around). The lyrics are nothing terribly revelatory here; just an upbeat praise song to close out a fairly solid worship service. It’s not too far removed from some of the tracks on Rebecca’s Transform album (and it’s a good deal better than the majority of the worship album she released this year). Still, it seems like an odd ending at best as it fades off into the distance.

In true SonicFlood fashion, Jeff includes a “hidden track” just so he can talk a little about the making of the album, as an acoustic guitar softly picks out the chords to “You Are Good” again. I thought this last time and I’ll say it again - this would have worked better as a bonus feature on a CD-ROM or streaming audio on his website or something like that. It’s interesting to hear how God brought Jeff through some trials through the past year (he wisely isn’t specific about those trials as they involve the old band, though it is a bit uncomfortable that he does mention the first SonicFlood record by name), but this is something we’re all going to listen to once and then have to skip every other time. Annoying.

It’s probably best for the critic in me to take a vacation when I’m listening to this album. On several occasions, it stirs me emotionally and engages me mentally, not defying me to figure out its lyrics or anything, but challenging me to give God control over all the areas of my life and not be such a selfish brat. I didn’t fully realize how well that theme “saturated” the album until I glanced back through the liner notes tonight. I even noticed something interesting - all of the song titles are printed in plain black lettering, but certain letters are white with black outlines instead. Looking more carefully, that was mostly done to the letter “I” in various places, as well as a few occurrences of words like “ME”, “MY”, and “SELF”. The importance of the self is diminished - get it? Maybe I’m reading too much into things, but I kinda thought that was cool.

Anyhow, this album cements Deyo as a promising and inspiring talent in the fairly monotonous landscape of modern worship albums, even if he hasn’t done anything terribly ground-breaking. If you were hungry for a second SonicFlood album, this is definitely the more “legitimate” of the two sequels - in my world, Jeff would have been granted the rights to keep that name. But I don’t run the world, and I do realize that names are superfluous when it comes to taking the focus off of ourselves and worshipping God. Check this album out if you’re looking for music to help you in that endeavor.

TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY
Excellent: Let Me Burn, More Love More Power, I Give You My Heart, Many Crowns
Good: Satisfy, I'd Rather Have Jesus
Decent: Let It Flow, Lose Myself, All I Want, You Are Good, Sing to You
Weak: Thank You for Life
Skippable: Just the interludes.

Band Members:
Jeff Deyo: Lead vocals
Rob Hawkins: Electric guitars
Jeremy McCoy: Bass
Nate Winters: Drums
Fred Williams: Piano, B3 organ, synthesizers

Website: http://www.jeffdeyo.com


Recommended: Yes