Remedy – David Crowder Band

Ok,

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear from the off:

There are no musical skeletons lurking in my closet. Although, perhaps I should clarify. I don’t want you to get excited by the implausible prospect that one day you may open your large, oakish closet to be greeted by a multitude of all-singing, all-dancing skeletons in the midst of a Mary Poppins or a Phantom number.

When I say that there are no “musical skeletons in my closet”, I’m referring to the simple stone cold fact that my musical taste, throughout my entire life, has been nothing short of perfect.

Perhaps you wonder aloud, “that’s a bold claim”. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am that bold.

This doesn’t mean that each and every vinyl (yikes – before they were deemed cool & vintage!), tape cassette and CD I’ve owned has stood the test of time. They aren’t all assigned pride of place on my alphabetized/genre-arranged CD rack and they absolutely haven’t all made it onto my iPod. Truth of the matter is that some of them, well, probably most of them, I don’t really like anymore. In fact, if you’re my age and still listen to Bon Jovi and Michael Jackson then we should probably be praying for you.

However, my musical back catalogue is without need for excuse. When you line up my musical collections with the date that I actually owned them and enjoyed them, you’d agree that I was one pretty darn cool cat.

Whilst other kids in the playground were listening to Adam Ant and applying make-up to the whole of their face, fore-head, neck and ears; I was listening to Off the Wall.

Fast forwards and you’ll find that some folks were prancing and dancing along to the Locamotion whilst I was sated by the rocktastic prowess of Jon Bon Jovi & co.

In my teenage years, girls would faint and swoon over Take That or whatever boy band had reared it’s ugly head whilst the boys would pretend that they’d simply bought the album for their sister/ friend/ mother. All the while, I’d dress in black like a sullen but fashionable Johnny Cash.

Yep, I realize what you are thinking and yes, you were wrong to doubt me. I accept your apologies and we can all move forward in the comfortable knowledge that when Jonny Evans recommends a CD, you can rest assured that it is indeed excellent.

Now, to business:

When David Crowder Band released A Collision in 2005 (reviewed here), it raised the bar for all Christian artists worldwide. It was an album not only produced to an excellent mainstream standard, but it also contained a near flawless track list that could compete with any other release that year.

Any concerns that the band might struggle to follow the critical success of A Collision are dispelled within a matter of seconds. Opening track The Glory of it all (which first appeared on the Passion ’08 album) is as good as anything the band have produced previously.

Opposed to the diverse and quirky sounds of their earlier work, Remedy takes a more simplified pop-rock approach. Songs like Can You Feel It & Neverending dare you to tap your feet and grin like an idiot. Pure, exciting and uplifting electro-pop which make this undoubtedly Crowder’s most accessible album.

Whilst not as complex or down right “odd” as A Collision, Remedy still manages to effortlessly fuse together melodic anthems such as We Won’t Be Quiet with achingly beautiful tracks like You Never Let Go and, of particular note, the title track Remedy. It would be impossible to place Crowder’s latest into a particular genre. With Remedy, Crowder once again pulls off an album full of mainstream standard popular hits which sit perfectly and comfortably alongside powerful worship songs. I can’t think of a single other Christian artist who has managed to achieve this so successfully.

On a practical note, I’ve found Remedy to be a valuable resource for the worship band here at Firwood Church. You’ll recognise how a few of the songs have already found their way into our morning & evening services. Crowder brings a freshness to the traditional with O, For a Thousand Tongues To Sing and, with the excellent song Remedy, he leads us into a place of worship where we, above all else, realise that we stand as a broken, wounded and rebellious people before a perfect and holy God. He is our rescue and our remedy.

I wholeheartedly recommend this album to you. You can buy the limited edition version (with bonus dvd) here

Jonny Evans