Michael Koby

While I was in Austin, TX for CodeCamp 2008, I made a stop by Waterloo Records (6th & Lamar) which is probably my favorite record store.  I randomly browsed for a bit before getting the definitive item I went to the store for.  That item was Vallejo’s latest album, “Thicker Than Water” and it was the only think I managed to walk out the store with.

Now, I’ve been listening to Vallejo since I saw them open for Pushmonkey here in Houston like 8 years ago.  This would be around the time they released the album “Beautiful Life” (which I consider their best effort to date).  I’m proud to announce that with “Thicker Than Water” Vallejo has found their muse again.  No more hard rock sounds with a little latin tinge.  The latin groove is constant through out all of “Thicker Than Water” and I couldn’t be happier.  This album really brings them back to the “Beautiful Life” sound and feel, which is good news for folks like me.  If I had one complaint about the album it is that all the songs are short.  Almost all of them clock in at around 3 minutes on average.  I understand that we live in the age of the radio single, but come one guys, give me a nice little jam that lasts a little longer than a radio single.

Overall the album is good, short, but good.  I’m glad to see the band return to the sound that made them unique.

Below is the video for the first single from the album, “Move On” so enjoy

When it comes to soul and funk music, I generally like it a certain way - funky and groovy. I usually look the other way at a more mellow groove. It is not that I think that the music is not good, it is just not my preferred style. I picked up a copy of Simply Red’s latest album Stay on a recommendation and I have to say, that my overall opinion of the more mellow groove remains, however that should not detract from the masterful sound that this band creates. While the album does have it slightly more upbeat moments in songs like “So Not Over You” the album is for the most part a slightly mellow album. If you are looking for a more rockier funk/soul, move along, but if you are looking for great background music for that chill party you want to throw (think martini party), then this album is perfect.

Finding music made by talented musicians is a rarity in this day but Stay is just that. The musiciaship on this album is above just about anything being released today and that alone is reason to pick the album up.

As far as Switchfoot albums go, there seems to be an either or thing going on. The album is going to either be great in that you can listen to the album from start to finish without skipping a single track, or the album will have a few good tracks on it and the rest are just barely so-so. The Legend of Chin, Learning to Breathe, and Nothing is Sound fall into the latter category. It is not that these albums are not good, or that that band is not good, just that quite simply the band does not live to their potential on them.

Fear not though, because Oh! Gravity, falls into the former of the the two categories. From the start of the first track (which happens to be the title track), you just get the sensation that this is going to be a good album and there is no disappointment of that feeling. The classic Switchfoot sound is here, but it has a slightly more raw/less produced feel to it, which in my opinion is a good thing since this band has always been good when they try not to over do it. Simplicity works best with Switchfoot songs since for the most part they are pop songs.

I think the highlights of this album are “American Dream” and “Dirty Second Hands” mainly because I like the message and sound of both of these songs, they just seem to stand out in my head hours after listening to the album. “Dirty Second Hands” seems to have very Depeche Mode feel to it (I’m thinking Exciter album) but without copying the Depeche Mode sound.

Overall, Oh! Gravity is a great record. And even though it is only 2 records after Beautiful Letdown it is just as good if not better. Plus at $9.99 from Amazon.com, it is not a bad deal at all.

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Praise and worship music in the Christian music industry is usually comprised of two variations. The first is the dull and boring, puts you to sleep while sounding like everyone else. The other side of the coin is a well known Christian artist/group creates a praise and worship CD. In my opinion little good comes out of either one of these with a handful of exceptions. The first exception being the Exodus project put together by Michael W. Smith (Smitty as he’s known on the “inside”). This project was a various artists project with several artists recording original songs. The second is Jars of Clay’s own album Redemption Songs, which took a different approach, focusing on century old hymns that you would be hard pressed to find in any church hymnal.

But, there are people out there that are trying to change the sterotype of praise and worship music. People like, Jeremy Camp. On is fourth studio album, Beyond Measure, Jeremy Camp continues to work on breaking down walls and proving that praise and worship music does not have to be mundane. The first thing a new comer might notice about Jeremy Camp is that he does in fact know how to rock out. From the opener “Tonight” you know that you are going to enjoy this album. There are very slow periods on this record and that is a good thing. From the confessional aspects of songs like “Beyond Measure” to the quieted requests on “Give Me Jesus” you can not help but enjoy Jeremy’s voice as he praises God and does it rocking.

I have long held that if praise and worship wanted to have more of a hold on the youth audience, it needed rockers. Third Day does a really good job, but they are not strictly limited to praise and worship. Jeremey Camp might not be strictly praise and worship either, but his albums so far have been very much along those lines, at least lyriclly. Jeremey Camp is a rock artist and you only have to listen to a few of this songs to realize that. I am very happy to see that somebody is looking to praise God while rocking out. We need more people like this. Like I have asked my friend on several occasions, “Why can’t more people do praise and worship like Jeremy Camp?”

(Click the album art image to purchase Beyond Measure from Amazon.com)

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