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Album Review
Contemporary
Christian music producer and musician Gene
Eugene has led the Adam Again project since 1986. This loose-knit
collection of album tracks, B-sides, compilation one-offs, and rarities
is supposed to serve not only as a look back at the previous 13 years,
but as a way of coming to grips with the diversity and garage band
politic inherent in the group's sound. For the uninitiated, Adam Again
walks the strangest line in popular music: somewhere between the
open-ended hookiness of R.E.M. and
the blistering white-boy funk rock of Dave
Matthews without the sense of self-importance. Indeed, Adam Again's
sound has always walked on the apocalyptic shore as evidenced on the
slow rocker "Worldwide," and especially "It's
Alright." The fractured funk 'n' roll inherent on "Bad News on
the Radio" echoes the out jazz stylings of Flipper
and A Certain Ratio as
much as it does Matthews. The
syncopation and flailing distortion in the guitars calls forth a spirit
that touches both desolation and rage before it resigns itself to the
knowledge that the world itself can only be changed from inside oneself.
"Strobe" digs deep in the groove bag, pulling out a steady 4/4
mojo that calls down the rock side of soul, and on the soul side of
funk, with its knotty Bernie
Worrell-esque keyboard break. The disc closes with
"Relapse," a near gothic rock tune that calls down the wrath
of the spirits on the faltering self, abandoning that faulty construct
to the absolute Mercy of the Divine. It's so naked, so true, and so
unflinchingly honest as the guitars drone their Zeppelin-esque
riff that the listener begins to squirm in their seat and wonder if the
Serenity Prayer shouldn't be invoked here. And perhaps that's what has
made Adam Again so special for over a decade. When other Christian acts
are trying to get the pose down right, these yobs toss it all to the
wind and reveal themselves as a band of human beings rather than
ideologues. In that way they provide a fine witness for their faith. In
the rock & roll arena they are simply one of the most inventive and
artfully canny bands on any scene.
~
Thom Jurek
Grace Hotel
Overall rating: +++-
Homeboys
1 Homeboys (3:38)
2 Fine Line (4:30)
3 Hide Away (2:51)
4 Bad News on the Radio (3:54)
5 Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
6 Dance Around in Circles (2:35)
7 This Band Is Our House (6:00)
8 Save Me (4:09)
9 Occam's Razor (3:31)
10 No Regrets (5:22)
Album Review
With
lots of guitar, powerful drums, and B-3 organ, this third outing for the
band shows it abandoning the "dance thing" in favor of a more
organic mix complete with real live drummer John
Knox. And with these songs about pain, poverty, and emotion, they
are all the better for the shift. Homeboys is more sophisticated
all around. The excellent cover of Marvin
Gaye's "Inner City Blues" — more subdued than the
original — has a yearning quality courtesy of Eugene's
unique voice. The standout closing track, "No Regrets,"
laments an apparently self-incited loss or separation, and is
heart-wrenching in sentiment ("If I could be anyone again, I'd be
that child in your arms"). Another unique track — "This Band
Is Our House" — is a sort of tribute to the band as a group
collective. This release presents the band as more of a serious outfit,
stronger and more unified as a result.
~
Mark Allender
Adam Again
(fansite)
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Grace Hotel
Overall rating:
+ + + +
Dig
1 Deep (4:17)
2 It Is What It Is (What It Is) (3:43)
3 Dig (3:26)
4 Hopeless, Etc. (4:53)
5 Songwork (5:29)
6 Worldwide (2:07)
7 Walk Between the Raindrops (3:31)
8 Hidden, Hidden (3:26)
9 River on Fire (5:46)
10 So Long (4:20)
Album Reviews
This is
the group's magnum opus. The energy and drive here are unparalleled on any of
the band's other releases. With lyrics that are introspective and well crafted,
Adam Again has never sounded so good on record — and this release comes
closest to duplicating the band's live performances. The opening track,
"Deep," explodes with energy, featuring a tight, catchy chorus
reminiscent of the wordplay that makes Elvis
Costello famous, and the bandmembers carry this energy through the whole
record. Two criticisms: The "la las" on "Worldwide" are a
bit annoying, and no one would be fooled into thinking that the long-sustained
note on "Hopeless, Etc." could be held for that long. Drummer Jon
Knox makes this record cook from beginning to end, along with the classic Valadez
and Lawless team (together for the last
time). "It Is What It Is (What It Is)" follows strong opener
"Deep" with a killer groove that doesn't quit, and "Hidden,
Hidden" complements "Deep" lyrically and rhythmically.
~
Mark Allender
Adam Again has an
exceptional talent for combining guitars, bass, and vocals into this hooky,
loopy thing that wears out the repeat on the CD player. While almost impossible
to sum up the album in few words, elements of funk and rock combine to force the
volume up and the windows down. This strong, driving style remains throughout
the album, pausing only briefly for the ballad-esk 'Dig' and 'River of Fire' and
the short, poppy and extremely catchy 'Worldwide' that makes me wish I could
whistle nearly as well as Gene. The only exception I had to this was 'Hopeless',
where I felt the driving beat was a bit drawn out. Mind you, it was effective in
driving the point of hopelessness across, but I still usually give the track a
skip.
The lyrics stand out,
in that Gene's vocals are really a part of the song, versus music accompanying
the singing. You come away absently singing the lyrics, then think about what
your singing, then have a compelling need to listen to delve into what the songs
are saying. At face value, the songs are creative combinations of catchy
phrases. After further analysis, you start to grasp what they are trying to say.
On careful reflection, you are emotionally moved as you say "Yeah, I'm
there.". At whatever level you take the lyrics, they often say more than
face value. One of the most played tracks from my CD player is the smooth 'River
on Fire'. Once I learned about the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio that caught
fire due to pollution, the song meant much more to me. And so it is with many of
the songs, where you are left wondering, "Am I really getting what's being
said?"
This CD is definitely
in the collector's category, and for good reason. A welcome addition to the
Alternative genre, with hooks and vocals that make Dig a timeless classic. And
if anyone knows what the front cover is all about, please let me know!
Live at Cornerstone 2000
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