Chris Taylor—I had never heard of him, but his Chris Taylor’s Worthless Pursuit of the Things on Earth was up for a 2001 Dove Award for “Rock Album of the Year,”¹ so there must be something notable about his music, right?

After listening to the CD a few times, I was left feeling confused and disappointed.  I felt as though I were missing the point of Taylor’s musical purpose.  Was he reaching to the lost?  Was he trying to edify the saints?  Was he striving for a purely entertaining objective?  The album title seemed to say much about his purpose, yet I decided to find out more about him before making any hasty assumptions.

Looking over his web site, I found out that Chris Taylor is no stranger to the Christian rock world.  In 1990 Taylor, along with drummer Chris Dodds, bassist TJ Behling, and guitarist Matt Slocum, formed the group Chris Taylor & Windows.  In 1992 the group changed names to Love Coma and went on to produce three different albums: Simple Things Confound the Wise Man, Soul Rash, and Language of Fools.  The release of Language of Fools debuted with a single at number 5 on Modern Rock charts.  In 1995 Matt Slocum broke away from Love Coma to start his own band known as Sixpence None the Richer, but continued to support Love Coma. 

In 1997 Love Coma disbanded, and Chris Taylor struck out on his own.  He released Down Goes the Day in 1998 and then Worthless in 2000.  About Worthless, Taylor states that his songs are “more accurate than anything I’ve written before… Now I’m just telling you about the stuff that’s happening in the world where I live.”  Comparing this comment to the lyrics of each song still leaves me bewildered.  Most Christians today will say that the lyrics are an important aspect to godly music.  The beat and rhythm is what attracts people, but ultimately people want to know the message that is being portrayed.²  

Listening to Taylor’s alternative nasal voice and straining my eyes at the itty-bitty lyrics, I carefully look over what Taylor says is happening in his world.  “Accidental Charm” is Taylor’s favorite song, because it is a wake-up song for people.  The song is talking about the distance between the singer and God, but God is there to lift his head.  The chorus sings, “And something inside of me goes wild / your accidental charm / (repeat) / subtle and strong.” The bridge sings, “Angels and devils fight in the air / If anything happens, / Babe, it happens up there / …” As a Christian, I hope what Christ does for me is not an “Accidental Charm.”

For “The River,” Taylor claims, “When I was writing ‘The River,’ I had no clue what it was about!  It wasn’t until I was actually recording the vocal that I gained any insight.  It has to do with baptism and the Holy Spirit and being born again.  It’s subtle in a way, but very powerful.”  Here’s an excerpt: “My love, she was swept away / by the longing in her eyes / My love was carried away / by the river in all of its might / River oh River…we’re drawn to the river.”  Taylor uses a large mix of cymbals and other percussion alternatives to give this song a different side of rock and alternative.  It almost feels like a rocky Latino beat. 

If rock with a 70s feel is what you crave, then this CD is for you, You will also be encouraged to know he is working on releasing a double disc entitled Brand New Ache and lo-Fi Project.  I, however, do not find this CD to be uplifting, neither spiritually nor mentally, but, hey, it will make an excellent mirror taped to the backside of my sun visor.

Chris Taylor always had the potential for something great. His lyrical bite was as hard hitting as the rock sound of his band Love Coma and his solo debut "down goes the day" was tasty if not commercially accessible.

So Rhythm Records brought in Mark Robertson and Rick Elias to give Taylor the sound that would bring his poetic thoughtfulness to a much wider audience. Taylor’s raucous and stunning vocals now have the perfect foil with the sound that the Ragamuffins have found for Taylor. The band is the Ragamuffins and it has enabled them to be a little more hard-hitting than on their own work. This might be Robertson’s hello to a future of record production. We’ve heard his work before but something tells me that he’ll be an omnipresent name on the credits of Christian rock albums as the new millennium unfolds. The packaging of this album is a fascinating collage of photos, lyrics and notes. It could keep you amused for hours.

As will the music it covers. This album hits you with an immediate one-two punch of a heavyweight champion but underneath the punches there are a load of nimble lyrical and musical intrigues to keep you coming back time and again. There is little doubt that Taylor is rooted in the U2 and Simple Minds kind of rock history. But though the phrasing of a melody gives hints of that lineage do not think for a moment that this album sits anymore out of date than whatever Bono and his mates are currently concocting in a Dublin studio. It’s rock but not antiquated. It’s right up to date and there are moments, as in Bleeding Hearts Club, when it is almost a 21st century southern boogie through a sweet treat of a Mississippi mud pie.