from: ccm magazine, August 2000
author: David Mackle
website: http://www.ccmmagazine.com

»» Watching Over You

From Inpop, the new record label of Newsboys' frontman Peter Furler, comes a new solo artist who should easily and immediately piggy-back on Newsboys' fan base. He is Phil Joel, the tall, blonde New Zealander whose day job is as the bass player for the aforementioned best-sellers.

Watching Over You seems to be influenced by the musical direction Newsboys was heading in on 1998's Step Up to the Microphone, back before the band took a trip to retro-ville with its current Love Liberty Disco. Joel's Watching Over You is so similar to some of the band's past material, at times it may as well be a new Newsboys album-something that may make fans happy.

From pop-rock cuts like the title track and "Tonight (Not Fading Away)" to mid-tempo ballads like "El Salvador" and "Together," this record is full of big songs, both in production value and hit song value. Even the most stripped down cut, "Fragile," a vulnerable commentary on human life, becomes full blown and fancy when acoustic guitar collides with bass-drenched drum loop and orchestral strings. The only hiccup on an otherwise enjoyable album is the painfully cheesy "Be Number One." Peppered with video game-like sound effects, about half of the song's lyrics amount to religious cheerleading, uncomfortably in contrast to the invocation of paraphrased Scripture for the remaining lyrics.

Throughout the project Joel's vocals are overwhelmingly convincing and fluid, an apparent indication of his comfort with being a lead singer and songwriter. Consequently, on Watching Over You, Phil Joel has succeeded in creating an album with hooky songwriting and solid vocals.

--David Mackle ««