from:
ccm magazine, November 1992
author: Bruce A. Brown
website: http://www.ccmmagazine.com
»» Late-Breaking Newsboys
For the past several years, Australia's Newsboys have been somewhat
of an anomaly in Christian music circles. While the band has steadily
built a devoted U.S. following (via a rigorous touring schedule and
numerous festival appearances), its records - except for portions of
last year's Boyz Will Be Boyz - haven't accurately reflected
the vitality of its stage show. One crucial element still seemed to
be missing - the Boy's personal musical influences. It often seemed
like the band sublimated its own preferences in favor of recording what
it thought audiences wanted to hear.
Happily, that has been remedied on the Newboys' latest and best disc,
Not Ashamed. Where past recordings found the Boys' bypassing
a lot of their personal more eclectic tastes in favor of an easy-to-swallow
commercial smoothness, Not Ashamed reveals the group drawing on a variety
of sounds, from hip-hop and rap (previously experimented with on Boyz'
"Taste and See"), to the Euro pop sounds of Electronic, The Cure and
EMF.
Championing (and only occasionally reining in) the fun-loving Aussie
transplants is Christian pop's original lunatic, producer Steve Taylor.
If this is, indeed, the album that Newsboys have always been longing
to make, it's a surprise that they waiting so long to do such a convincing
job of embracing an alternative approach.
Drummer Peter Furler, the Boys' ad-hoc leader and primary composer,
has become quite adept at fashioning melody lines which vocalist John
James can sink his teeth into and that retain some freshness after multiple
listenings.
Furler's tunes are simultaneously obtuse and accessible, not an easy
combination to manage, but with Taylor supervising the mix, it's easy
to see how Furler succeeded. Adding an expressive musical dimension
to the songs is the ubiquitous Hammond B-3 of Phil Madeira and the indispensable
guitar of Dave Perkins (subbing for the recently-departed Vernon Bishop).
Madeira gets his licks in on the driving "I Cannot Get You Out of My
System," "I'm Not Ashamed" and "Upon This Rock," while Perkins' piercing
solos and chunky rhythm and 12-string performances propel "Upon This
Rock," "Strong Love," and "Dear Shame."
Furler's lyrics also benefit from Taylor's input; so simpatico are
the two writers that, on many tracks, it's difficult to tell where one's
input begins and the other ends. (Although it wouldn't surprise me to
learn that Taylor lobbied for the nose-tweaking, near rave version of
DeGarmo and Key's "Boycott Hell.") From anthemic songs like "I'm Not
Ashamed (I'm not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ") and a soft
rock remake of hymnal standard "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus," we can surmise
that the Newsboys haven't forgotten its primary audience - the church.
But far more challenging and creative are couplets such as "Always stalled
by hidden fears/Always stuck in neutral gears" (I Cannot Get You Out
of My System"), "Save your testimonies for churchtime/You'd better do
a little market research" ("I'm Not Ashamed") "Twenty scratches for
every itch/100 ways to catch a fish" ("Upon This Rock") and "He worships
while he grooves/She prays and hardly moves/But they're both reflecting
pure devotion" ("Strong Love"). If the Newsboys' audience proves as
willing to stretch as the band was with this album, the Boys are likely
to enter the Amy/Michael/Petra pantheon with Not Ashamed.
--Bruce A. Brown ««
