Artist Info:Discography Album length: 13 tracks: 55 minutes, 19 seconds Street Date: June 15th, 1999
What does a man do who's in his mid 30s, has won over 40 Dove Awards, has had a bazillion #1 hit singles, and is about to release a new album?
Why plug in his amp and turn it up a tad, of course.
Yup, Mr. SCC (aka Steven Curtis Chapman), the good ol' boy from Paducah, Kentucky has outdone himself once again!
His latest musical serving being made available to the public next month is Speechless, an album sure to turn some heads. Mine spun.
Ok, so maybe i'm exaggerating a tad about how different Speechless is from Chapman's previous works of art, but i am so pleasantly surprised
with the work that i can't help but make a big deal about it! The CD kicks off with a tremendous song entitled "Dive."
Not only is the song more electric than usual, Chapman has incorporated electronic pulses and beeps, which also make appearances in some of the other
tunes on the album. "Dive" will have you singing along in no time, and is guaranteed to have non-SCC fans helplessly liking it as well.
The title cut follows, a song about renewed faith, which has a little bit of everything in it. From the strings to the chorus of voices near the song's closure, to the
more electric-sound of the guitars, "Speechless" sets the example musically for the rest of the album. "The Change" was another tune that may encourage some to
do a double-take. It begins with a Between Thieves-sounding guitar riff and leads into traditional SCC pop- a song about how Christians can advertise themselves
as being Christians (via t-shirts, bracelets, car ornaments, etc...), but SCC asks, "What about the change?" (pertaining to the change Christ is supposed to make in our
lives). In the middle of the song, the tone completely changes for a few moments. The guitars get louder and the cymbals crash as Chapman breaks into some more heavy rock-driven
riffs before returning to the regular pop flow of the song.
The rest of the album flows suit. "Great Expectations" slows the pace down, but not too much, leaving a nice drum loop to produce an up-beat ballad.
"Next 5 Minutes" picks up the pace again and then slows down again for "Fingerprints of God," a song Chapman wrote for his daughter Emily.
Other highlights on the disc include the more rock-driven "I Do Believe" and "Whatever." But one of the interesting tracks (among the many, actually)
is "The Journey," a fully-instrumental song reminiscent of the intro to SCC's The Great Adventure album.
If there are SCC fans reading this thinking he's gone rock?!, just relax. "With Hope," a song inspired by the Paducah school shooting, and the
final cut "Be Still and Know" are more SCC signature beautifully-orchestrated ballads.
So, on June 15th (if you're still not paying money to see Star Wars over and over), I strongly suggest you check out Steven Curtis Chapman's newest musical masterpiece, Speechless.
- Review date: 5/10/99, written by John DiBiase
Record Label: Sparrow Records
Album length: 13 tracks, 55 minutes and 19 seconds
Street Date: June 15th, 1999
Buy It:Amazon.com
Record Label: Sparrow Records
