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Print Atlantic/Lava and Sparrow, 2006 NeedToBreathe is making a splash all over the Contemporary Christian Market. Here’s how two of our reviewers sized them up.
Innovation—How does the album’s content compare to the artist’s previous work and/or to that of other artists? Don: As we’ve noted earlier, these guys sound a lot like Third Day, Newsboys, Tree63, and other popular rock bands. I also compare them to Coldplay, though a Coldplay that’s a little more happy and a lot less melancholy. John: Imagine, if you will, that Third Day, Newsboys, Coldplay, Delirious and dc Talk get together and record a “Best of” album—it would probably end up sounding like this. I see not having a ‘defining’ sound as a potential problem; while great to listen to, this can lead to comments like, “Hey, this sounds like _______.” Rather than, “Hey, that sounds like NeedtoBreathe!”
Production—What is the quality of the album’s production? What impact do the producer(s) have on the artist’s sound? John: The music is flawless with an obvious spotlight on the vocal content; no ten-minute guitar solos here. What is most annoying however, is the more that I listen to this CD, the more I find myself on the verge of singing along. Don: I agree heartily. The last album we reviewed was Jonah33’s latest, and though overall we gave it higher marks—largely for lyrical originality—in the end NeedToBreathe is the band I find to be more listenable. John: It’s the sort of stuff I actually hope to find playing on those occasions I turn my radio dial to something other than the jazz, classical, or ‘community’ stations. With all but two songs falling under the four minute mark and consistently ‘hooky’ choruses, the entire album is very radio-friendly, lots of ‘hit single’ potential in every track. The downside, of course, is that this sounds like a lot of what you already hear on the air. Don: A question that comes to my mind is, “How good are these guys live?” Are they really as good as they sound on the record, or is it just processed by a really talented producer? There’s no way for us to know, since we have no liner notes, we’ve never heard them live, and they have no other albums. John: And according to their bios, of the two core band members, one was nearly a professional football player and the other was offered a professional acting gig.
Musicianship – What is the quality of the individual musicians’ musical competence and execution? Don: The first thing I noticed after listening through this album once is that the band is very fond of guitar and bass rhythms that fall on every downbeat, as opposed to sustaining the chords for a measure or even part of a measure. The end result is music that can be described succinctly as “driving” or “pounding.” Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba… John: It might be good to remember that not all our readers are musicians, and that when we start talking about subdivisions of duple meters, they might get lost somewhere around the first mention of a thirty-second note. What Don just described is very common among most major contemporary worship bands when they reach the chorus, that can be described succinctly as “driving” or “pounding.” Ba-ba-ba-b… Don: I just said that. John: Ba-ba-ba-ba… Don: It’s a style of playing that was pioneered by—among others—Sixpence None the Richer, albeit at slower tempos. You can hear an example in the intro of “Anything” on their self-titled album. John: Probably the most widely heard example is in the chorus of “Blessed Be Your Name.” Don: Which is a Matt Redman song, made most popular by Tree63 and the Newsboys. John: It’s really quite exhilarating—the first few times. Then it becomes monotonous. Don: It’s not so much hearing that song over and over that’s monotonous, as much as it’s hearing that guitar rhythm on so many popular songs these days. John: That’s what I meant…that rhythm, not the song. Once or twice is good, but overdo it, and it just becomes another cheap trick or cliché. Don: But getting back to the subject in the CD player, NeedToBreathe, they use that rhythm on several songs to good effect, but it comes across sounding a little stale, especially by the fifth song or so. John: Everybody seems to be playing their parts just fine, but without liner notes we don’t know if it’s the actual guys in the band, or studio musicians. Track number five, “Haley,” for example, starts off with what could be an octave mandolin/mandola, or maybe just a capoed guitar; this is the point where I think unkind thoughts about the distributors for not including liner notes with their pre-releases. What is that instrument? There are a lot of great guitar tones on here, the only trouble being that everybody else has already used them. Lyricism—What is the quality of the songs’ lyrics? John: “Haley,” the song I just mentioned, contains the best lyric on the album: “And if you don’t know just what to think then put your thoughts away and keep ‘em out of reach.” This lyric begs the listener to think about the consequences of their words before speaking their mind. Don: I agree that’s the best line, although I also like this one: “Sing out, sing out / your voice is all you have,” from the title track—a powerful and poetic way to advocate not keeping silent when we ought to speak. Unfortunately, it takes a few listens with many of the songs to even decipher the lyrics. Again, the lack of liner notes is annoyingly noticeable. John: The lyrics seem on a par with most of Third Day’s and Newsboys’ material, and in fact sound a lot like what you hear in the radio today; mostly unintelligible on first hearing, but when played backwards, yield the remarkable result of still being just as intelligible. Okay, I’m just being silly; we haven’t checked for any backward masking yet. Don: Their songwriting is decent for a debut album, but I certainly hope their lyricist(s) find(s) their own voice(s) with future albums.
Musicality—What is the overall quality of the music? How well do the individual musicians play together to create music? John: Acoustic piano kicks off track four, “Don’t Leave Just Yet,” with a simple but effective chord riff. Don: Yes, that is nice—and there are a few other magical musical moments here and there on the album. It seems they play together quite well, but they have yet to create a sound that’s all their own. John: Should a band have an identifiable sound of its own, or should it sound like everything else that sounds good? Must one choose between marketability at the sacrifice of personality, uniqueness, and listener recognition? If those questions don’t perplex you, then you will find this to be a very listenable, and enjoyable album: look for it. I know I might—except I’ve already got a copy.
Overall Rating: a reluctant three out of five (symbols of your choice: stars, polka dots, sticks of gum) Visit NeedToBreathe’s website at www.needtobreathe.com.
ninetyandnine.com © 2006, John Van Beek and Don Titus --------- Don Titus, a native of Oregon, is married to John’s sister Sarah; they are endeavoring to raise two cats. John Van Beek, on the other hand, is not—although ‘Unca John’ is much adored by his feline niece and nephew. |
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