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Album Reviews
Note: I decided that my
150th review should be special, so I picked Sanctus
Real's Fight The Tide. I reviewed
Play It Loud
during my first year of reviewing (2002), I interviewed
Matt Hammitt & Chris Rohman
in 2003, and met the band again in 2004 at the Gospel
Music Association week in Nashville in April, where I saw
them play a couple of times. Besides, it's all
scientific: review 150 divided by 10 (12 songs minus
record #2) is 15, the day in June that Fight The Tide
releases, so there you go!
Sanctus Real's high-energy
modern rock continues with Fight The Tide. The
follow-up to their highly successful major label debut
retains their sound but offers a few new twists. I'll
admit that when I saw Tedd T. (Rebecca St. James, Stacie
Orrico) was producing, I thought their sound might be
toned down a little, but that's not the case at all. In
fact, Matt Hammitt's vocals are a little edgier on
several songs. Chris Rohman gets the chance to wail out
some guitar solos on songs like Closer, The
Show and Where Will They Go (is it just me, or
are guitar solos vanishing faster than bands with
unattractive lead singers?).
On Things Like You, Matt does his Jon Foreman
impression on a song that could have been lifted straight
from Switchfoot's
Beautiful Letdown.
There's more variety on this CD than I had expected, but
it's good variety; current Sanctus fans will be pleased,
and new fans will result as well. The final song, Say
Goodbye, is the mellowest Sanctus Real song I've
heard, but as Matt Hammitt says, "This is the most
beautiful song on the record." It's a touching ballad
Chris wrote about his great-grandmother.
Although I didn't have a formal interview scheduled at
GMA in April, I had the chance to visit with all four
members of Sanctus Real at various times. They seem to be
the same down-to-earth guys they were more than a year
ago when I interviewed the then little-known band during
the See Spot Rock tour. Bassist Steve Goodrum even got
stuck serving ice cream at the Curb Records dessert.
Apparently he was helping himself after the server left,
and some people thought he was the server. A short line
quickly formed and when I arrived Steve was cheerfully
serving all comers (none of whom realized who he was) as
his wife watched in amusement. Finally he had to excuse
himself because Sanctus Real was due on stage shortly for
the World Vision showcase, where they played their hit
cover of U2's Beautiful Day from the In The
Name of Love: Artists United For Africa CD.
Fans of Sanctus Real and modern rock will want to pick up
Fight The Tide as soon as possible. While the band
released a bonus CD for Say It Loud, contributed
to
Veggie Rocks!
and scored a hit with Beautiful Day, all of their
fans were ready for this second major CD release. They
won't be disappointed.
~
Randy Brandt
Having recently
won Best New Artist in the 2004 CCM magazine readers poll
and charted a five-week #1 hit with its cover of U2’s
“Beautiful Day,” rising rock act Sanctus Real
released its second album,
FIGHT THE TIDE,
on June 15 to a continuing wave of rave reviews from the
media.
CCM writes, “The
more you hear, the brighter (Sanctus Real’s) future
looks…Lead rock single (and opening track) ‘Everything
About You’ serves notice—this is a whole new ball game.
From the start,
FIGHT THE TIDE boasts
the same stylistic foundation as the debut, but here the
band embraces prevalent European rock elements and makes
capable forays into reggae rock (‘The Show’), pop-punk
(‘Message’) and vulnerable serenading (‘Change Me,’ ‘Say
Goodbye’).”
ChristianityToday.com states, “FIGHT
THE TIDE…is explosive
and infectious…an enjoyable rock album that is
meaningful, catchy, and loud, performed with musical
excellence…Like the themes at the heart of its songs, the
album battles against any complacency or negativity with
feel-good charm…This is a band that likes to convey their
faith simply and clearly without using tired spiritual
rhetoric.”
Seven Ball
magazine says, “Listen to the reconciliation-themed ‘The
Fight Song’ and the encouraging ‘Alone’ to hear why (lead
singer) Matt Hammitt has some of the best new vocals to
hit the scene. With soaring melodies, spiritual lyrics
that aren’t clichéd and potent rock energy, this is a
band to see live and sing along with.”
FuseMagazine.net
sums everything up: “Sanctus Real’s second album is
getting all kinds of hype. Believe it all: this one’s
pure dynamite…. (The band) graduates to the big leagues
with the release of
FIGHT THE TIDE.
There are some truly killer rock grooves on this disc.”
~
Sam Seiler
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