Crowder - Neon Steeple
Crowder
'Neon Steeple'
Tiger Rating - 6.0 / 10
So David Crowder Band whittled down to just David Crowder and now he's simplified it even further. Crowder. Another thing he's done is streamlined his sound. He was always been fond of dipping into as many different genres as possible, but now with the new simplified name comes a more focused sound.
At 14 tracks (17 on the Deluxe Edition) it's still a stuffed album. It doesn't feel as heavy and contrived as his previous albums (last one was just ridiculous).
Here's the thing though. If you can forget that its a faith focused album, it's really just another neo-folk / bluegrass album. With a few dubsteppy twiddles added in on a few tracks. This unfortunately comes at a time when the public are so over Mumford & Sons that Twitter erupted in a collective shout of HALLELUJAH this week when Marcus announced that they were taking "an indefinite hiatus". Such is the problem of playing to trends. The style of this album missed it's mark by two years. Three if you count the dubstep attempts. Not only that but he has broken absolutely no ground here in terms of mixing an organic folk type vibe with all the electronic overtones. Sure it's awesome but Sufjan Stevens came out of his mother's womb doing that stuff.
So purely in terms of style, it's a big fail.
But very obviously style is not the only thing he offers here.
Crowder could never be charged with being CCM, though purely because he sings about Jesus and his faith, that is the label he is branded with. He obviously doesn't care about labels and certainly he doesn't hold back on this record. As far as a worship, church-y type album goes, this one is flawless and beautiful. He has always managed to capture the old Southern revival style expertly. A little appearance by Emmy Lou Harris perfectly sets off "My Sweet Lord" (NOT a reworking of the George Harrison song). Elsewhere, when he shows restraint, it's effect is immediate and sincere and provides the perfect setting for worship. 'Come As You Are' is definitely a highlight, as are 'I Am' and 'Here's My Heart'.
The second half of the album after the Emmy Lou track kind of jangles along and a good three tracks feel like filler.
So all in all - as a chart record, no. As a worship album yes. It may be his most well thought out album so far, but it's not going to broaden his fan base. And hopefully on the next album he puts the banjo away.
WVS
At 14 tracks (17 on the Deluxe Edition) it's still a stuffed album. It doesn't feel as heavy and contrived as his previous albums (last one was just ridiculous).
Here's the thing though. If you can forget that its a faith focused album, it's really just another neo-folk / bluegrass album. With a few dubsteppy twiddles added in on a few tracks. This unfortunately comes at a time when the public are so over Mumford & Sons that Twitter erupted in a collective shout of HALLELUJAH this week when Marcus announced that they were taking "an indefinite hiatus". Such is the problem of playing to trends. The style of this album missed it's mark by two years. Three if you count the dubstep attempts. Not only that but he has broken absolutely no ground here in terms of mixing an organic folk type vibe with all the electronic overtones. Sure it's awesome but Sufjan Stevens came out of his mother's womb doing that stuff.
So purely in terms of style, it's a big fail.
But very obviously style is not the only thing he offers here.
Crowder could never be charged with being CCM, though purely because he sings about Jesus and his faith, that is the label he is branded with. He obviously doesn't care about labels and certainly he doesn't hold back on this record. As far as a worship, church-y type album goes, this one is flawless and beautiful. He has always managed to capture the old Southern revival style expertly. A little appearance by Emmy Lou Harris perfectly sets off "My Sweet Lord" (NOT a reworking of the George Harrison song). Elsewhere, when he shows restraint, it's effect is immediate and sincere and provides the perfect setting for worship. 'Come As You Are' is definitely a highlight, as are 'I Am' and 'Here's My Heart'.
The second half of the album after the Emmy Lou track kind of jangles along and a good three tracks feel like filler.
So all in all - as a chart record, no. As a worship album yes. It may be his most well thought out album so far, but it's not going to broaden his fan base. And hopefully on the next album he puts the banjo away.
WVS
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