Symphony by Switchfoot on Cd Where Can I Buy

!Hero: The Rock Opera

• reviewed by Andree Farias Copyright Christianity Today International
• 2003 1 Sep

Sounds like … a gospel rock opera—á la Jesus Christ Superstar—featuring an amalgamation of styles and influences, including the rapcore sounds of Child Rock, the classic metal pop of Stryper or Def Leppard, plus hip-hop, contemporary popular, and everything in between At a glance … though !Hero's attempt to be all things to all people is well-intentioned, its "replayability" value is minimal, deeming it no more than a glorified post-concert souvenir for the live stage testify

Christian music has tried just about every musical venture and fad the world has to offer. Simply not till now has anyone tried a full-fledged rock opera in the vein of The Who's Tommy or Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. Non that the genre is necessarily a hot ticket; the jury'due south still out on whether music fans will purchase this album and/or tickets to the alive phase version, coming in November. In that location have been other ambitious projects geared to older audiences, such as Christmas musicals and multi-artist choral projects (such as Child of the Promise and The New Young Messiah), and their accompanying recorded product and tours. But the rock opera, a style marrying the revolutionary aspects of stone with the theatrical components of opera, was still uncharted territory. That is, until Eddie DeGarmo came forth.

DeGarmo, half of the '80s Christian stone duo DeGarmo & Key and co-founder of ForeFront Records (dc Talk, Rebecca St. James, Audio Adrenaline), felt a burden for the MTV generation, seeing how few of its legionnaires knew the significance of the Easter story. DeGarmo called buddy Bob Farrell to assistance him create !Hero , a modern-24-hour interval retelling of the gospel story through vocal. Industry execs soon saw further potential for the !Hero brand, which has adult into a line of retail products including a series of novels, a graphic novel, comic books, and a autumn tour.

For the projection, DeGarmo & Co. sought relevant musical figures who could wrap their arms around this vision and communicate information technology as their ain, recruiting names that, though non necessarily "edgy" or "hip," are at the forefront (no pun intended) of the Christian popular world. The lead three roles are all held by ForeFront artists: Michael Tait, the dreadlocked one-tertiary of dc Talk, playing the lead part of Hero, a modern-solar day Jesus; Rebecca St. James, playing the function of Maggie, a contemporary Mary Magdalene; and Audio Adrenaline frontman Mark Stuart, playing Petrov, a modern-day Peter. The ForeFront Who's Who roster volition certainly attract Christian music fans, but what about not-evangelicals who've never heard of Tait, St. James or Stuart? Volition they listen? Will they even detect? !Hero might well end up being a striking in Christian bookstores, but what about Borders or Barnes & Noble?

The studio version, reviewed here, finds Hero going through a series of biblical events (all set in New York City), most of them updated to fit the times, leading upwards to his death for the Big Apple. Subsequently a cursory intro by Special Agent Hunter (Paul Wright), Act 1 kicks things off with the pop/rocker "A Few Good Men," which tells the story of when Jesus was looking for disciples. Hither, we're introduced to Petrov (played by Stuart) and Jude (played by producer Quinlan), who early on on do a fine job of developing their characters. Truthful Honey Waits proponent St. James, in a twist of irony, plays the promiscuous Maggie on "Secrets of the Centre," a synthesized, Latin-tinged number recalling early Gloria Estefan. St. James offers her "services" to Hero, who turns downward her proposal, encouraging her to follow him.

Too in Human activity 1, hip-hop duo GRITS livens up the pompous "Wedding ceremony Commemoration" (Jesus in Cana), merely their contribution is a pointless cameo that consists of no more than the empty line "C'mon, yous, allow's gloat." Hero's mom (played by newcomer Nirva) is also introduced on this rail, which prefaces "Burn down of Dearest," a soft-stone tune about Jesus' outset face up-off with the Pharisee Kai (played by Skillet's John Cooper). Human action i's highlight and first rock single is the big-riffed rapcore of "Raised in Harlem," chronicling the healing of the daughter of an overzealous Jairus (played past rapper T-Bone); this vocal would've worked better if Jairus' claims regarding his New York origins weren't belied by his apply of the oh-so-southern contraction "you." Just I digress.

If Act one concentrated on the commencement of Hero'south ministry and his relationship with his followers, the slightly less erratic Act ii focuses more on his detractors and their plans to silence him. The '80s synth-pop (think Eurythmics) of "Leave Here" sees a bunch of annoying street youngsters mocking Hero and his friends, while Jude's "Intentions" sounds like Newsboys. Then comes the sinister "Shadowman," which, like Cindy Morgan'southward "Devil Man," looks into the betrayer's internal struggle to hand Hero over to the regime; fans of Kevin Max may like Quinlan'south vocal technique. All of this leads to the plotting of Hero's death (Hush-hush Agent Hunter's "Murder on Their Minds"), his curt but sweet good day to his disciples ("In Remembrance of Me"), his anguish at Gethsemane ("Hero's Agony"), and a climactic, well-nigh cinematic crucifixion ("Kill the Hero"), consummate with hard-hitting fake drums, distorted walls of sound, and an operatic background choir.

The mod elements of this rock opera at times endure due to the musical twists and turns of certain songs, specially when these step into unnecessary Broadway-styled territory. For case, the Hero and Mary duet of "Lose My Life With You," with its emotive piano and strings-drenched organization, is saccharine, if non terribly out of identify amid the other selections. Hero's brief "Take My Hand" follows a similar pattern, this fourth dimension using Casio strings and vocals that are as well silky and Seal-like to exist taken seriously. Not much changes on "I Am," an amateurishly written song that could very likely exist bound for AC radio play: "I am, I am/the i to make a change/who's gonna do it if I don't step to it/I am."

Is !Hero: The Rock Opera worth your hard-earned money? Though it'due south evident that the album's creators tried to make information technology broadly appealing, it's this lack of focus that ultimately brings downwards its collective value. Which begs my adjacent question: How long tin ane stomach a long-winded, thematic double-disc album, peculiarly when only a few of the songs can stand on their ain outside of the story's context? Is there any "replayability" value? You might be ameliorate off waiting for this autumn's stage production before giving the album a chance. Who knows? Perhaps enough suburban youth group kids will dig it to increment its hipness level, perhaps presaging the type of reception that the TRL-loving, unchurched populace volition give it.

lopeztily1978.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.crosswalk.com/culture/music/hero-the-rock-opera-11618731.html

Share this post