Larry Norman - Rehearsal For Reality

Published Thursday 8th September 2005
Larry Norman - Rehearsal For Reality
Larry Norman - Rehearsal For Reality

STYLE: Jesus Music
RATING 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 13327-3022
LABEL: Solid Rock SRD850
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RRP: £15.99

Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

When this was released on vinyl in 1986 it was like cool water for very thirsty Larry Norman fans. Back then you didn't have the constant flurry of CD re-releases and compilation albums that have swamped us in the last five years. Back in the mid '80s we wondered what had happened to Larry Norman's genius after 'Something New Under The Son'. Finally three or four albums surfaced that featured new material and this was one album that was warmly welcomed despite the fact that it's padded out with some real tosh. We really were desperate back then! There are some great highlights here but sadly also some dross. Highlights include "Why Can't You Be Good" which is the studio version featuring some great Randy Stonehill improvised backing vocals and the fabulous rocker "If You Don't Love The Lord, You'll Fall". There's a studio version of "Woman Of God", a really fun silly song called "Gonna Write A Song About You For The Radio" and the brilliant slow ballad version of "It's Only Today That Counts". But padding it out are poor instrumental tracks like "Zimmy Finds His Father", "Broken Bonds, Fallen Friendship" and "A Dream Come True". All very disappointing! "More Than A Dream" simply isn't very special and then not one but two versions of "Voices In The Night" which seems to be Larry and his brother writing a song. Totally pointless! Bonus cuts feature a studio version of "Messiah" which is suitably dramatic and then some half baked ideas and instrumentals which don't feel like a bonus. Oh dear!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.

Reader Comments

Posted by Dougie Adam @ 13:54 on Nov 10 2008

The CD has 20 songs and by your reviewer's reckoning only about 4 of the 20 are really good and worth having. As has been pointed out this release is also a CDR and a bad sounding CDR at that where the original master tapes have not been used and where they have basically recorded a scratchy LP version and transferred this recording to a CD. The studio version of Messiah is also largely an instrumental backing track with bits of singing here and there. All of which begs the questions - why rate this as highly as 7 out of 10 and by giving this 7 out of 10 when it probably deserves only a 4 or 5 out of 10 does this not demean many other 'pretty good' and 'better than ok' albums in Larry's huge back catalogue which do genuinely desrve a rating around 7 out of 10 - eg many of the solo live albums like Children of Sorrow which are well enough recorded and have nice performances of old and newish songs?
The Rehearsal 4 Reality CDR re-release sounds horrible sonically, only has a few worthwhile songs on it and most of them are available elsewhere, so why not call a spade a spade and rate it accordingly?!



Posted by Jeremy Pilgrim in Sweden @ 12:48 on Aug 21 2008

I have "Rehearsal 4 Reality" on vinyl and once made my own CD-R of it with my PC. I was happy when it was released "properly" on Solid Rock so I ordered it, only to find that my own homemade CD-R almost sounded better than the Solid Rock release. (The bonus tracks arenĀ“t really that interesting either. Only instrumental jams).



Posted by Dougie @ 12:23 on Jun 13 2008

This is the second Cd release of this album from Larry and once again its mastered from scratchy vinyl! And in the puiblicity on his website he complains about the original record company putting out a bad sounding bootleg without his permission!



The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

Add your comment

We welcome your opinions but libellous and abusive comments are not allowed.












We are committed to protecting your privacy. By clicking 'Send comment' you consent to Cross Rhythms storing and processing your personal data. For more information about how we care for your data please see our privacy policy.

NAVIGATION
CONNECT WITH CROSS RHYTHMS
SIGNUP

Connect with Cross Rhythms by signing up to our email mailing list

A Step Change...
Cross Rhythms Media Training Centre
MORE ARTICLES
DISCOGRAPHY
ARTIST PROFILES
Artists & DJs A-Z
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
Or keyword search

 

PRAYER ROOMS
Incinerator
Be genuine and real and incinerate your attitudes and apathy in our Prayer Room