Reviewed by Steve Husband

Now that long time members Jody Davis on guitar, keyboardist Jeff Frankenstein and drummer Duncan Phillips have welcomed the vocal strengths, writing talents and boundless energy of former dc Talk member Michael Tait to the band, this is clearly a good reason to feel born again and in fact, share some new songs. The foursome is embarking on a sure-to-be momentous year with "Born Again". The title track talks about the poverty stricken people of Baja in Mexico and will be used to raise funds and embark on one of the biggest home building projects ever. The 12 track album will certainly become a classic and rightly so with great lyrics, ultra tight musicianship and first class production throughout. The new blend of styles is a joy to experience from track to track allowing for changes in mood when listening. Repeated listening to the album will undoubtedly build favour for all the other tracks. "One Shot" reminds us that we have one earthly life to make the right choices whilst "Way Beyond Myself" hits a pop style to encourage an awareness of something greater than our own strength and desires. "Impossible" takes the tempo down a little to build our confidence and awareness that with God we are capable of so much more. This theme is extended in the punchy "When The Boys Light Up" in an almost call to arms atmosphere encouraging great things. Not forgetting times can become very difficult, "Build Us Back" is a reminder that God meets us at those times and provides all we need to recover The final track "Jesus Freak" features KJ-52 though will seem to the legion of dc Talk fans a cynical attempt to copy the glorious McKeehan, Max and Tait rendition. In view of the original's iconic status, including the song in the re-minted Newsboys live set is reasonable. But wilfully replicating dc Talk's classic as a closer to 'Born Again' seems like a major dropped ball. However, with plenty of top quality tracks elsewhere on this album, there's a good chance that this creative misjudgement will be overlooked.

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.

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