Album: The Climb
Released: 1997
Star Song Records
Aren't we all?
But anyway, question number one is: How in the world did I end up with the CD? I can't say for sure. It's not really. . .my thing, strictly speaking, but I sure don't want to appear close-minded. I mean, just because I'm not exactly jamming nightly to this sort of music doesn't mean I can't objectively review the record, right?
So a little background. Aaron Jeoffrey used to be a father/son duo featuring Aaron and Jeoffrey Benward. The good news is that one or the other Benward has a co-writing credit on 7 out of the 11 songs here. But not any of my favourite tracks, to be honest.
The record starts with the title track: a rousing, soul-filled ballad right out of Michael Bolton's repetoire. It just makes you want to stand right up and go and do something important or something like that. I was very inspired.
Blah, blah. . .skip to track 3 and make mention of it because Stranger was a CHR radio single for the Benward kids. I don't necessarily understand any sort of depth they're trying to point at, to be honest. . .I mean, yeah, we're all aliens and strangers and stuff. . .is that it? Sample lyric:
With my eyes, I'm seein' it
With my heart, I'm feelin' it
With my soul, I suffer it
A stranger to this land
A stranger's what I am
Now, see, the word it is a pronoun that needs to refer to another noun that has been established elsewhere. I don't want to sound Clintonesque (Bill, not George) here, but I'm not sure what it is. Catchy tune, though.
I do like the song Unexpected Guest. It's kinda spooky and I like it. Lyrically, I like it too. It kinda harkens back to the "white-washed tomb" thing that Jesus accused the Pharisees of. The speaker in the song questions whether they are truly ready for Jesus to come "like a thief in the night," if everything else is nice and pretty but "the cobwebs in the attic are the strands of fear and blame, and hanging in the closet is a skeleton of shame." The music fits the unnerving wonderings. Good atmosphere song.
The rest of the record is largely forgetable. Aaron and Jeoffrey show up and do their thing and then go away, and you'd be hard pressed to remember exactly. . .what. . .their thing was in the first place.
Final Grade: C A Lesson in
Mediocrity