Remedy Drive examined/reviewed

Artist: Remedy Drive

CD: Daylight is Coming (Expanded Edition)

To kick things off with this review let me state I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this band perform 4 times and have been the host/promoter 3 of those times. Remedy Drive was originally started by 4 brothers from Nebraska, and from a very early stage in their career it was apparent they were blessed musically and had the desire to minister through it. If you research this band you may find some questioning what exactly the brothers believe, but this has more to do with their childhood as their family had ties (believe Father was involved) in the group/movement known as the Assembly. I’ll be honest I’m not 100% familiar with all the teachings of the movement but I can state that I feel Remedy Drive music reflects nothing that isn’t scriptural and is Christ centered through and through. The band, although some previous ones exist, really have two cds that have been a success. Rip Open The Skies was the start of the band making it, and Daylight Is Coming showed they had made it.

The success of Daylight Is Coming was immense, receiving Dove nominations and touring schedule expanding rapidly the 4 brothers found themselves entering an extremely busy way of life. The year of Daylight Is Coming saw Remedy Drive go from a lesser known Christian rock band to regularly play time on radio stations across the states. The Olympic Games at Vancouver even showcased the song “Hope” on one of the commercials used for the advertisement of the games. It was at this time where the stress of touring started weighing heavily upon some of the band members and the first signs of the end of Remedy Drive (as we used to know them). It wouldn’t be till late 2010 that the brothers Dan, Paul and Phil would perform their last show. Speaking with David, the only remaining original member and brother, it was apparent that it weighed and continues to weigh on him heavily about whether he can “re-create” what he had with his brothers with new members Dave Mohr, Corey Horn, and Timmy Jones. He said many nights he lies awake prayerfully looking to God to give him the strength and direction to make the “new” band a success.

I can safely say that as long as God stays at the forefront, this band will be blessed. It is impossible to put into words a Remedy Drive concert, and most of that comes from the act that is David Zach. David’s pure energy and passion for what he does seem to explode into the crowd through awesome piano skills, sweat dripping energy, acrobatic piano-playing headstands and the spoken words he uses in all his shows. It is that last one that is the most indescribable. There comes a time in every RD show I’ve witnessed where David stands up and speaks from his heart to the audience about the only hope we have in this life, God. As you listen it is quite clear that it isn’t David speaking to you, but God using him to speak to you…and it is this that makes Remedy Drive what it is. In my opinion David’s concerns about the band’s future, while understandable, are not needed. I truly believe that Remedy Drive is going to be a power player in the Christian music industry for years to come as long as David’s desire stays where it is right now.

As for the CD, Daylight Is Coming, it is a work of art and with the expanded edition is even better now than before. Right from the first track, Stand Up, it apparent you are about to hear something special in the coming tracks. David Zach shows his vocal range in the first song and you can hear that the band is blessed instrumentally. Perhaps one of the first things you notice about the band is the amazing lyrics and how well written the CD is. Daylight, Hope, All Along (biggest hit on CD) and Guide You Home are a few of my favorites that showcase David Zach’s writing abilities, which play a part in nearly every song on the CD. The CD’s theme is geared around the idea that no matter where we are in this life, cling to God…and wait. Sometimes we find ourselves in times where it seems we’ll never get out of the darkness, Daylight Is Coming though proclaims to the listener that fear not, for the dawn is going to break and the darkness shall lift if we just have faith! What more of message can you ask for in a CD? But to simply cling to faith is only half of it, and the rest is praising Him who created us. Remedy Drive, whether intentional or not, uses a subtle way of praising God in that they don’t necessarily use “God” in their songs. Instead they write their songs as if they are along with God and communicating directly to Him, which creates an amazing and intimate connection between the listener and the One the song is centered on…God! Some would say this is wrong, why wouldn’t they want to proclaim the name Jesus and God in every song as much as possible? Well, to that I simply say…listen. Listen and you will hear the passion and worshiping heart of the songs which resonates stronger than merely using the word Jesus or God in their songs.

Overall the CD is very well polished and will surely entertain you from track 1 clear through the end, which is rare for me to do but I was hard pressed to skip songs the first few times through. If you like what you hear, I would strongly encourage you to go see them live, as their show is one that no one forgets attending! Simply put Remedy Drive is a band that is blessed, and we can simply sit back and enjoy…and pray God keeps using them for years to come!

*Keep an eye out as the revamped band is set to come out with new stuff as soon as they can! You would be doing an injustice to yourself not to check it out when it becomes available…One Love, one Way, One God!

 Ratings for Remedy Drive:

(ratings on scale from 1-5, 5 being the best)

Lyrics/Song Writing: 5...some of the best stuff out of a newer band in a while!

Musical Ability/Sound: 4...not a 5 only because the band is revamped and finding exactly what they want to be now again.

Vocals: 4...David is talented, but would be nice to have other members chime in at time.

X-Factor: 5...it's hear, just a matter of how long it will stay.

Your bro,

TYNI

Hypocrites Identified

               The biggest hypocrites in the world….Christians, to argue that point means you just simply haven’t set back and observed others (or even yourself) who claim to be Christians. We do it daily by saying one thing, but doing another. We say do good, but yet do evil…we say to only surround yourself with good things, but yet keep going back to that thing or things that we know deep down are wrong. Music is a facet of one’s life that can be a distinctive feature that makes us unique. Almost every single person we’ll come across in our life will have a musical preference and it in some ways assists our image we attach to them. What does your music say about you?

                Let me preface this by being very honest and blunt…up until last week I couldn’t answer  100% yes (and to be honest I'm still working towards that!) to the question I’m about to ask you. If a stranger came and checked out your iTunes, media player or CD collection (if you still do that) could they tell you’re a Christian? I mean he or she might find some Christian music, but would it be overlooked as they saw the rest of your collection? I had a friend in college who was anything but a Christian (many an awesome conversation was had) and he was shocked the day he learned Thousand Foot Krutch was most definitely a Christian Rock band…so I ask again does your collection truly show what you believe?  Now I’m not saying you have to go in and delete everything that doesn’t come up when you search “Jesus”… I simply want you to consider re-evaluating what you listen to. It was a hard thing for me, as I sat going through my iTunes truly asking myself whether this song should be there or not. A lot of childhood favorites or big hits made me think oh if I just leave this one…well that one turned into 2,4,10 and so on very quickly and I went about it all over again. I’ll be 100% honest I still have some classic rock songs (likes of Journey and Kansas) but I was very careful to keep songs that don’t seem to have any undertones that counter what I believe. I’ll also state without really thinking twice, a lot of country music you’ll be fine to keep…but be careful because even it has succumbed at times to the secular way of life (it is a secular industry when it boils down to it still).

                Who cares what type of music I listen to?! Well…no one…everyone…or possibly some people in your life who you have the chance to witness to. Witness through music?! Yup, that’s right, just by listening to music that corresponds with your beliefs are going to leave no doubt in people’s minds as to what you believe. If you believe there is a God, why would your music point anywhere else? Yes, sometimes we listen to music just for fun and good times but even then there songs that have no ill-natured lyrics and meanings behind them…i.e. Lil Wayne’s next hit more than likely won’t fall in this category. So I must ask you, does your music agree or disagree with what you believe? If you answered no…perhaps your beliefs need re-evaluated before your music does.

                Now I am not saying that Christian music will always “sound” Christian…because no music sounds Christian as that’s an opinion (some feel anything with drums is evil…others guitars). Only the lyrics and meanings of the songs can separate between Christian and not…and yes it is one of those not between or “kinda” (this gray area is a topic I hope to blog about soon). An example of this is Christian Rap or even Rock…to someone unfamiliar with the band or artist they may just hear loud music and assume there is no way God is being praised through the words, which presents you with a great ministry opportunity that doesn’t seem nearly as intimidating as others. I don’t know how many times I’ve had non-believers ask me, “Who sings this?” simply because they liked the sound and it gave me the perfect opportunity to let God plant a seed. An example of this happened fairly recently with my cousin. She’d been dating this guy for awhile now and they decided to come to a concert I was promoting at our church with the main act being Remedy Drive. Her boyfriend had never thought Christian music could be so awesome live and sound good! Needless to say a seed was planted that night and he now owns their CD and even the opening band’s as well (Lightswitch). Praise God, that the stereotype that Christian music just isn’t good was broken for yet another person…are you letting God work through you to do the same for others? When you are driving friends around are you the type that switches what your listening to what you think they’ll approve or like, simply hoping to avoid any uncomfortable discussions?

                Honestly, I know if your anything like me  your mind will try any way to justify why you listen to the music you do…but I counter that now with if you have to justify it-it probably means it shouldn’t be in my collection. Just something for you to chew on this week….one love, one way, one God.

Your brother,

TYNI

"I am a city light"

Respect is due...over due

Christian Hip-Hop…Christian Rap…Christian R&B…whatever you want to call it one cannot over look it anymore. I grew up in an era (90’s) when the Christian Rap was trying to get a foothold on the music scene, but fell pretty much on its face for the most part. It has however stayed persistent and artists have come along every year ready to attempt to bring it one step closer to being accepted and respected as a player in the music world. Ask any of the headlining names in the genre today and I guarantee they can list numerous artists who overcame adversity to keep paving the way for artists in this genre to have a better chance to succeed. Many will point as far back as D-Boy Rodriguez who was slain in a tragic shooting, with the reason being merely because of his beliefs. D-Boy by many is considered one if not the founding father of Christian Rap and even died due to his beliefs.

                Some of the big players in the late 90’s when I started following the genre were T-Bone, Gospel Gangstaz, Lil’ Raskull, Pettidee, Prime Minister and many others. Some have stuck, others slowly dissolved into the background and yet others have had their true beliefs questioned and it is unclear whether they still hold the same faith they shared in their lyrics. No matter what the situation they were part of the turning point where Christian Rap moved away from the “cheesy-Jesus is my hero type lyrics” and bubbly beats to actually attacking the music industry with honest, harsher lyrics and started using beats and rhythms that resembled mainstream songs, instead of the dated sound Christian Hip-Hop had before.

                We now have artists like Lecrea, Trip Lee, Flame and others that on the talent scale are up there with the likes of Lil Wayne, Eminem and Drake…the key difference though is their message and purpose. The sad truth though is that the Christian world hasn’t fully accepted these artists and embraced them merely because instead of an organ they use a turn-table and instead of a choir they rip a microphone so fast at times it’ll make your head spin…and don’t even get me started on their clothes (haha)! That is just sad, but folks it’s the truth. Their music praises God just as much as Amazing Grace does and quite honestly usually has more passion oozing from their lyrics then anything Casting Crowns or Chris Tomlin puts out anymore. “But Ty, they shout about their faith…they make lots of booming noise…and their music doesn’t belong in the church!” Really why not? Now I’m not saying Christian Rap is the perfect fit for Sunday morning service but is that the only time we listen or should support Christian music? One cannot ignore the fact that the Rap/R&B genre is huge in our world these days, who can say God can’t touch it as well? By stating that Rap/R&B is only secular one might as well be saying my God can do all things “except this”…last time I checked the one who created everything around us can do all! You can hear the pain, anger and frustrated sinners proclaiming that God is the only answer…what fault can be found in that!?

                So I beg of you if you listen to Rap/R&B try to switch over to the Christian side of things, where the music is just as good but the message is truly a step above all the secular stuff bogging down the world right now. Also if you’re the worship music style that sees no place for Christian Rap I beg to look at the lyrics! You’ll begin to see sometimes Rap songs are overflowing with worship styled lyrics but their delivery is simply different. May God bless you and what you make part of your daily lives.

TYNI