Rachael Lampa - Rachael Lampa
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Rachael LampaEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-07-27
Music Label: Word Entertainment
Soundtracks:
- All This Time
- Rubberhouse
- Outrageous
- No Other One
- When I Fall
- Being Alive
- You Never Know
- The Good Life
- Honest
- The Art
- Room
Free Music Notes for Rachael Lampa
Free Music Review: Rachael Lampa's Finest Hour
Hit: 5 Stars
Rachael Lampa's freshman album, LIVE FOR YOU, was a nice, if a bit too safe, debut. 2002's KALEIDOSCOPE was a huge step backwards for her as an artist and one of the few major miscues in Brown Bannister's career as a producer (he shared production credit with Brent Bourgeois). KALEIDOSCOPE buried almost everything that was uniquely Rachael under layers of bland, soulless over-production and the end result was a pop album that was too bubblegum for adults but also completely out of touch with where the teen pop scene was at the time. In the span of just two albums, Lampa had reached a critical crossroads in her career. Would she fade away with the remains of the late 90's teen pop scene or would she be able to revitalize her sound and come up with a project that showed she could still be relevant to today's pop music scene?
The correct answer was the second choice. From the opening crack of the drum you can immediately tell that this is not the Rachael Lampa of 2002. That point is re-enforced by the album's opening line: "It's taken me all this time to see..." The sweeping theme of RACHAEL LAMPA is change and growth and so it is fitting, then, that it is a self-titled project. Tommy Sims (Eric Clapton, Michael McDonald, Amy Grant, CeCe Winans) has taken over the role of producer and his influence brings a wealth of street cred to the project that Rachael has never had before. Sims also collaborates in the role of songwriter and, for the first time, Lampa has contributed in that role on every song on the album, giving even more validity to the idea that we are, for the first time, finally seeing the music of Rachael.
"All This Time" opens the project. The afore mentioned drums, along with some heavy guitar and bass, set a musical atmosphere that is edgier and more live sounding than what we last heard on KALEIDOSCOPE. It's a welcome change that brings a more authentic feel to the song, meshing well with one of her strongest-ever lyrics. It's a lyric that Philip Yancey would love, sweeping away all of the "stuff" of Christianity until "all that's left of me is You."
"Rubber House" breaks out the funk for the first time - the bonus part of having Sims as your producer is that you also get to take advantage of his top-notch skills on the bass. He lets it all hang out here, and not for the last time, either. The song, which admittedly has an unusual title, is a message of reconciliation, and T-Bone makes a guest rap appearance to emphasize the point on the bridge. The album's first ballad, "No Other One," is also step forward for Rachael, since it refuses to fall back into the stereotypical CCM ballad sound. It's not as strong of a song as "Blessed," lyrically, but it still sounds good.
"When I Fall" opens with an enchanting bass line, somewhat reminiscent of Kelly Clarkson's "Beautiful Disaster," and reaches epic proportions by the chorus. Continuing the trend, it's a winner from the lyrical standpoint as well. Contrary to the usual sunny message of a Christian pop song, "When I Fall" actually pre-supposes failure and hardship in life; that's the kind of honesty that we need to hear more of. It ends with no break, immediately leading into one of the album's biggest surprises, "Being Alive." Apparently Rachael has been listening to old-school No Doubt a lot lately, because "Being Alive" is a full-force ska tribute to Gwen Stefani's band, circa-TRAGIC KINGDOM. It turns out to be a good choice, though, as she shines vocally, showing stylistic range and flexibility that she's never even hinted at before.
"You Never Know" is a tour-de-force, both lyrically and musically. Again, Lampa shows transparency and deft songwriting touch that is both honest with its emotion as well as grounded firmly in good theology and faith. The song is set perfectly to a melancholy pop/alt arrangement, reminiscent of Collective Soul's "Run."
Setting aside the introspection for a moment, "Good Life" breaks out the good times. Teaming with Robert Randolph (there's another brilliant decision for you), it's almost a no-brainer when you combine his talent on the steel guitar, Sims' bass riffs, and Lampa's vocals.
"The Art" is probably the most vulnerable moment of Rachael's career. It is the only song on the album written completely by Rachael, and she taught herself the piano so she could finish writing it. Full of questions and struggle, like taking a handful of pages out of her journal, she sings "I know there's an art to starting over again / and I know that God will never waste the pain / you can only try so hard to right a wrong / this song will only last so long / but life is just the art of living on." Truly beautiful.
When Christina Aguilera released STRIPPED she made her mark on the pop music world, moving away from being just a teen pop princess to a musical artist, in the truest sense of the term. I daresay that Rachael Lampa has done the same thing on this eponymous release. She chose to take chances and calculated risks, and it paid off in spades. Lyrically, it is everything that a Christian album should be - firmly grounded in truth and a Biblical worldview but not afraid to deal with the human condition in an honest way. RACHAEL LAMPA is bold, confident, and mature - and one of the best Christian pop albums of the decade.
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