Downhere Album Reviews

Here I would like to write out summaries of the albums by the Christian rock band, "downhere." Their music has profoundly impacted my life by insightfully challenging me spiritually. But their music doesn't just make me feel good about being a Christian. Downhere ministers to a crying world by practicing Christian apologetics in their lyric-writing. They address a wide scope of life questions with deep insights. Gently emphasizing that they are not and don't want to be rock stars, they perform lively shows that engage the audience with energy and spirit.

I have found each of their albums to be musically delightful and mentally engaging, but in different ways. Eventually, each album is worth owning for its specific reasons, but for starters, if you don't already own them, here are some descriptions that may help you choose an album to listen to. You can also listen to a sampling of 12 songs at www.downhere.com for free.

Downhere/2001/Word

If the first downhere album you've ever heard was Ending Is Beginning, you may notice this first album sounds especially young & exuberant. Well, it is. Since then they haven't lost their enthusiasm, but there just is something perpetually fresh about a good debut album. The album opens by setting the tone for everything that has followed in their career: "Larger Than Life." The song affirms a wonder and praise for the Creator. The line "It changes all to know You're really there" pretty much sums up why the band unceasingly writes songs of hope to a cynical, pessimistic world. These songs affirm the writers' faith, their heart of praise, the glory of God.

Several piano ballads (Calmer of the Storm, Blue) touch the heart by expressing pain and frustration in life, looking for something more. "Calmer" looks at God's sovereignty as an answer; Blue calls for you to "run to the cross, the only joy that's real." To summarize this album, I'd like to think of it as an introductory profile of the band. Thus it is fitting that the album is self-titled, even though the band members will affirm their spiritual journey did not stop there.

The last song, "All the Reasons Why" affirms the profile-like quality of the album: a little story of a band stepping out on stage not for fame, but for a higher purpose. The line "shrewd as snakes, but harmless as doves" is a quotation of Jesus when he sent his disciples out as sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16), meaning to live a paradox of gentle meekness and spiritual sharpness. The line "songs will always find their end, but Your story never dies," is a visionary statement later affirmed by Jason Germain, one of the band's songwriters, when he discusses the song "Unbelievable" in Wide-Eyed and Simplified.

Don't miss the fun little bonus track on this cd. You have to wait a couple minutes.

So Much For Substitutes/2003/Word

Going into this album, you'll find a dramatic shift in sound from their debut. Here are strong, almost funky bass lines, and a grungier guitar sound. Visually, if you just look at the covers of these first two albums, you can get an idea for the different sounds. But don't miss the rich ballads on this album! Iliad, Walls, Last Night's Daydream, and the hidden track Home are vibrant and beautiful.

Whether or not you're enamored with the funkier sounds, don't miss the lyrics. This album progresses through aspects of the Christian journey, starting with the incarnation of Christ (What it's Like), passing through worshipful delight (Starspin) and dismal moments when we are in pain and God seems far away (Feels Like Winter.) Near the end is a call to the church to come alive and truly represent the faith (Comatose); and lastly, two purely worshipful lullabies: "Last Night's Daydream", and the bonus track, "Home." "Home" ends the album right where our hearts long to be the more we journey in our faith--our eternal home.

This album is a cohesive presentation of the Gospel of Christ to people who have known Christianity as no more than a 2-dimensional lifestyle. So Much For Substitutes doesn't whitewash the realities of Christianity, nor does it sink to its knees in self-deprication. It's simply honest.

Wide-Eyed and Mystified/2006/Centricity

This was the band's first album with the Centricity Music record label, after several years of not recording. The songs simply burst with sharing-caring energy. We're reminded to "Surrender," that "Little is Much (When God's in it--and no one can fathom the plans He holds)" and to "Come along, why don't we stir? We are the new at heart."

This is an album of revitalization for people who are spiritually weary. The music is upbeat and tasteful. The vocals vary moments of intensity with serenity. "Unbelievable" is about generations of worship music ("It won't be long and we'll need another song to sing!"). The song contains a beautiful medley of lines from great church music of the past, which is easy to miss until you catch the harmonious "For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns . . . in unbelievable love!"

Probably the best-known song from this album is A Better Way. The band faithfully performs the song as a means to share the gospel. "It's everything You promised . . . You gave everything, and 'I love you' could not be said a better way."

This collection was particularly encouraging to me in the summer of 2008 as I spent several weeks in a retirement community with my grandmother, fresh out of college and suddenly away from all my peers. I struggled with personal questions of uselessness and spiritual deafness. Then I began listening to the words of "Forgive Yourself." God had already forgiven me; I was the one who was clinging to condemnation.

Then at the end of the summer when I spent 10 days in Spain on the St. James Way pilgrimage, "Remember Me" and "The Real Jesus" continued to ring in my ears day after day. I walked past dozens of chapels and cathedrals that, to many of the hikers, were merely checkpoints along the way where they could get an extra stamp on their pilgrim's papers. I didn't choose which songs to get stuck in my head, but "Remember Me" is about the sacraments; "The Real Jesus" is looking at the commercialization of Jesus and crying for people to truly represent Christ.

In summary, this album is tied together by its first song, The More: "I met You like a little child, wide-eyed and mystified that you could love even me."

Wide-Eyed and Simplified/2007/Centricity

Mostly containing songs from Wide-Eyed and Mystified, this digital release was recorded acoustically and includes the special bonus of a spoken track for every music track. From a practical point of view, I should warn you that, at least in a car, the volume of the spoken tracks is much quieter than the music tracks. The appeal of this album is strong in the chance you get to learn the back stories of a number of songs. You also get to hear the fun "live" sound, as if you're sitting in the room with the band as they play an acoustic set. This album has no new song releases, but has the pleasurable aspect of a "behind the scenes" cd.

Thunder After Lightning: The Uncut Demos/2007/Centricity

This is the artsy cd. Just look at that cover! This is another digital release, but, unlike its acoustic predecessor, it's almost all songs not released elsewhere. These are some of the band's favorites from the long list of demos they brought into the recording process for Wide-Eyed and Mystified. Since they're demos, you'll find a less polished production at times, but not at the loss of enjoyment. It's difficult not to review each song for this album, because each one is so unique. Many of them are stylistically experimental, and some lyrics rather introspective. Songwriter Marc Martel seemed to take special pleasure in these demos playing with his vocalizing abilities, and Jason Germain has several demos with intense challenges to the status quo.

"Close to Midnight" starts out with a dark, energetic piano arpeggio, breaking into punk-like drums and a long vocalized yell. Then it settles down and we hear "We aspire to things that expire, too, like we have the time."

"Not About Wings," is gentle song about a faith that goes beyond our immediate situation. It sounds very lullaby.

More than one song is poetically centered around lightning/thunder. The song Thunder After Lightning is a perfect synthesis of introspective music and words.

The Invitation speaks to people drowning in grief. It begins, "The near miss, the car swerves, and a rewrite in destiny . . ." with the chorus, "Birth is the invitation to live, just as death is the invitation home. Joy is the invitation to walk with me all of your days." It goes on to describe the lasting grief: "Arrangements die before grieving begins. But no one stops crowding the lines. And the whole world should know as the cancerous sorrow grows--the invitation's the mess you're living in."*

"Don't Be So" is goofy compared to their usual style, but it has good, lighthearted advice: "Don't be so scared, you're doing fine--don't be so hurried, you're next in line. Don't be so worried, you'll be all right. . ."

As a special treat on this cd, the last three songs are early versions of three songs from Wide-Eyed and Mystified. "1000 Miles Apart" and "A Better Way" are very similar to their studio version, but "Jesus, Ellipsis" gives you an idea of all the rewriting it went through before it became the studio version, "Real Jesus"**. I really enjoy the earlier version's bridge: "Everyone has different answers when the question is You. I won't settle for any lesser version of You."

Not only is thunder & lightning a theme in the album, but it was released as kind of a reverberating echo of Wide-Eyed and Mystified. I don't know with certainty that the title was intended as a play on words, but a comparison of the cover of this cd and the Wide-Eyed cover would suggest so. It makes sense since most of the songs from Wide-Eyed probably came from this same pool of demos.

*The lyrics may not be totally accurate, since the digital release did not include a lyrics insert.

**Marc Martel discusses the journey of The Real Jesus on the album Wide-Eyed and Simplified.

Ending Is Beginning/2008/Centricity

This album, a musical apologetics class, is very thematically driven by hope in the resurrection. Bleed for This Love is written as if from Christ to His people through the ages--"Just when you think the story's over, you know my love is strong as ever, 'cause I'm gonna bleed for this love." The radio single "Here I Am" calls to God for direction and motivation in spite of self-doubt. "My Last Amen," another radio single, starts out with a tango-esque rhythm, and speaks to our search for something Ultimate, and how we'll never really find completion til we cross the line into eternity.

The album ends with a song reflecting on their position as singers in the spotlight, with "Beggar Who Gives Alms." Thematically, the song is similar to "All The Reasons Why" from their self-titled album. Here again, downhere affirms their desire to be ministers, vessels of good news of the lovely hope they find in Christ.

The cd includes as a bonus track, "How Many Kings", a hit single from Centricity's artist compilation album, Bethlehem Skyline. If you download Ending is Beginning from iTunes, you get still another bonus track, "Break My Heart," which quotes the words of Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision: "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." Downhere is a faithful supporter of World Vision, and I think this song affirms their passion for ministry.

How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas/2009/Centricity

The band's own descriptions of this album are as good as it gets:

This blog was a teaser-tormenter when they first completed the album, and this one gives more descriptions upon the album's release earlier this fall.

My own opinion is simply, you should listen to it. Verily: if you have a set of good studio monitors, then you must needs turn up the volume for God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. Sit back. Then, you might as well keep listening with the volume up, because this self-produced album by downhere has incredible dimension to it.

*Release dates & record label information from jesusfreakhideout.com