Description
Revisiting This Planet is a tribute album by the American singer and songwriter Kevin Max of dc Talk fame, independently released on Blind Thief Recordings in November 2020. (Released on 12-inch vinyl LP in co-operation with Old Bear Records Reissued.) The album was recorded at IHOF Studio in Hendersonville and Dark Horse Recording in Franklin, Tennessee; with John Mark Painter of Fleming & John and Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil fame producing. Mixed by Painter. The album features Kevin Max’s re-recording of the late Larry Norman’s 1972-album, Only Visiting This Planet.
Dealing with whether to re-record Larry Norman’s Only Visiting This Planet straight or reinvent it, the ex-dc Talk singer walks a fine line. He respectfully keeps the original’s spirit, but randomly updates some sounds and references. Some of the songs are embedded in their original era – «Six O’Clock News» is a response to the Vietnam war and «Reader’s Digest» features artists from its time like the Beatles and Hendrix, as well as featuring the line, “It’s 1973, I wonder who we’re gonna see”. The former sees the litany of TV networks updated to include Fox and God TV, while the air steward announcement ends with the note that “We’re all in this together” – presumably a Covid reference. In the latter, Max changes Janis Joplin to Kurt Kobain and Russia to Japan.
Newcomers may be surprised to find songs about how faith addresses the whole of life: sex, addictions, politics, war, racism, culture, hypocrisy and nationalism for starters, with dedication to Jesus being the answer to our spirits’ hunger. I’ve yet to hear a better song written about Jesus’ life than «The Outlaw».
Those who already love Norman’s classic album should find plenty to enjoy in this re-creation, including some choral backing vocals in «The Outlaw», with its shuffling percussion; a far fuller sound clothing the sharply pointed protest song «Great American Novel»; and the way that an energized «Righteous Rocker #1» sits on top of a ‘70’s glam drum chassis – those with Max’s Serve Somebody EP will know the treatment. However, there will be much frustration that Max beheads the emotional «I’ve Got to Learn to Live Without You» after just 91 seconds.
He refrains throughout from overdoing his distinctive vocal vibrato and seems completely at home in these songs.
One example of this spirit of well-crafted tribute is the way that «Why Don’t You Look into Jesus» now rolls along on a funky guitar riff that must be an affectionate nod to Bowie’s «Fame» (while the bass sometimes feels like a nod to «Walk on the Wild Side».)
The iconic, but theologically slim, «I Wish We’d All Been Ready» is only available on the vinyl version, but added across all formats is the very worthwhile «God Pt. IV» – Max’s own continuation of the Lennon, U2, Norman song conversation:
I don’t watch TBN or CNBC
Don’t believe in FOX or MTV
I won’t be going to your mega church
‘Coz prosperity gospel doesn’t work
I don’t believe in guns or building walls
We’re just visiting this planet after all…
I don’t believe in fear or terrorists
I don’t believe in fascists/nationalists, but I believe in you.Part of the inspiration for Max recreating this collection is that way that wanted a new generation to hear what they were missing, as American CCM radio stations have whitewashed out early music from their schedules. He’s done a great job and we can only hope for some results. It take a little while to get used to the newer treatments, but Norman would surely have loved it. [Derek Walker, The Phantom Tollbooth, 7 March 2021]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/revisiting-this-planet/1537197349)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus”
A2. “The Outlaw”
A3. “I’ve Got To Learn To Live Without You”
A4. “Righteous Rocker #1”
A5. “I Wish We’d All Been Ready”
Side Two
B1. “I Am the Six O’Clock News”
B2. “Great American Novel”
B3. “Pardon Me”
B4. “Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music”
B5. “Readers Digest”
B6. “God Part IV” (Bonus Track)
Note: 12-inch vinyl LP released in cooperation with Old Bear Records Reissued.
1972. Change was in the air. A nation weary of war and debate about war rediscovered Jesus, the Prince of Peace, at least a role model, and sometimes as a redeemer. ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ was on Broadway, using the ministry of Jesus to explore the pitfalls of celebrity; down the street, ‘Godspell’ dramatized Jesus’ parables from the book of Luke. Pop radio tunes filled ears and hearts with talk of Jesus in «Jesus is Just Alright» (The Doobie Brothers), «Amazing Grace» (Judy Collins), and even «The Lord’s Prayer» (Sister Janet Mead). Calvary Chapel held mass baptisms in the California surf. Campus Crusade for Christ’s “Explo ’72” conference filled Dallas’ Cotton Bowl stadium with 80,000 young people to hear Billy Graham, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and a long-haired Texas singer named Larry Norman.
Late that year, Verve Records, home of Frank Zappa and The Velvet Underground, released the second solo outing from Norman, a former member of folk-rock band “People!” Recorded at George Martin’s AIR Studios in London and backed by a first-call team including King Crimson bassist John Wetton. The album ‘Only Visiting This Planet‘ rattled comfortable cages in all directions, decrying the music industry, the war in Vietnam, and even the Apollo space program as distractions from the core Christian missions of proclaiming the gospel and helping the helpless.
The emerging Christian music industry, which largely adopted the same “star-maker machinery” as its mainstream counterpart, never warmed to the prickly, iconoclastic Norman; the skepticism was mutual. Yet ‘Planet’ consistently shows up near the top of critic’s lists of the most important Christian albums, decade after decade. His rapture song «I Wish We’d All Been Ready» became the unofficial anthem of 1970s “Jesus freaks” and was performed by dc Talk at the 1st Annual “American Christian Music Awards” show in 1994. The following year, Forefront Records released the tribute album ‘One Way‘ with their artists like Big Tent Revival and Audio Adrenaline.
Kevin Max spoke regularly about Norman’s impact on his life and included Norman’s «Righteous Rocker #1» on his 2017 album ‘Serve Somebody‘, comprising covers of Christ-oriented songs from the likes of U2, The Call, and Rich Mullins. Their long-time friendship finds new expression with Max’s ‘Revisiting This Planet’; as the name implies, it’s a full-length cover of Norman’s 1972 album. Where Norman wore his influences on his sleeve (Dylan, McCartney, Jagger, Young), Max brings his own musical background into the mix: Morrissey, Bono, Bowie, Lou Reed. Max’s golden throat shows no signs of tarnish, his famed baritone vibrato soaring into high tenor whenever the need strikes him. It’s all clearly a labor of love rather than lucre for Max and his co-producer John Mark Painter, another lifelong Normaniac.
All cover songs strike a balance between fidelity and creativity. Norman’s plea to Janis Joplin «Why Don’t You Look into Jesus?» starts in Lou Reed mode before venturing into gospel rock, not far from Norman’s version in Max’s hands, with Kelle Cates’ backing vocals to pump the energy. On the more contemplative side, «The Outlaw» retains its powerful, timeless exploration of the distortions Jesus suffers when co-opted for myriad modern philosophies. Its original sparse nylon string guitar benefits from a more expansive arrangement of bold piano bass stabs and Queen-like dueling electrics here. Torch song «I’ve Got to Learn to Live Without You» surprises once by recreating the «Hey Jude» vibe of the original version closely, and then surprises a second time by winding down before the first chorus is over. I guess we’ll learn to live without the rest of the song.
Next up, the 2017 version of «Righteous Rocker #1» returns in all its shuffling glory. Vietnam story-song «I Am the Six O’clock News» retains the grit of the acid rock original, expanding on Norman’s shorter list of media channels which shape the news rather than simply reporting it. Painter’s wife, the always-welcome Fleming McWilliams, adds her trademark vocal spice. Stark jeremiad «The Great American Novel» sheds its 1972 «Desolation Row» arrangement for a stirring string ensemble, piano, and guitar orchestration by Painter, who makes any song better by his presence. Painter’s love of jazz comes through clearly on the pro-purity «Pardon Me», replacing Norman’s «Eleanor Rigby» string quartet with a mournful wind ensemble which transplants the drama to some seedy noir cabaret. (Like “my own funeral procession in New Orleans,” says Max online.)
Rock music apologia «Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?» keeps the raucous Jerry Lee Lewis fun rolling along, with guest screaming from Daniel Smith. «Reader’s Digest» sounds less like «Subterranean Homesick Blues» than ever in a new heavy rock version. Max keeps the updated dead celebrities (Cobain and Phoenix) from Johnny Q. Public’s 1995 cover version, replacing Norman’s references to Hendrix and Joplin. Attentive Norman fans will notice the conspicuous absence of «I Wish We’d All Been Ready», the most famous song on Norman’s ‘Planet’. Max omitted it as not fitting his convictions about the End Times, but if you’d like to hear him sing it, the 1994 dc Talk version is still out there.
Album closer «God Part IV», a Kevin Max original, deserves separate discussion. To catch up with a story long-in-progress: John Lennon’s 1970 song «God» included both God and the Beatles among a long list of idols to be avoided, concluding “I just believe in me, Yoko and me, and that’s reality.” U2’s 1988 track «God Part II» agreed with Lennon that the pop idols of the 1960s made poor deities (“You glorify the past when the future dries up.”) but affirmed the reality of God, “a presence I can feel.” Larry Norman dipped his toe into the conversation with «God Part III» in 1991, a sequel of sorts to «The Great American Novel» that affirmed God while condemning Christians who neglect the suffering poor. Max follows the same ethos with «God Part IV», a manifesto of his own left-of-center perspective on the Christian’s role in modern society. He and Norman might not agree on all the particulars, but they would surely appreciate the value of speaking boldly and plainly when following the rebel Jesus. So now we have two “Planets” worth revisiting. [Robert Berman, Worship Musician Magazine, January 2021]
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