Not Ashamed

Description

Not Ashamed is the fourth album by the Australian established but US based pop/rock band The Newsboys, released on StarSong Records in 1992. The album was recorded by Russ Long at Quad Studios in Nashville, Tennessee; with Steve Taylor and band member Peter Furler (Newsboys’ drummer and principal songwriter) producing. Mixed by Alan Shacklock at Bosstown Recording Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

The band lineup on this album features John James on lead vocals, Corey Pryor on keyboards, and a rhythm section consisting of Sean Taylor on bass and Peter Furler on drums. Guitarist Vernon Bishop, who had joined the band prior to the recording of their previous album Boys Will Be Boyz, left the band before the recording of their next album. Thus session guitarist Dave Perkins took over guitar duties for Not Ashamed, together with Phil Madeira who also plays keyboards and Hammond B-3 organ on the album. Also featuring Eric Darken on percussion and John Mark Painter of Fleming & John playing mellotron, clavinet, and trumpet, as well as bass on four tracks.

Not Ashamed proved a major turning point for the Newsboys. The band’s zany-but-wholesome image fully emerged here, satirizing American kitsch-culture while simultaneously testifying about Jesus. Sonically, it melds 1960s and ’70s-era pop styles together with humor and a hint of irony. The album’s title track, an upbeat expression of Christian self-esteem co-written by Peter Furler and producer Steve Taylor, became a major hit. “Where You Belong/Turn Your Eyes On Jesus” and “Upon This Rock” also did well as singles.

For the past several years, Australia’s Newsboys have been somewhat of an anomaly in Christian music circles. While the band has steadily built a devoted U.S. following (via a rigorous touring schedule and numerous festival appearances), its records – except for portions of last year’s ‘Boys Will Be Boyz‘ – haven’t accurately reflected the vitality of its stage show. One crucial element still seemed to be missing – the Boys’ personal musical influences. It often seemed like the band sublimated its own preferences in favor of recording what it thought audiences wanted to hear. Happily, that’s been remedied on the Newsboys’ latest and best disc, ‘Not Ashamed’. Where past recordings found the Boys’ bypassing a lot of their personal, more eclectic tastes in favor of an easy-to-swallow commercial smoothness, ‘Not Ashamed’ reveals the group drawing in a variety of sounds, from hip-hop and rap (previously experimented with on ‘Boyz’ «Tast and See»), to the Euro pop sounds of Electronic, The Cure and EMF. Championing (and only occasionally reining in) the fun-loving Aussie transplants is Christian pop’s original lunatic, producer Steve Taylor.

If this is, indeed, the album that Newsboys have always been longing to make, it’s a surprise that they waited so long to do such a convincing job of embracing an alternative approach. Drummer Peter Furler, the Boys’ ad-hoc leader and primary composer, has become quite adept at fashioning melody lines which vocalist John James can sink his teeth into and that retain some freshness after multiple listenings. Furler’s tunes are simultaneously obtuse and accessible, not an easy combination to manage, but with Taylor supervising the mix, it’s easy to see how Furler succeded. Adding an expressive musical dimension to the songs is the ubiquitous Hammond B-3 of Phil Madeira and the indispensible guitar of Dave Perkins (subbing for the recently-departed Vernon Bishop). Madeira gets his licks in in the driving «I Cannot Get You Out of My System», «I’m Not Ashamed» and «Upon This Rock», while Perkins’ piercing solos and chunky rhythm and 12-string performances propel «Upon This Rock», «Strong Love» and «Dear Shame».

Furler’s lyrics also benefit from Taylor’s input; so simpatico are the two writers that, on many tracks, it’s difficult to tell where one’s input begins and the other’s ends. (Although it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Taylor lobbied for the nose-tweaking, near rave version of De Garmo and Key’s «Boycott Hell».) From anthemic songs like «I’m Not Ashamed» (“I’m not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ”) and a soft rock remake of hymnal standard «Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus», we can surmise that the Newsboys haven’t forgotten its primary audience – the church. But far more challenging and creative are couplets such as “Always stalled by hidden fears/ Always stuck in neutral gears” («I Cannot Get You Out of My System»), “Save your testimonies for churchtime/ You’d better do a little market research” («I’m Not Ashamed»), “Twenty scratches for every itch/ 100 ways to catch a fish” («Upon This Rock») and “He worships while he grooves/ She prays and barely moves/ But they’re both reflecting pure devotion” («Strong Love»). If the Newsboys’ audience proves as willing to stretch as the band was with this album, the Boys are likely to enter the Amy/Michael/Petra pantheon with ‘Not Ashamed’. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, November 1992]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/not-ashamed/725791318)

CD tracklist:

01. I Cannot Get You Out Of My System – 3:18
02. I’m Not Ashamed – 3:52
03. Where You Belong / Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus – 5:30
04. Upon This Rock – 4:39
05. Strong Love – 4:01
06. Dear Shame – 3:50
07. Boycott Hell – 3:41
08. We Come Together – 4:35
09. Love Comes True – 3:31
10. Lost The Sky Again – 5:05

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by StarSong Records.

The September 1992 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on Newsboys.