Description
Somethin’ Takes Over is the third album by the American vocal trio First Call (Melodie Tunney, Bonnie Keen, as well as Marty McCall of Fireworks fame), released on DaySpring Records in October 1987, a division of Word. The album was produced by David Maddux and Neal Joseph.
Simply put, First Call has done it again. ‘Somethin’ Takes Over’ where last year’s ‘Undivided‘ left off and further establishes the trio of Keen, McCall, and Tunney as the premier vocal group in Christian music.
Not since Phil Keaggy’s ‘Ph’lip Side‘ has there been an album so intent on separating two musical styles within the framework of one LP. Side one jams with jazz. «Coming of the Lord» opens with an instrumental intro out of the Weather Report school of fusion and features triplet-laden lead vocals, those wonderful scat-sung, crescendoed bgv’s that emulate a horn section, and an avantgarde ending sure to leave even the hippest be-bopper longing for tonic chord resolution. The title track flies with 1,000-words-per-minute solos recalling the vocal arrangements of classic instrumental solos that the Manhattan Transfer does so well. «Billy on the Boulevard» is modern jazz complete with poppin’ bass and Sanbornian sax solo, and «Forever in His Care», a beautiful ballad in the «Misty» mold, features those tight 6ths-, 7ths-, and 9ths-oriented vocals accompanied by a Bill Pearce sound-alike trombone solo. The only out-of-place tune on side one, pop ballad «The Reason We Sing», is a good tune nevertheless (so good, in fact, that it was released as the first 3-inch CD single in Christian music).
Side two branches into pop/rock. First Call gets a little help from their friends, African brothers Mas 1 and Mas 2, on «O Sifuni Mungu», a cross between the Nylons and Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’, that gives «All Creatures of Our God and King» a Swahilian twist. «Back to His Heart» drives a message of repentance home with cut-loose, spontaneous-sounding vocal solos. And «Lord of All», a ballad in the 2nd Chapter of Acts vein, brings the album to a close with a gentle reminder of Who orchestrates our lives. Veteran producers Neal Joseph and David Maddux prove to be equally comfortable with both the jazz and pop/rock genres, an their hip, refined production displays why they’re constantly in demand.
If there’s a fault with the album, it’s that the lyrics on the jazz tunes are not especially deep (then again, have you ever analyzed «Mack the Knife»?). This nowithstanding, First Call continues to trailblaze with ‘Somethin’ Takes Over’, setting standards by which all Christian vocal groups will be measured throughout the rest of the 20th century. [Warren Anderson, CCM, January 1988]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/somethin-takes-over/1166006616)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “The Comin’ Of The Lord” – 3:21
A2. “Somethin’ Takes Over” – 3:23
A3. “The Reason We Sing” – 3:33
A4. “Billy On The Boulevard” – 4:14
A5. “Forever In His Care” – 4:03
Side Two
B1. “O Sifuni Mungu (All Creatures Of Our God And King)” – 5:41
B2. “The Look” – 4:46
B3. “Back To His Heart” – 3:05
B4. “Double Talk” – 4:17
B5. “Lord Of All” – 4:59
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Dayspring Records.
The February 1988 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on First Call.
A full-page advertisement for First Call’s Somethin’ Takes Over was featured on the back cover of the December 1987 and January 1988 issues of CCM Magazine.
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