Consider the Cost

Description

Consider the Cost is the ninth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Steve Camp, released on Sparrow Records in 1991. The album was produced by Phil Naish.

It is often said that a good artist is one who inspires intense feelings from his audience. Love him or hate him – but the emotional response is the true indicator of art working at its simplest form – that of the emotions. For 13 years Steve Camp has been pushing that envelope with his listeners, alternately exhorting, preaching, pleading and rebuking his musical congregation. There is nothing simple about Steve Camp, but then again neither his music. Filled with line after line of biblical quotes and references to Christian authors and speakers, Camp knowingly wields the music as both an anecdote and stumbling block as he shades the line between music and message. ‘Consider the Cost’ is a thinking man’s album.

This follow-up to the socially concerned ‘Justice‘ turns inward as Camp re-examines his and our walk of faith, the cross, hardship, sin, the cost of our faith, and grace. If it sounds like a Dietrich Bonhoeffer book list, your feeling is correct. Camp’s music, challenges and asks its listeners some pointed questions.

Musically, ‘Consider the Cost’ is a strong project. Camp returns with producer Phil Naish to deliver his most pop sounding project to date. Horns, keyboards and hip arrangements – you would think pop would not be the musical bridge for some of this subject matter – however – as was the case with ‘Justice’, the musical arrangements give a contemporary feel and timeliness to these issues.

Passion is the touchstone here and like one-time label-mate Keith Green, Camp works the crowd with intensity and urgency. “To obey is better than sacrifice/ And to hearken than the fat of rams/ For what will a man give for his own life/ House or money or land” – «Consider the Cost».

But whereas Green allowed his listeners into the dark alleys of his walk of faith and struggles with sin, Camp is now only beginning to scratch at the surface of his own vulnerability and in turn temper his exhortations with shared experiences of failure: “There’s a hard, hard place nobody ever told me of/ All I ever heard about was peace and love/ I was told that trouble couldn’t touch/ A child of God/ So when the trials came furiously/ They nearly sucked the life out of me” – «Carry Me».

It is apparent that Camp is more comfortable with exhorting than disclosing, as is the case with «The Agony of Deceit» – Camp’s rebuke of nameless pastors of false doctrine: “They are wolves in sheep’s clothing/ They will try to seduce your soul/ Teaching doctrine of demons/ For lies are all they know.”

There are powerful songs here sung in Camp’s raspy style. True, Camp’s no Sinatra and some of the songs sound like they were made with radio prosperity in mind – but if you want music for the mind, ‘Consider the Cost’ is the album for you. Like Camp’s song says, “the cross is a radical thing.” [Kathleen A. Ervin, CCM, July 1991]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/consider-the-cost/724685836)

CD tracklist:

01. The Cross Is A Radical Thing – 4:23
02. For Every Time – 4:19
03. Carry Me – 4:07
04. Shade For The Children – 5:28
05. Consider The Cost – 5:51
06. Follow Me – 3:26
07. Could I Be Called A Christian – 5:33
08. The Agony Of Deceit – 5:27
09. Guard The Trust – 4:19
10. All That I Need – 4:30

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