David Crowder Band's Collision

Anyone who has seen my CD collection knows that it is quite large and diverse. And yes, I actually still do buy CDs. I don't download (legally or illegally). I just keep it very basic. I buy the vast majority of my albums through a music club, spending on average of $7 per CD. Normally, you have to wait about three to four months from an album's street date until you can purchase it from the club, but the savings are worth it.

However aside from the music club and my savings, there are a handful of artists whose albums I can't wait for, so I go buy them on their Tuesday release date, and then overplay them in my car for the next month or so.

One such artist is the David Crowder Band. The very first time I heard them was in March of 2002 at a youth conference I was chaperoning. They were extremely new at this point, their debut album having just been released the month before. They were great in concert, but, not ready to commit to a $10 "out the trunk" purchase of their CD, I waited for it to appear on my music club to save my 3 bucks. However, after I listened to it, I realized that I should have actually bought that CD right then and there. And would have been willing to pay more for it.

Since that first CD, they have become one of my favorite groups to listen to live or in the car, and several months ago when I got the first email that their new album would be coming out on September 27, I was already counting down the days until it was released.

Their new album is called "Collision." And this is what the cover looks like when you go out to buy it:



Having listened through it three times in its entirety so far (and several of the tracks having received repeat play), here's what I can tell you:

It is excellent.

This is definitely one of those landmark albums - a record that at the time of its release is unlike anything you've ever heard before, but in five years if you listen to it again, it will sound mainstream.

The songs are deep, lyrically and musically. Each song is crafted on multiple levels. Tracks are lush and rich sounding - and it's a rock album.

Usually, songs with a lot of stuff happening in them annoy me, sounding overproduced and like plastic (if plastic made a sound). Additionally, those little skits and other random banter between songs is annoying even more so. Surprisingly though, this album contains them. But they work. Normally, the high production level and interludes make for a truly artificial sounding album, and only rarely do they make a natural, organic sounding CD - this is certainly one of those rare occasions.

The theme of the album is "When our depravity meets his divinity, it is a beautiful collision." It is divided into three parts - A, B, C, and D. Each a unique step in the journey that is "Collision." Part A sounds like the normal David Crowder Band repertoire, with an edge, but by the time you arrive at part D, you have come through an experience of harder but relaxed, darker but hopeful, songs. There is a classic spiritual fused into a driving rock track culminating in some bluegrass. Sounds bizarre, but it actually works. There is a natural progression, both across the album itself, and by DCB as a band.

You can download a track or two from iTunes or buy the whole thing from Amazon. You can actually listen to three tracks in their entirety on the group's MySpace page. Whatever you choose to do, it is most definitely a worthy purchase.

It's great. You can take my word for it.