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It's been argued that just about any producer, to one degree or another, places something of a characteristic stamp upon any project that they oversee.  Given that all eleven tracks on Seattle native Aaron Spiro's debut outing, Sing, feature some combination of production, songwriting or instrumental input from veteran artist and producer Charlie Peacock, it comes as perhaps no surprise that Peacock's influence figures prominently in the final product.  Numbers like "I Surrender" and "The Weight Is Gone" feature plenty of the shimmering, blue-eyed soul and impeccably polished production that Peacock has become famous for.  Likewise, "Begins and Ends in You" and "We Will Be There" could pass for lost tracks from Peacock's Coram Deo worship projects, perhaps owing to Spiro's sharing collaborating with Doug McKelvey - who co-wrote five of the ten tracks on the Coram Deo II release - on the songs.

Despite its endearingly familiar texture, though, the greater portion of the album fails to generate much steam in the wake of its largely enervated and undistinguished musical section and oftentimes unimaginative lyrics.  In fairness, a few of the more austere, stripped-down compositions, such as the acoustic-based worship odes "Beautiful" and "Forever and Ever," form a fairly engaging foil for Spiro's strong and soulful voice.  But, while the bulk of the record undoubtedly makes for relatively pleasant listening, its material, nearly to a song, never truly reaches the point of igniting and taking off.  One can't help but wonder what Spiro might have done, given a swaggering set of no-holds-barred rave-ups or intimate collection of languishing, blues-tinged Gospel standards.  To be sure, it seems almost a given that a more literate and distinctive assortment of songs would afford the singer a near-ideal opportunity to send the proverbial ball out of the park.  This time out, though, he comes up just short.

Bert Gangl 9/22/2002

Sparrow Records has recently released Aaron Spiro’s debut album, Sing. Is it worth your time and, more importantly, your money? Well, maybe to some…but definitely not everyone.

While it does have a few tracks that may get you tapping your foot, such as the title track or “Thrill,” most of the songs are just hard to get into. While I do believe Spiro definitely could put out a good album, it seems that his full potential is lacking on his first attempt. Sometimes it’s just hard to separate this album from others out there, as they all sound similar.

Even though the album does have its flaws that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a terrible album, it can be enjoyable at times. It’s just that it feels like something is missing, and hopefully Aaron Spiro will fill this gap in his next musical installment.

Josh McConnell 09/25/02

These days it's sometimes harder to spot a worship album than ever before as our understanding of what constitutes a worship album seems to be mutating. Where once a worship album would be a collection of songs (often recorded live) that a church congregation might be able to sing together, these days there's something else going on. Or maybe we now like to brand things "worship" because that helps the cash registers tinkle. Hmmmm…

Aaron Spiro is the real deal, a worship leader based in Seattle with an ability to create singable pop melodies and lyrics packed with spiritual insights. The more I listen to this, the more I realize that the majority of this CD is actually "worshipful" rather than a worship album. Certainly there are some brilliant worship songs here - "Begins And Ends In You," "Let The Hallelujahs Cover You," "Breathing," and "Forever and Ever" are the best examples. These songs could probably translate to other places and worship leaders but a lot of this sounds great coming from Aaron himself but I'm not sure how well it'll translate.

Having said all of that, the album itself is packed full of strong songs and brilliant production. Spiro confesses to being a long time fan of Charlie Peacock so the opportunity to work with the producer was lapped up. The experience proved stretching for Aaron as Charlie put him through the songwriting boot camp, forcing Aaron to really think deeply about the lyrics he was penning. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why the album doesn't necessarily feel like a worship album because lyrically he has avoided a lot of the cliched pitfalls that other songwriters fall into. 

Working with mainstream man Jacquire King (Smash Mouth, Third Eye Blind, Tom Waits) adds an extra musical dimension to the album giving some of the songs a little bit of muscle. "Begins And Ends With You" does actually sound like a classic Peacock song from the melody to the production to the vocal delivery and so it's a bit of a surprise to find that King produced it. Just a case of Aaron's influences raising their voices perhaps.

For me the stand out songs all work for different reasons! I love the heavy pop groove and anthemic chorus of "Thrill," complete with a bit of Bono style whooping. The title song is a catchy poppy piece of immediacy to keep radio programmers happy and I love it! But then I am a radio presenter so that might have something to do with it! And there's "Beautiful" which is…ahem… beautiful. It's a simple guitar ballad with Aaron pouring out his heart in a worshipful love song. Stripped down, simple and featuring some very evocative cello.

Ultimately like Peacock's groundbreaking Coram Deo albums in the early nineties, Sing_could best be described as a worship album for people who don't like worship albums.

Mike Rimmer 11/2/2002