Reviews of The Phantom Tollbooth

What You Believe
Artist: So Be It
Label: independent / custom
Time: 10 tracks / 47:58

What You Believe is a CD with a lot of heart, and is the debut recording by So Be It, the Jesus-rock trio made up of Richie Jones on lead vocals and bass, and Cody and Jody Riddle on Guitar and drums, respectively. According to the liner notes, all three actually contribute vocals to the project, along with guest musician Nicole Riddle (no shortage of Riddles here!), who also adds keyboards. Right from the first track, the songs here take me back to the beginnings of "Jesus music," (as the media dubbed all Christian rock and roll in those days), and like those early "Jesus Movement" vinyl time-capsules, what we hear on What You Believe is a basic blues-based rock album lyrically built on a sincere effort to state the basics of the Gospel and "preach" to the listener. The production quality is serviceable but uninspired, the playing is competent but lacking creative fire, the vocals are earnest but lacking style, and the lyrics are heartfelt but artless. The initial salvo of bands that hit the Christian marketplace with what would eventually be called "Contemporary Christian Music" yielded some genuinely talented artists that have stood the test of time, but also produced a plethora of albums that merely presented a contemporary style of music to service the cause, often sacrificing art for the sake of the clarity of the message. While it's obvious that So Be It is a band that's dedicated and pure in motive, they are a band that reflects not only the fervor of the early Jesus Music bands, but their failings as well.

Richie and Jody know how to produce a good, heavy blues-rock guitar sound, and probably are more impressive live than on this rather flatly-produced recording. The middle Riddle (sorry - I couldn't resist that) is competent on drums but lacks imagination, or at least power, in his technique - and this is more-or-less supposed to be a basic heavy rock trio. Even the track that mimics the band's name, "So Be It," could've benefited from another take or two to find its way to a more appropriate tempo. As recorded, the song plods its way through the six minutes and would have picked up some real southern boogie at a faster pace. I found that the vocals ranged from sounding adequate in a generic kind of way, to occasionally needing another take. Perhaps it's the forced-sounding southern blues-rock affectation in the vocals that highlight the weakness of the lyrics... or it could be the other way around. I'm sure that an abundance of good intentions went into the writing of the lyrics, but they are, unfortunately, written with the subtlety and elegance of a professional wrestling match. Please don't get me wrong ? there is no-doubt an audience for this kind of not-very-subtle Christian Rock music ... and I sometimes watch wrestling.

What we're obviously hearing on this disc is a very newly formed band that has a mission, and is feeling its way to a formalized sound. The inexperience shows, but there's plenty of time (as well as room) for growth. You want to be a Christian Rock band? So, be it.

By Bert Saraco
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