Review Summary: A modern CCM album that's actually good?
tobyMac. You may know the name. Perhaps you may have heard about him among all of the other generic CCM artists out there. To me, he is like a childhood friend. I grew up on his music as a child, dating all the way back to
Welcome to Diverse City. In fact, his show was the first concert I had ever attended. tobyMac has always had a special place in my heart. Well, at least until I began taking music seriously. I began to lost interest in his music after the average
Tonight, and since then, he has only gone downhill. After
This Is Not A Test, I expected no redemption for his music. Then came along
The Elements.
This was quite a surprising experience. After the hip-hop fronted
This Is Not A Test, the funk-influenced stylings of
The Elements is quite refreshing. Is this perfect? Well, no, it still holds to some CCM clichés that are out there, but this is better than anything he, or his contemporaries for that matter, has put out in years. The mix of pre-
Eye On It groove with a tinge of new synth amplified atmosphere really brings out a side of tobyMac the industry hasn’t seen in some time.
Instrumentally speaking, this is on another tier compared to his relatively recent releases. Songs like “Edge Of My Seat” take on the funk genre with some groovy, bouncy bass lines supported by melodic rhythm guitar in the background. On the other hand, “Hello Future” and “Scars” take a much more pop-motivated approach, utilizing electronic bass and backing synths to support the sung melodies. The title-track, taking the some pop approach, mixes hip-hop and rap elements (pun intended…), producing a track which seems like an improved version of
This Is Not A Test. However, not all of the musical aspects are note-worthy. Both “I just need U.” and “Everything” still hold onto much of the CCM musical aspects aforementioned, almost begging for radio-play (which indeed has already happened). Along with this, songs like “Starts With Me” and “Horizon (A New Day)” just simply fall flat of any sort of power that is usually conveyed through some of the tracks here. However, the instrumentals aren’t usually the sort of CCM clichés.
The lyrics here still continue with much of what you hear nowadays in Christian music. The lyrical themes presented are definitely Christian-oriented and quite “preachy” as some might say, but I don’t find that as much of an issue in the music. Instead, the issues lie in the lack of originality of the lyrical topics conveyed. In almost every song, the lyrics are, simply put, predictable and bland to the extent it feels like the CCM industry is just simply recycling the same lyrics over and over again (which I am quite sure that that is actually the case). Furthermore, a lot of the choruses and refrains do tend to become boring after quite some time as they are consistently repeated over and over throughout the song, losing its original, intentional meaning of ingenuity.
Regardless,
The Elements as a whole remains fairly strong in the midst of its contemporaries. Generic moments and clichés aside, tobyMac has redeemed himself from the abysmal future he was following and pulls himself out of the wreckage to create an album that actually holds to be quite enjoyable. By no means is it on the same tier as pre-2010’s tobyMac, but this definitely sheds some light on a hopeful future.
