Christian rock comes off as a sort of anomaly in the music world. In a lot of cases, bands that would normally be put under the heading of indie rock, are instead classified as Christian rock, and the reasons behind it aren't always very clear. Does being on a Christian label in turn make a band a Christian rock band? You'd have a difficult time arguing to me that Further Seems Forever's debut The Moon Is Down is a Christian rock album, Tooth & Nail affiliation or not. So is it the lyrical content that puts a band directly into that category? Well, not all âChristian rock' bands speak about God, and not every band that speaks about God is on a Christian label.
Adelaide seems to fall into both of those categories, as they are lyrically a Christian rock band, on what seems to be a Christian rock label. A lot of their lyrical statements have the potential to turn off would-be listeners, as things can really be overly preachy at times. The content and music is certain to create a buzz amongst Christian circles, but for a second, let's take that aspect completely out of the music, rendering Adelaide to be nothing more than a run of the mill indie rock act. That said, what are we left with?
>Boredom. Using mostly the basis of electric guitar and piano melodies, Adelaide attempt to craft their songs simply for their prospective audiences. There's solid musicianship, be that from the lower key piano-driven songs, or more up-tempo, guitar-fueled tracks, but I still fear there's not enough variation both in
the individual songs and the album itself to really retain enough attention for repeated listens. It's not enough anymore for a band to be able to play well as a unit, and albums don't always have to be revered and groundbreaking, but treading some new ground could really infuse these songs with a big breath of life. Tracks like "Hard To Find" are upbeat, interesting, and have the catchiest of choruses, but far too much of this disc remains to be what most would consider filler.
That's where Over Tired & Ill Prepared falters the most, in that with so much filler, what could be a solid group of songs really grows stagnant due to the filler that disrupts any sort of flow that was being reached for. The songs aren't terrible, but there's times that "decent" just doesn't cover it, this being one of those. Having a good melody and a good rhythm isn't always enough. I like about half of what's to be found on this album, and the other half as nothing more than what could have been B-sides on a compilation or a retrospective 10 years down the road.
Christian affiliation or not, a few listens into the disc and it's essentially ready for a trade in. There are a lot of members of Christian music circles who will find this as a great alternative to a lot of the music that's out there, but for no reason other than they're a Christian band, and as far as I'm concerned, religion shouldn't be the reason you're reaching into your wallet, the music should be.