A Kut above the rest
Posted June 09, 2008
By Nathan,
After a successful worship based album, Strong Tower, the guys from Portland, Oregon return with their fourth studio project, Hearts of the Innocent. Returning to the rock theme is easy for Kutless but maintaining their poise was interesting after their worship project.
Kutless has always been Kut above the rest with their rock, as they always place among Pillar, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Skillet, and it’s clear that they can still rock with one listen to the first song on the album. The title track, Hearts of the innocence, is a solid, but edgy rock song with some great guitar riffs, plus lead singer Jon Micah Sumrall vocals are very emotional here. “Shut me up” gears into the song well with its pre chorus before lighting up into a heavy rock song, and “beyond the surface” is solid also. The first three songs of the album have been hard and musically blended so the result is not so much diversity but the album slows down with “smile” which isn’t overly impressive because the song is simple, but it’s a great touch for the album. The single “promise of a lifetime” isn’t as good as the previous track musically, but the soft music is fine.
Kutless gets back into the rock in the form of “winds o change” which is a gritty rock song, that doesn’t have a smooth flow. Trying to use a little of “your touch” in the bridge in “something in the sky” works pretty well, but the song falls into the lesser half of the rock group. Unfortunately catchy tunes seem to avoid Hearts of the Innocent and more gritty tunes control like “Mistakes” which is a simple rock tune that is a little bland and “push me away” which isn’t terribly impressive either. But “changing the world” is a pretty solid soft rock song, that has a very high-quality tune. The heaviest song on the album is “million dollar man” which incorporates some screaming in this short song. The songs named “legacy” seem to be saved for last these days, but this song is a highlight with an outstanding refrain.
Kutless takes on some big issues, and doesn’t try to make them indecipherable or make God’s part in their lyrics vague. The title track is about awareness for the next generation, and neglected children. Sacrifice is a big theme on this CD (“change the world”) and so is flying as Kutless seems obsessed with flying (“something in the sky” and “winds of change”). “Beyond the surface” has great lyrics (‘Don’t give in to everything the world around tells you to be/…”Stop the lying, stop comparing who you are to what you see’) and so does “mistakes” which caution listeners not to go down the path that the singer has gone. Of course the album does have its weaker spots with “promise” and “shut me up”.
“Smile” has a great message about the effect we can have on people and gods joy in life and so does “push me away” where the singer would rather be friends than stand alone (‘You can lean on me/Stand by my side/We will fight/We are much stronger as one’). While “million dollar man’s” theme has been down before, the strong lyrics have not grown old (‘He’s got everything he wanted /But now what he wants is what he had/But he threw it all away’). To conclude things is the true and good tune, “legacy” which says: ‘Nightmares of the past will fade away/The future of your name is what will stay/Never try to blame the past for everything you say/You have the power you need to change your legacy’.
Coming off of a big worship album is easier than this writer thought, as Hearts of the innocent really proved to be solid musically and lyrically. Kutless has no outstanding songs, no eye popping music, just a big Heart.
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