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Posted by Kevan Breitinger May 16, 2006 |
Justin McRoberts is no light-weight, neither musically or intellectually, as our recent conversation displays. Check out his website for more JMcR info,including mp3 clips and his bio.
As for my review of "Grace Must Wound":
I admit it, I open up a new Justin McRoberts project with high expectations and a strong inclination to enjoy. I anticipate truth and intelligence; I tend to appreciate both. So when I find those qualities in abundance and some exuberant rocking to boot, I'm a happy girl indeed. With "Grace Must Wound" I hit the trifecta.
It was Flannery O'Connor who said that "grace must wound before it heals," but it's McRoberts who really carries the message home in this new album. Despite our desire for a painless life, God's love and wisdom compels Him to give us the greater gift: a life tempered by grace. McRoberts hammers this truth home with a relentless intensity, and the beauty and power of his songs enable us to receive it with gratitude. The softly acoustic "Safe" is breath-taking in both its honesty and its delicacy. Opener "Into Your Home" lays out the charges a bit more openly and energetically:
It's only Jesus if it's rock and roll now/ It's only church if it can feed your soul now/ It's so much easier to sell you what you want/ Don't let 'em into your home.
Like I said, truth. Truth that rocks. If you like your truth served up in a straightforward manner, laid out upon an equally straightforward rock foundation, you're going to enjoy "Grace Must Wound."