Forty Save One

Item: Something Fierce
Author: The Kern County Kid

Something Fierce

(2000)

Reviewed by The Kern County Kid

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Label Micah RecordsHM Magazine #87January/February 2001

alternative rock modern rock post-grunge

While the title may be misleading, it doesn't mean that these guys suck. Forty Save One will probably not be storming up the mainstream radio charts, or inciting audiences to smash barricades, but they might put a hummable melody in your head. This is safe-in-the-box Christian rock of the modern variety. They play simple time signatures in fuzzy tones and counter-vocal guitar strums just like the world, but they don't distinguish themselves from their "secular" counterparts. Yes, they can slam out beats in raw unison ("Roman Candles"), but will you remember this album five years from now? Yes, you could give this to a fan of Three Doors Down and be providing a "Christian alternative," but would you be giving that fan something that was above average? While certainly not below average or poor, the band seems to concentrate so much on the 'perfect performance' that they pull their punches and perhaps polish out the unique flaws that could distinguish them from the crowd and add a little 'danger' to their musical mix. People sometimes cringe at criticism, and too often mistake the label "average" for "poor." If I recall, getting a "C" is a whole lot better than a "D" or "F." Forty Save One have some music that shows talent, nice vocal qualities, a slight understanding of groove, funk, and rock, and succeed in pointing the listener upwards in worship ("February"), but I'd love to hear these guys after four months on the road playing bars and dives, competing for an audience that wants its attention earned. I think they've got something in them that would shine, but it might grow stale if it doesn't jump out of the "safe box."