John Andrew Schreiner
Pathway Through the Wilderness
Reviewed by Roadrunner
What do you do when it seems every tune has been played in every style of music in every way? You don't worry about it. What do you want to express & how do you want to express it? What means will you use to express your heart? Part of that answer will come from who or what your heart is directed toward. The sounds of new age & art rock have long been used to take the listener (& musician) to "other worlds" or to the heavens (thus programs such as "Hearts Of Space"). This music of the mysteries can take you to the useless place of nothingness or it can lift you above the wilderness & show you God is right here waiting to carry us through it all. John has accomplished this in a mighty way by taking you on a pathway through the wilderness of life using compositions that parallel certain Bible passages & words penned by Eddy Duhan. Similar ideas have been tried, but while the intention was good, to put Bible verses to music, they've often fallen short in musical integrity. Pathways has the qualities of Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) or Sting, as well as Bob James or Lyle Mays. But my only complaints are that at times the mood changes too drastically & that while they all are well written, they don't stick in your memory or instantly cause you to be able to sing along. But then, that's not necessarily what makes a song good and these are good & truly inspiring songs.