John Janzen

Item: Think Again
Author: Brian A. Smith

Think Again

(2011)

Reviewed by Brian A. Smith

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Spotify

Label Howling Prairie MusicThe Phantom TollboothMay 2002

acoustic rock alternative rock singer-songwriter

A few years ago, the great alternative band toad the wet sprocket decided to call it quits. Glen Phillips went solo, and the others started a new project called Lapdog that went nowhere fast. This left other groups, such as Jars of Clay, Caedmon's Call (on occasion), and The Normals to pick up this type of sound and run with it.

If the former toad mates should happen to hear John Janzen, they will kick themselves. Think Again comes as close to a lost toad the wet sprocket album as anything I've heard recently, and is an amazing debut for this previously unknown singer/songwriter. I would call this album "electric coffeehouse" music -- it never gets overly loud, the lyrics are intelligent and intelligible, and the musicians are allowed to shine as well.

"Throw It Away" leads off, followed by "That's What I Want". The latter shows someone dreaming of the joy that comes from knowing salvation. "Take My Heart" works on two levels, as a love song, and as a praise to Christ, speaking of the love that lasts forever and the wedding that will come at the Resurrection. Colleen Kwade guests on this song, and provides a Leigh Nash quality to her vocals. "Love Like This" expresses amazement that its writer is accepted by Christ, despite what everyone else thinks:

I am a throwaway
Love is an empty well
So I place myself at the foot of a man
My mind can't understand...

And I have never known a love like this...

Think Again deals with themes of needing God, the struggle for acceptance, the things that try to take God's place, and the difficulty in staying true to our faith. "You Lead Me" shows us trying to do our own thing, watching it fail, then turning to God:

I've built my house the best I know
But when storms come I watch it crumble
Now you lead me, please lead me...

"The Wall" is about the barriers that are evident in our lives, the "bricks, of our hurt and hate" that separate us from true happiness. It reminds us that to receive or give love, the obstacles must be removed to be effective.

John Janzen deserves a wider audience. Some enterprising record company should surf to www.mp3.com and listen to these songs. If they do, I predict you will hear a lot more about this particular artist.

4.5 tocks