The release of this project from Kevin Max is the second of a trio of solo albums expected from the members of dc talk due out before the end of the year. I have been waiting for a solo project from this guy since he recorded the song "Lonely Moon" on the Mark Heard tribute album a number of years ago. dc talk is good at what they do, but I always wondered if these guys could cut it on their own. The answer from Mr. Max is a resounding "YES!" Kevin wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the album and there is not a dud amongst them. The album was produced by Kevin and Adrian Belew and is first rate all around. The players on the album include Matt Chamberlain, William Owsley, Tony Levin and the aforementioned Adrian Belew. Excellent top notch players all around and there is even some talk of some uncredited support by a certain guitar player who has helped out Iona occasionally (you'll have to figure it out on your own though).
Musically, the album reminds me of latter day Beatles with some King Crimson thrown in for good measure. Add a touch of The Monkees and what you have is one first class album. Because this is being released in the CBA marketplace, however, it will probably be overlooked by the Grammys. If this album doesn't win this kid Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2002 Dove Awards, however, then the GMA needs to fold up and go home. Each of the guys from dc talk is being given a slot to strut their stuff on the current dc talk tour. I would rather see this album played in a smaller venue, though, where you can really appreciate the intricacies of the music. There are two spoken pieces on the disc which make me wish that the EP which Kevin did a number of years ago with Jimmy A. would be released on CD. I have been assured, by the way, that the back masking on the second spoken piece is a joke of Kevin's and not record company censorship. If you are a fan of good thoughtful and intelligent music then run, don't walk to get Stereotype Be. It will be quite a while before this one comes out of my CD player.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
ReAL Magazine 2001Reviewed by Josh L!Anyone familiar with the work of Kevin Max knows that he always seems to have a flashy trick up his sleeve. Be it a new book of poetry (Unfinished Work, coming this fall from Thomas Nelson publishing), a pithy saying at a concert, or an unmistakable vocal line during a solo, Kevin keeps his audience guessing. For some reason I thought his first solo album, Stereotype Be, would prove an exception…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Steve StockmanKevin Max is DC Talk's weird and zany egomaniac who walks the very thin ledge between artistic eccentric and idiot, so his solo album was inevitably to be the most intriguing of the three. The danger may have been that the artistic freedom that he seemed to yearn for more than the other two would leave him looking stupid. Well not so. This is better than the sum of DC Talk's parts in its…Similar sounding releases
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