Back when I was in high school, Michael W. Smith quietly released his first Project and made a name for himself as a really good songwriter ("Great is the Lord," "Friends") who was kinda cute too. Well, the last ten or so years have brought many changes in all of our lives and now that I'm thinking more about home-school than high school, Michael W. Smith, with a deafening fanfare of hype, releases Change Your World and solidly establishes himself as a really cute guy who's a kinda good songwriter, too.
There's much baggage attached to the release of this record. There's Reunion's massive in-your-face marketing campaign insisting that Change is "destined to be the biggest-selling record in Christian music history." And what will fulfill this modest destiny? The first-rate MWS/Wayne Kirkpatrick writing? The catchy pop hooks? The boy-goes-off-to-war (or college) duet with Amy Grant? Maybe. But be sure that the brunt of the burden rests on the thirtysomething shoulders of this father of five with the pretty blue eyes, George Michael (W. Smith) stubble, wind-blown hair and faded jeans. No pressure, Smitty.
There's also what will surely be another tiresome round of protest from the paranoid crossover-phobics. They'll pop up everywhere with their deity word counts from the lyric insert, their interpretations of "that look" on the cover and perhaps even a little more outrage at this man who does business with the same secular record company that peddles the bile of Aerosmith and Guns 'N Roses.
And as if that weren't enough, Change Your World will probably even get a decent bit of bashing from ccm's own cultural elite. You know the type—the people who always contend that the eclectic little-known artists who sell the fewest records are really the most talented. They might say that any record this blatantly commercial can't be good. After all, "Friends" has been shamelessly re-recorded with a lush arrangement that's just syrupy enough to make it 1993's Prom Song of the Universe.
Now, if you can put away all that baggage, you're left with a well-crafted, accessible pop record that is more destined to get most Christian teens to stop thinking like kids and start thinking like grown-ups. You see, Smitty's always been the Youth Leader of the industry. Amy's the one you grew up with; Smitty's the one who stayed behind to take care of your kids. With Change Your World he teaches strong lessons in love, commitment, harmony and self-esteem on every level.
One interesting thing about this record is that as much as everyone is looking for it to hit big in the mainstream, church kids need some of these songs more than anyone. Three stand out in particular. "Picture Perfect," is a hot dance track that tells the girls to give the mousse a rest, "You want the glamour and the grace of a movie star, but I like you the way you are."
On the surface, "Cross of Gold" says that your jewelry and your life can send mixed signals, but it really reaches deeper than that. It's a challenge to fight the trend to just dress the part or read the script and make your faith real.
Thirdly, "Somebody Love Me," the most honest song on the record, is the desperate cry of the lonely—and it is to their credit that Smith and Kirkpatrick do not add an it's-okay-because-God-loves-you verse at the end, because we've all heard it before but the people who are going to cry to this song still don't quite believe it. Just knowing someone else feels what you feel is sometimes the best comfort.
The rest of the songs tell us love can bring peace on earth ("Love One Another," "Color Blind," "Out of This World," "Give It Away"), love can strengthen our relationships ("I Will Be Here For You," "Somewhere Somehow," "I Wanna Tell the World"), and love can rearrange an old song and use it to sell a few more records ("Friends").
The production on Change Your World is no less than we've come to expect from the Reunion-Blanton/Harrell ranch. The players are all the familiar session names, you could probably name half of them before reading the credits. Of note are Dann Huff's guitar leads scattered throughout and DC Talker Toby McKeehans' "vocal flavor" added to "I Wanna Tell the World" (as if this record didn't have enough commercial appeal already).
So unload the baggage—put down the demographic reports, shoot down the target audience, turn off the videos and hang up the 1-900-MICHAEL line (it's probably busy, anyway)—and enjoy a solid pop record that's responsible enough to teach some kids to think like adults, and fun enough to make some adults feel like kids.
4/5