Assembling a Phil Keaggy album must be something like eating at a good smorgasbord. You have so many great choices, and they're all so different from each other, that you know in advance there's no way you can fit it all in. And if you try it all anyway, indigestion is inevitable. So, too, past Keaggy albums have sometimes suffered from musical heartburn, with collections of songs which were fine as separate entrees but failed to form a feast when served together. On True Believer, however, Keaggy and new producer Alan Shacklock present a full course musical meal, complete with appetizers, main course, and yes, dessert. And by limiting their raw ingredients, they manage to make it quite appetizing, indeed.
The album begins with some sweetened pop in the form of the title track. Shacklock penned this one along with three others, and he brings Keaggy something previous albums lacked: a pop sound whose musical reference wasn't The Beatles. Shacklock's presence seems designed to get Keaggy some music that has a shot at Christian radio play, with reverbing vocals and big tubular bells in the background. The several poppier songs are well done, though Keaggy's vocals sound a little less natural on them.
Next, the salad--not as sweet, a little rougher, but good for you. Studio guitar whiz Gordon Kennedy co-wrote the somber "Wild Heart" and adds rhythm guitar to this tale of redemption which makes a nice counterpart to the pop songs that frame it.
Finally, the third song, "Only You," gives us a taste of what's ahead, as Keaggy manages to sneak the album's first solo licks into this otherwise popcorn-future radio single. Through the rest of the album, Keaggy delivers the meaty rock/blues sound that longtime fans have hungered for, without the Creamy taste of Crimson and Blue and with few of the Beatlesisms of that album or the Sunday's Child project. To find licks like the ones peppered throughout "Salvation Army Band" and "Have Mercy, Lord" you'll have to look back as far as "Sunday School" (from Ph'lip Side) or "Take a Look Around" (from the ancient but wondrous Emerging album), or even farther. "Salvation Army Band" combines a great groove with a Strat solo which should bring tears to the eyes of any guitar fan, and "Have Mercy Lord" takes the rowdy feel from older tracks like "Ain't Got No" and "I'm Gonna Get You Now" and layers it with the Les Paul riffs that those songs needed all along.
Two tracks run off in a British direction that has nothing to do with Clapton or McCartney. Keaggy and his old Glass Harp crony John Sferra co-wrote "And On That Day," a sweet Christmas-like song with even sweeter guest vocals by none other than Susan Ashton. This song's medieval feel meshes with the following track, a rousing Celt-rock version of "Be Thou My Vision." Keaggy's spirited delivery moves along well, though the lyrics don't seem to understand the difference in usage between "Thy" and "Thou" on several instances.
Two old Keaggy-penned favorites have come home for dessert. "Son of Man" takes this concert fave, electrifies it, and transforms it into a song that stands as a catchy radio-ready tune that still feels like Keaggy underneath. More than any other song on the album, this one should appeal to both old and new fans as an example of Keaggy's more upbeat side. And at last, "The Survivor" gets the treatment it was born for. This song, which first saw the light of day about ten years ago on a limited-edition "Underground" album, looks at abortion from the viewpoint of the threatened fetus. The acoustic treatment remains from the original rendition, but the sad, reflective ending has been replaced by a raging, angry solo which itself is worth the price of the album.
"Living Legend" status may have grown tiring for Keaggy, who can't seem to escape the unsubstantiated rumors about certain comments supposedly made about him 20 years ago by Jimi Hendrix, or, alternatively, Eric Clapton. But whatever the truth behind those long-ago tales, True Believer gives us plenty of reason to believe that Keaggy has plenty of good stories to tell, songs to play, and musical delicacies to serve up. Bon Appetit!
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