The name of the radio show which follows mine on Sunday night is called The Sonic Attack. This title could very well describe the third release by artist Rick Altizer. With each album this guy just keeps getting better.
Sure, on the first album it was a great calling card to say that Adrian Belew played guitar on some cuts. On Go Nova, it is hard to say whether it is Rick or Adrian filling in the guitar parts. Just to let you know, in most cases, it is Mr. Altizer. He plays all of the instruments on the album, with few exceptions; he handles all the vocals.
Rick's lyric writer, Dwight Liles, is outstanding at painting word pictures in such songs as "Gold Coast," "Last Day Of Summer" and "Risen". There are outstanding lyrics which demand the listener's attention.
From "Last Day of Summer":
The last day of summer drifts out on the wind,
Never returning, still it's not the end.
It's just the last day of summer,
Wake up from the dream.
Life goes on until it's gone.
Night is never empty as it seems
From "Risen":
Shadows are melting into the sun,
With chains that have come undone.
Now heaven and earth are dancing
like before and will forevermore.
There is only one non-original tune here, the Daniel Amos tune, "I Love You #19" originally recorded for the Amos tribute album. It is a welcome repeat here in a collection of tunes that makes me want to put the top down on the convertible and head out on the road to the beach. These are some fine drivin' tunes.
The only problem is that I can't dance to the extended ending of "Risen" while I'm driving.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #89Reviewed by Jeanette StroleFor the avid fans of Rick Altizer, who may have spent the last year or so downloading the weekly mp3s from his website, this album will reveal some new twists on familiar material. Altizer quite successfully used those "left-over" song projects from the previous recording sessions as a springboard for this third release. For those of you not familiar with Altizer, shame on you. But it's never too…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Steven S. BaldwinRick Altizer is a lot like the Little Engine that Could: a happy, humble creature that by the sheer force of will and the application of inherent talent struggles and finally manages to climb over a challenging mountain. In Altizer's case, he writes, plays and produces entire albums of modern pop bliss in the often competitive landscape of Christian modern pop rock. The only downside to his…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Michial FarmerI'll be honest and say that the latest Rick Altizer record, Go Nova, has the worst cover art I've ever seen. It looks like it was slapped together in five minutes in Photoshop. However, my mother always told me to never judge a book by its cover, so I gave Go Nova a second chance. Altizer is well capable of making a good record (as his debut, Blue Plate Special, proved), although his songwriting…Similar sounding releases
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