I still remember the first time I heard Spoken. I had driven 110 miles to see Stavesacre (That's normal. Right?), and had never even heard of Spoken at the time. As the show started, there was this smallish, unassuming guy walking around reading a Bible. As the show started, he got up and introduced the local band that was opening the show. When they finished he got back up there, and all of a sudden, that smallish, unassuming image was destroyed in a sonic onslaught as Matt Baird and Spoken released their fury on the crowd.
From that first moment, the intensity of Spoken's music (both musically and spiritually) gripped me. I remember hearing them play the song "David" for the first time that night. I was so surprised to hear that level of worship come from music that intense. Through the years, their sound has changed, and at times (A Moment of Imperfect Clarity) softened a bit, but that raw spirituality has been constant. Songs that were obviously inspired by times of soul searching are interspersed with songs of love, longing, and life in general. Oh yeah, there's also that bit of '80' radio pop in the form of a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time"; which remains so close to the original, that it doesn't really do anything other than take me back to high school.
Last Chance to Breathe is Spoken's sophomore release on Tooth and Nail Records, but they are far from sophomoric on this, their fifth album. Yes, they have changed from the hard rapcore sound of What Remains, but it doesn't reek of a sell out. I guess you could call it a natural transformation. They have returned to the screaming sounds on some of the songs. Especially "Bitter Taste" with Cory from Norma Jean. The diversity of sound ranges from hard and grating to ethereal and touching. It's amazing that all that range can come from one man. Lyrically speaking, they can write a love song to their Lord as well as they can write one to their wife, without sounding contrived.
Overall, I would say that this album will please old Spoken fans while allowing them to continue to reach out to new fans alike.
3.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis October 2005Reviewed by Evan StanekIn my closing days at engineering school, everyone in my class had to do a senior project of sorts. Some people sought to get by with a minimal amount of work in order to consume the most refreshments, others set their sites on building a walking talking robot with powers for good or for awesome. Usually these people failed, but tried to butter up their project by writing a fancy report about why…The Phantom Tollbooth 2005Reviewed by Sarah VernoHaving never been acquainted with music by Spoken, I knew nothing about the band so I tried to do a little research to gain a better understanding. From pictures, they reminded me of Pillar. Style-wise, I was also told their music fit into a melodic post-hardcore, somewhat but not really emo, poppy, prog-rock genre, and on top of that, they used to rap. But when I popped Last Chance to Breathe in…Similar sounding releases
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