Whenever I listen to music, it usually affects me in some way. Whether it's a lyric or a melody, I usually have something stuck in my head after listening to an album. Strangely enough, however, The Waiting's new album, Wonderfully Made, left me with nothing. I could not remember a single chorus- or even a song title- after listening to it for the first time.
Fusing rootsy rock with Newsboys-esque pop, The Waiting has created an album that should be fun and somewhat unique. Unfortunately, the band fails in both of these areas. Wonderfully Made does not boast particularly smooth musicianship or catchy tunes, nor does it stand out from the crowd in any way. The Waiting's sound, which relies heavily on synthesizers, sounds far too much like generic pop/rock throughout much of the record. Brad Olsen's vocals do sound passionate, at times, but sadly, his voice is not strong enough to carry the songs.
The sonic aspect of Wonderfully Made may be fairly bland, but the lyrics are not all bad. In fact, the title track and "Diamonds to Dust" are two of the most profound songs to come out of the Christian music industry all year. "Wonderfully Made" finds Brad Olsen forgetting about the standards of the world and declaring himself to be "fearfully, wonderfully made", while "Diamonds to Dust" focuses on materialism. Four of the ten songs on the album were co-written by Third Day's own Mac Powell. Interestingly enough, the album's weakest link, the silly, cliche-heavy "The Rest of the World", is one of the Powell collaborations. Other than that one song, however, the lyrics on the album are solid. It's a shame they were not delivered a little better.
Is Wonderfully Made a terrible album? Not at all. Just a little dull. And while none of the songs are particularly memorable, fans of The Waiting or other Christian pop/rock bands will certainly begin to enjoy this album after a few listens.
Josh's Score: 2/5
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by John WilsonDo people remember The Waiting? Their popular major-label debut back in 1997 spawned a pair of radio hits ("Never Dim," "Hands In The Air"), and earned them fans across the country. That album was quickly followed up by 1998's Unfazed, which was markedly more formulaic than its predecessor and suffered from lower sales. Now, after a three-year wait, The Waiting finally returns with Wonderfully…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Brian A. SmithThe KISS principle is often used in military terminology -- it stands for "Keep It Simple, Stupid". The idea here is that instead of overanalyzing a situation, and overplanning for every possible contingency, you take what you know and go with the most obvious solution, thus saving yourself the doubt and hesitancy that comes from delay. On Wonderfully Made, The Waiting employs the KISS theme in…ReAL Magazine 2001Reviewed by Jose B.Call it the curse of "Our So Called Tour," meaning that if your favorite band or artist was on that tour, you can expect a very long wait between albums. Sarah Masen just recently released her first album since that tour. Sixpence fans have it even worse, waiting years for an album that's already been recorded. But for The Waiting fans, well, the wait is finally over. After the somewhat…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by John WehrleThere is a little bit of something for everyone here. While most of the songs are better produced with the likes of Bryan Lenox, the Waiting doesn't leave their traditional roots until the last songs on the project. Die hard fans are going to hear reminiscent sounds from Unfazed, while newer listeners will hear a different side of the band. Some of the traditional, overtly predictable songs are…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Dan SingletonBrad Olsen's thick vocal stylings (think Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies but an octave higher) continue to set The Waiting apart from other straight-ahead contemporary Christian rock fare. But that's the only reason I find this album interesting. All the songs seem to run together, same beat, same style. I haven't heard anything particularly groundbreaking from The Waiting since "Hands in the…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Alex KlagesThe Waiting's first nationally available album, Blue Belly Sky, produced by Gene Eugene was a rare gem of clever songwriting and catchy guitar-pop. Under the production talents of Steve Hindalong, their second album, The Waiting, was better again, with a more polished sound, and some great lyrics. However, many fans were somewhat disappointed with Unfazed. While perhaps the most unified,…Similar sounding releases
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