When I was back in high school, there were very few bands I enjoyed more than the screaming melodic metal of UFO and The Scorpions. One of those few bands was Blackfoot, who penned some great songs in a fun, yet blistering Southern Rock style. I think one of the reasons was the "fun factor." The monster groove riffs always seemed to bring grins to my face, rather than guitar-hero sneers.
When I noticed that Barry Beckett, a veteran of Lynyrd Skynyrd, was producing Three Crosses, I got very excited. The last two good Christian bands I've heard in this category were Jacksonville, Florida's Vision and Messiah Experience from last year's "New Talent Stage" at Cornerstone. Three Crosses has the "fun factor" inherent in Southern Rock, but they let me down in the energy and "Rock Richter Scale" categories. You old Skynyrd fans will relate to this comparison: Three Crosses sound more like "Tuesday's Gone" than "Saturday Night Special." Although the band has come away with a nice, sonically-appealing album, the guys never care to shift into overdrive and let it all hang out. They do predecessors like The Allman Brothers right with their easy-going ballads and sweet slide playin', though. It's hard to knock the album's content; it's just the direction that bugged me.
The album's opener, "I Should Have Known," showcases the band's strengths well. The rhythm section is tight and out of the way, leaving room for the vocals, organ and slide guitar to fight it out. "Sign Of The Times" treads the midwest/delta waters of a John Mellencamp tune, but the vocal delivery sounds uncannily like the late Mark Heard spittin' out the lyrics about this nation's woes. The band does a little honky tonkin' in "The Devil Ain't Got No Hold," which sounds like it might be a real barn-burner in concert. Them ivories get a real ticklin' workout - if ya know what I mean.
Hopefully, thanks to the band's influences, we'll see Three Crosses crank it up some more on subsequent releases.