It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything to this blog. I’ve been busy with a lot of things this past year, and I haven’t made the time in my schedule to continue blogging. I do miss it, though, and I’ve been constantly seeing things that I would like to put on here–thus this post.
There’s a lot of good music, and there’s a lot of bad music. There’s a lot of bad music with good ideologies behind it, and there’s a lot of good music with bad ideologies behind it.
Take The Beatles, for instance. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were prolific songwriters, pumping out top-notch songs such as “Hey Jude” and “Eleanor Rigby” (fantastic strings in that one!), with George Harrison adding a number of hits as well, such as “Here Comes The Sun” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
But despite how well-written their music was, if you take a closer look at who they were as people, you’ll find their moral frameworks lacking.
But it’s fantastic when you find good music that is backed up by good ideologies. And so we come to the album I’ve been obsessing over for the past month!
Steve Taylor was a musician I grew up hearing around the house. He was one of the early influences in modern popular Christian music, going on to produce a number of albums for the Newsboys and developing a good working relationship with Peter Furler in particular. In fact, Furler is the drummer for Steve Taylor & The Perfect Foil on the album they put out last year, named Goliath.
I have to admit that when I first heard the track they pre-released (it was the showcase for the album’s crowd-funding), I wasn’t impressed. I was looking mostly for Taylor’s characteristic affinity for satire and social commentary. And maybe some of that bari sax.
Sadly, I missed the beauty in the album for over a year because of my initial musical impressions of one track. But let me assure you that this album is satirical, salubrious, and satisfying. It’s a fantastic mixture of musical styles and clever lyrics. It even has a musical chuckle in one of the songs’ guitar tracks.
The title track and final three tracks are my favorites, with the best title award going to a song called Happy Go Lazy.
Here’s a lyrical snippet to chew on while you go find the album on Spotify or on Amazon. And read up on Steve Taylor‘s history while you’re at it.
A LIFE PRESERVED
Bobbing for air, I’m back again
A perfect ten of a dive without a pool
A perfect fool too slow to know
His wind has been knocked out till I’m gaspingBobbing for air, been up and down
The once renown, angling for another act
Another tactical advance to who knows where
You found me there, I heard you thereCalling me out of the shallows of my world
Called to something graceful and true
Gratitude’s too cheap a word for all you’ve reassembled
From a spirit broken and unnerved
A life preserved
Learn It And Share It 
Hi, Ben. My mom send me a link to your blog, and I’m so glad to see you’re doing well. I still haven’t listened to the Goliath album yet–been on my to-do list for some time. But Steve Taylor was so much a part of my high school years, and I have high hopes for anything he produces. It’s good to hear your endorsement. I’ll be sure to get the album soon.
– Steve Schuler
If you liked his stuff before, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! It did take me a little while to get used to it, like I said, but once I really gave it a chance, I decided the album was what I should expect from him!
Listen especially to the last two tracks. They’re more directly biblical than the majority of the album, as he often splits his commentary between general morals and theological critiques. And both of those have their own musical merits as well!