Back Home

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Caedmon's Call

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Overview: In many ways, Caedmon's Call's new album "Back Home" is an album by a band transformed. Aaron Tate is no longer their principal songwriter; "Beautiful Mystery" may very well be his last song for them. Young Josh Moore, a musical prodigy whose skills at keyboard have reshaped the sound of the band, is a man now, and his songs on this album reflect a maturity and experience only hinted at in "In The Company of Angels"; rather than a liability, this youngest bandmember has proven to be a rewarding contributor to the band. Caedmon's Call continues its solicitation of songs from outside the band; the result is an impressive portfolio of great diversity. Lastly, the band has achieved a remarkable maturity, and it shows in the polished performances, flexible interactions between soloists, seemless integration of all styles, including world music, that they have explored, and the arrangements that let everyone shine without anyone stealing the limelight. Caedmon's Call has grown up musically and spiritually and returned to report what it has learned, and "Back Home" is our opportunity to share in the family reunion.

The Songs: Principal songwriters include Randall Goodgame, Sandra McCracken, Josh Moore, Aaron Senseman, and Aaron Tate (with help from Cliff Young and Derek Webb), the latter two contributing just one song each. Unlike previous albums, the songs of "Back Home" are not obviously linked thematically, although "Purity of heart is to will one thing" or "Keep your eyes on the prize" come close to a theme for this album. Not as engaging or memorable as previous songs, most do not cry out to be sung repeatedly for months on end. Nevertheless, this album contains some very good songs; highlights, both musical and lyrical, include "Hands of the Potter", "The Emptiest Day", "The Kingdom", "The High Countries", "Thousand Miles", and "Awake My Soul". "Hands of the Potter", a real catchy song by Goodgame, is a different take on the prodigal son (See "Coming Home" from their My Calm/Your Storm or their self-titled album for comparison) and provides the title to the album. (A telling line from the song: "And Lord, when you listen for the song of my life, let it be...a song so sweet".) Don't let the title fool you: "You Created" presents a profound truth, though in rather simple garb. "The Emptiest Day" boasts an amazing and committed vocal by Derek Webb. (His performance on "Awake My Soul", a Sandra McCracken song, is equally persuasive.) "The Kingdom", an outstanding Josh Moore song, is steeped in Middle Eastern sounds and boasts some interesting lyrics on the conflict between our pride of life and God's kingdom. Those hoping for a return to their more acoustic, folk style will want to hear "Only Hope" and "Thousand Miles", which is reminiscent of songs from their album 40 Acres. "Walk With Me", "The High Countries", and "Manner and Means" boast some of Danielle Young's most accomplished singing; in "The High Countries" she sounds almost like Allison Krauss (with lush harmony vocals by Derek Webb), and in "Manner and Means" her voice is crystal clear.

Disappointments: 1) The only Aaron Tate song pales before his previous work, yet its blatant simplicity in declaring God to be beautiful is poignant--maybe not bad after all. 2) The last song on the album, "Mystery of Mercy", by Peterson and Goodgame, is weak; although the lyrics are OK, any conflict inherent in them is overwhelmed by the lush orchestration--perhaps the only mismatch between lyrics and music on the album. (The music IS beautiful, though; change the lyrics to suit the music?) 3) The major disappointment of "Back Home" is the lyrics, which are too often uninvolving, trite, or unimaginative. Although the music makes up for this deficiency to some extent, I still find myself having to read the lyrics to get the point of some of the songs. (I've been spoiled by the richness of Aaron Tate's and Derek Webb's lyrics, I'm afraid.)

Summary: Although not a return to a particular style of music, "Back Home" does mark a return to a band unified in vision and performance. Unlike "Long Line of Leavers", where Aaron Tate's complex lyrics rubbed sometimes unsuccessfully against the band's musical explorations away from their original folk/folk-rock style, or "In the Company of Angels", where songs were molded from disparate tracks recorded by bandmembers now living states apart, this album boasts performances by a unified band, of one heart and one mind, of songs where lyric and music are married successfully. "Back Home" is a portfolio of Caedmon's Call latest growth and harks of greater things to come. Recommended.

For anyone who has never heard CC's earlier cds, this album would most likely be very enjoyable. But for those of us who have heard their earlier work would admit that 'Back Home' is a little weak. I think that it's good to hear them refer to God more in their songwriting, (I guess that would show a sign of spiritual growth for them) but at the same time, the lack of Aaron Tate and Derek Webb's songwriting is quite evident. Derek Webb's presence is hardly made known on this cd which is a shame. I highly admired his intensely honest songs.

But the good thing is that this is probably one of the best displays of Danille Young's beautiful voice. More specifically in 'The High Countries'.

Musically, I think that they wanted to get back to their acoustic roots which they kind of abandoned in 'Long Line of Leavers'. All in all this is a good album in of itself.