I remember a few Ray Boltz radio hits. They were interesting story-telling songs, such as "Thank You," but they were a little slow for my taste. For some reason I thought all of his music was similar to those. I still don't know about his previous work, but his latest, Allegiance, was quite a shock to me. It moves pretty well throughout and actually rocks in a spot or two.
Boltz produced the project with Steve Millikan and wrote or co-wrote the words and music for the ten tracks with lyrics (one is a brief instrumental written by Millikan). The writing isn't radical by any stretch, staying close to typical pop format, almost sounding a little constricted at times, similar to that of Keith Brown-both have great writing, but the form almost gets rigid.
Musically, it ranges from the slow, inspirational sound of "The Gospel of Grace" (which builds from a simple keyboard part with a few strings) to the pop/rock (with a slight country flair) feel of "Bought With Blood." Plenty of renowned studio musicians grace the liner notes as well.
I'd say "Where I Met Jesus" shines as a well told story, similar to his classics such as "Thank You." It tells of a woman who led her husband to the Lord, but then loses him when the Lord calls him home. "Thrown Away" could also be considered a story, talking about a boy seeing how people throw away bottles and later realizing that people throw away family relationships. If you're unfamiliar with story lyrics, I would offer a comparison to Kenny Marks as another master of the technique.
The title comes from "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb," which is a sort of contemporary anthem with a choral backup in the chorus. Boltz credits his time with "Teen Mania" for inspiration for the project.
With solid lyrics offering a strong statement of the Christian faith and stories about the human interaction with that faith, Allegiance turned out to be a lot more upbeat than I expected-I really enjoyed it.
