I'll be honest and say that the latest Rick Altizer record, Go Nova, has the worst cover art I've ever seen. It looks like it was slapped together in five minutes in Photoshop. However, my mother always told me to never judge a book by its cover, so I gave Go Nova a second chance. Altizer is well capable of making a good record (as his debut, Blue Plate Special, proved), although his songwriting and arranging techniques have always struck me as somewhere in between genius and CCM cliché--never fully on either side, but taking bits from both of them.
The first song here, the Tom Petty-meets-John Lennon "Resurrection," leans more toward the genius side. Altizer's voice can be a bit grating at times (as indeed can Petty's). This song is no exception, but the arrangement of the song, coupled with the knowledge that Altizer played all the instruments and performed all the vocals himself, moves the listener past this problem and shows what Altizer is capable of.
Unfortunately, the benevolence that "Resurrection" instills in me doesn't last long. A whopping four songs of Go Nova's ten have been previously released in some form. While none of these songs are necessarily bad (aside from the trite and musically weak "Gold Coast," originally performed by Rebecca St. James on the Surfonic Water Revival album), their inclusion gives the impression that Altizer is dry on ideas and desperate for tracks.
What's more, the new material on the record is hit-and-miss. Though "Resurrection" and "Trash Can Darling" are dead-on, "C M Superstar" displays the same banality it purports to mock (Altizer's sarcasm is not quite wry enough), and Altizer's attempts at making "I Don't Deserve You" his next moving worship song (a la "River of Grace," the standout track from Blue Plate Special) fall decidedly flat.
Altizer definitely has the songwriting and musical chops to become the next Terry Taylor, but I'm afraid that too many songs on Go Nova don't live up to the potential it is obvious that he has. Maybe next time around.
2.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #89Reviewed by Jeanette StroleFor the avid fans of Rick Altizer, who may have spent the last year or so downloading the weekly mp3s from his website, this album will reveal some new twists on familiar material. Altizer quite successfully used those "left-over" song projects from the previous recording sessions as a springboard for this third release. For those of you not familiar with Altizer, shame on you. But it's never too…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Chris MacIntoshThe name of the radio show which follows mine on Sunday night is called The Sonic Attack. This title could very well describe the third release by artist Rick Altizer. With each album this guy just keeps getting better. Sure, on the first album it was a great calling card to say that Adrian Belew played guitar on some cuts. On Go Nova, it is hard to say whether it is Rick or Adrian filling in the…The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Steven S. BaldwinRick Altizer is a lot like the Little Engine that Could: a happy, humble creature that by the sheer force of will and the application of inherent talent struggles and finally manages to climb over a challenging mountain. In Altizer's case, he writes, plays and produces entire albums of modern pop bliss in the often competitive landscape of Christian modern pop rock. The only downside to his…Similar sounding releases
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