The fourth album from Sure Conviction, Blind, is a rock album that shows the band exploring themes of dealing with past failures, struggles against sin and conforming to the world, and lip service. Sonically, the band ranges from Jars of Clay to The Waiting to Live.
"Who Do I" revisits the message of Romans 7: the problem we all face in doing what is wrong while desiring to do what is right. It asks the same questions we all do: "Why do I still walk away from you? Why do I continue to do the things I don't want to do?" "She Said" opens with a Tom Petty guitar riff, and shows a woman looking for love who has tried all of the usual approaches, only to fail. She cries out to God, but refuses to change.
"The Past" portrays the need to move forward as opposed to dwelling in past mistakes -- it reminds us that we can get bogged down in the mire of our shortcomings, rather than growing from them. "Open Up" pleads with someone who will not hear the Word of God:
You'll do anything you aspire to do
But I can't convince you, The Great Denier
You instigate and aggravate in constant chagrin
And everything I offer you just earns your contempt
You can change your mind
Open up your eyes...
"Without Your Love" is that rare rock ballad that manages to avoid being sappy or watered down in sound. "In My Mind" relates the struggle of trying not to fall into the mindset of the world, and the "look out for number one" mentality. "Take Me Away" is a plea to be removed from the trouble that living on Earth brings every day.
"Show" pulls no punches, demanding that people who claim Christ live their lives in the same manner:
...I want to see in your life that He's real,
not a safeguard from Hell or how you feel
I've been around for more than a day
And a lot of people claim to know the way
I've learned a thing or two
Action speaks louder than a phrase from you.
One other song of note is "Don't Cry", which cut right through me. A father and his wife have lost a baby, and the song details his frustration and his questions. Having gone through this experience twice, the lyrics here express my grief as well as anyone ever has:
Would you have been my little man or my little girl?...
and I pray with all my might that the life you live
is better now than the life you'd have with us
I only wish we'd had the chance to give you all our love
Will you recognize me when I see you in the end?
Will you call me father or will you call me friend?
Blind was the first album I have heard from Sure Conviction. Based on what I have heard here, it will not be the last. The band has a nice rock edge, without sacrificing the vocals.
3.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Curt McLeySure Conviction gets a B+ for effort with their latest release Blind, but stumbles in the dark when it comes to delivering to any one particular audience. I was initially drawn to acoustic elements in this portfolio, but this is not folk. Old time rock and roll fans will hear instrumental and vocal patterns reminiscent of John Lennon and the Beatles, but this is not a classic rock collection. You…
