The Prayer Chain

Item: Here Comes the Rust
Author: Trae Cadenhead

Here Comes the Rust

(2003)

Reviewed by Trae Cadenhead

Discogs Bandcamp

Label independentThe Phantom Tollbooth2003

alternative rock grunge psychedelic rock

The Prayer Chain's performance at Cornerstone Festival 2003 was its first after six years of retirement. The show was enough to remind old fans that The Prayer Chain was one of the best bands to ever grace Christian alternative music. For those who hadn't heard The Prayer Chain back in its heyday, it was a chance to latch onto a band that was truly a groundbreaker in its time.

Here Comes the Rust brings together the band's most-loved songs from three full-length albums, an EP, a demo, and a collective. The songs are arranged in order, moving from one album to the next.

The first four songs are found on both the Neverland Sessions demo and the Whirlpool EP. "Shine" and "Some Love" both come off as over-the-top attempts at doing cool rock music to please the early '90s teens and find themselves as the weak points on the album. However, "I Believe" and particularly "Whirlpool" tap into an honesty that makes the songs appealing even with their old sound.

With Shawl, the band took a dramatic leap forward. The Indian chant and building beat on the song "Crawl" acknowledges this very straight-forwardly, pronouncing "Shine is dead." The songs "Like I Was" and "Never Enough" are both strong tracks, with the latter featuring a soaring guitar solo that gives Andy Prickett a chance to show his chops. The highlight of this era, however, has to be "Fifty Eight," as Tim Taber belts out the words, "Take my fist and hold it in your hands / Take my rage and bury my pain." A live version of "Dig Dug" wraps up the selections from Shawl.

The album Mercury is considered by most to be the peak of the band's work. The title cut and "Waterdogs" are both strong selections. The nine-minute-long "Sky High" may be the best track included from Mercury, though "Grylliade" is also a very strong track. Unfortunately, the song "Bendy Line" isn't included here, though it may be one of the best songs The Prayer Chain ever released.

Antarctica brought together six unreleased songs from the days of Mercury with eight live versions of songs from Shawl and Mercury. Here, "Chalk" and "Friend or Foe" represent Antarctica and are some of the catchiest songs that the band ever released.

The Here Comes the Rust album concludes with two tracks from So Close Yet So Far, which was itself a best-of/b-sides album. The songs "Lose Yourself" and "The Other Side of Heaven" end the album on a slower note, giving the music ample opportunity to sink in.

Apparently, Here Comes the Rust is only available for purchase directly from the band, meaning the web page is the only place the CD can be found now that the band's three summer dates have been played. This is definitely an album worth purchasing for the comprehensive glimpse it provides of a very solid band doing something special in their short career.

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