Four Stones Left - Four Stones Left

Monday 1st June 1998
Four Stones Left - Four Stones Left

STYLE: Rock
RATING 6 6 6 6 6 6
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 13556-
LABEL: Independent
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Dancin' Dave Derbyshire

In this debut album a couple of saxes add to the usual sound of guitars, drums and vocals, quite literally jazzing things up a bit! But why Four Stones Left. I wondered, when...er...there's five of them? The cover picture gives the answer. A man with a sling shot. Of course. David and Goliath. David took five small stones to use against Goliath, but only had to use one. So he had four stones left. This led me to expect some songs of spiritual warfare and victory. Nothing could be further from the truth. This music could be fairly mediocre except for the saxes and for the interesting theme of turning away from Jesus. I must admit that this did make these tunes rather melancholic, though perhaps a little touching at the same time. Some lighter moments interspersed in the midst of these might have helped, but you have to wait till after the last track to hear the guys fooling about. The songs deal with issues like struggling with unanswered prayer, the temptation to walk away from God and the fear of drifting into sin. There are two songs in which people clearly say "No" to God. "Help Them" is about refusing God's call to help the people on (he street with the argument that "1 can't help them if they wont help themselves." "December" is a parody of the Christmas story in which a man struggling with a drink problem, answers the call of the Shepherd with the excuse that "it is so hard to trust now." Jesus turns up in a road to Emmaus experience in "Cliche". But the singer is still struggling with his neglect of God later in the album though ultimately he knows that he is on a spiritual journey that is going in the right direction. I found this to be a fascinating idea but the result is a set of ballads that can appear a little self indulgent. Also a lot of these songs are open lo misinterpretation.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.

Be the first to comment on this article

We welcome your opinions but libellous and abusive comments are not allowed.












We are committed to protecting your privacy. By clicking 'Send comment' you consent to Cross Rhythms storing and processing your personal data. For more information about how we care for your data please see our privacy policy.