Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Rick Altizer's third album sees him switching labels to True Tunes and releasing 'Go Nova', his most accomplished set yet. Still featuring the guitar wizardry of Adrian Belew to augment Rick's punchy songwriting and multi-Instrumentalist talents, these 10 songs range from the powerfully catchy opener "Resurrection" which immediately grabs the attention through to the more acoustic groove of "Love To You" and "I Don't Deserve You". Lyrical depth, an uncompromising spiritual stance and a satirical twist to his songs that reminds me of Steve Taylor, make Rick an artist well worth getting to know. Favourites for me include the incredible "CM Superstar" which is a no holds barred, hard hitting look at the Nashville Christian music scene (recently featured on the CR Experience CD on the front of this very magazine) with enough dark humour to make you smile. He's also covered my all time favourite Daniel Amos song "I Love You" which was originally recorded for a tribute album and screams away with DTT guitars, just perfect. The closing "Risen" employs some excellent Arabic style flavours that takes the song to a new level. Creative but full of insight and light, Rick Altizer remains one of the great underrated artists of Christian music. Do yourself a favour, go nova!

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.

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