Dusty Hughes, as a distinctive and commanding song stylist, composer, producer, arranger and engineering team, appears to be at his best here on all counts. He leads this talented pack of contemporary Christian rockers down a road of self discovery and awareness slowing occasionally to pick up a few stark images and a bit of poignant commentary, all hitching a ride along this hard edged musical highway.
'Alive' has a driving emotional core that tells a story of an internal rebirth, effectively grabbing the listener's attention as the opening song.
'All of Me' features a strong glow from Dusty's fellow band mates. The bedrock bass and percussion punch through the mix while the guitars accent nicely throughout.
On 'Gone', it seems that by the end of the song, everything is truly gone except for Dusty's inspired arrangement. In reality, Dwayne Seibert's lyrics speak to the need, greed, anger and sorrow that are gone and that may well be a good thing.
'Still', a collaboration of Dusty's music arrangement and David Ashley's lyrics, features clean and crisp harmonies and a haunting C minor chord vaguely reminiscent of and old George Harrison tune I can't quite recall. Wicked fun, actually.
Once again the driving force in 'See the Light Again' is the bass diving headlong into the percussion. This song evokes the hardships and perils of life itself.
'Untitled' brings to mind an imagistic sermon woven around Dusty's elaborate arrangement and reminds one of man's unending imperfections and his quest for redemption.
'Every Other Day' is a bit of a wistful tune that might fall beneath your radar if you're not careful. After a few trips through this album, it's rapidly becoming my favorite track.
The melodies in 'Cover Me' are forceful and varied. I really enjoyed the guitar work here too. You need to listen to this several times to get the impact of the arrangement.
Similarly, 'So Far' has such a driving chorus, it just begs to be listened to cranked up in a surround sound environment. Best if you're living on some acreage, not so good for apartment dwellers.
In 'Uphill Revolution', Polaradio has put together a well-crafted collaborative effort that is a wealth of introspection, telling a story through their music that an appreciative public is bound to enjoy. Classy work all around, guys.
Rich Currier
Mountain Acoustic Music Association
Nov 2008