Don’t Censor Me
ForeFront Records
1993
Audio Adrenaline’s sophomore release was the one that made the band explode into the coveted CCM Pop/Rock category. I speak this as someone who was there and witnessed their rise to the same level as DC Talk and The Newsboys in the early to mid 1990s. At one point, you couldn’t get away from the songs “Big House” and the title track off of this thing, even if you wanted to.
As far as my personal experience with this goes…no: Don’t Censor Me was never in my personal collection when this was blowing up. Yeah, my best friend was all about this thing, playing it on the college radio show we had pretty much every week, and the youth group I was volunteering with always had this around the CD player. I will admit to having seen them live — twice — in the couple of years after this album was released (they’re more of a rock band live, believe it or not); it’s only recently I made it a part of the Therapy Vault here. Mainly for the purpose of doing a proper review as part of my Lost ’90s Reviews. So, let’s go ahead and see if I missed anything back in the day.
- “Can’t Take God Away” Upbeat jangly alternative pop, with some EDM elements; the hook is incredibly catchy, with some boy band soul mixed in…
- “A.K.A. Public School” Good funk groove guitar and funky bass line; again, more boy band feel than the modern rock version everyone keeps telling me they were; the guitar solo is decent, though…
- “Soulmate” White guy funk, horns and everything; upbeat, at least; killer guitar solo again; beginning to wonder if these guys actually wrote the songs, and not the label…
- “My World View” !BALLAD ALERT! Something for the youth group feels; wondering if the bagpipes are real or synth; really soft World Music-tinged with hop hop drums programmed…
- “Big House” This was a big youth group banger hit; yeah, it’s catchy and has that Spin Doctors vibe going on; antacid flashback, here…
- “Jesus & The California Kid” Okay, then — like “DC10” from the self-titled release, this one makes me wonder if the band was coerced into pop, because this one’s a total Read Hot Chili Peppers funk rock banger with a slightly annoying Beach Boys flavoring on the hook…
- “Don’t Censor Me” Back to the funk flavored boy band pop; the hook is incredibly catchy; in a certain way, this is a banger — why didn’t this song lead the album? CCM is weird…
- “Let Love” Wait a minute…this song is using the guitar riff from Steve Taylor’s “On The Fritz”; guitar-driven, at least, a banger if not a bit cheesy; guitar solo rips…
- “We’re A Band” Another Youth Group jam; my partner with the Christian rock who in college insisted on playing this every week; at least it’s a guitar-driven funky jam with a bombastic chorus…also, it sounded way better live…
- “Rest Easy” !BALLAD ALERT! Acoustic Alternative Contemporary for that sweet, sweet CCM Radio cheddar
- “My Scum Sweetheart” Ending the album on a bluesy, dark smoky low key jam…
Overall: Don’t Censor Me was definitely a product of the timeframe in which it was released. The production is better, and they’re pulling off the Red Hot Chili Peppers dark chocolate funk with the Spin Doctors alternative jam band vanilla cake, rolled up in the overly sweet fondant frosting coat of 90s Boy Band pop, resulting in a factory cake that has some tasty moments with kind of a dull processed taste. Take that as you will. The point is, Don’t Censor Me is leaps and bounds better than their self-titled debut. I desire cake, now.
necroshockradio.wordpress.com 