Relient K – Five Score And Seven Years Ago

CD REVIEW

If there is one good reason to but this album, it is the haunting 11-minute epic “Deathbed”, a collaboration with Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman in which a man tells of his life and regrets as he lies dying of lung cancer — a song quite unlike any this Christian outfit has done before.

One may say that on the wistfully titled Five Score And Seven Years Ago Relient K are reaching new levels of maturity. Yet there is still much of the pop punk that helped the group attract the kind of mainstream audience that normally is indifferent to Christian rock.

Not all lyrics on this album are explicitly Christian. Following the trend of Christian rock godfathers Switchfoot and Jars of Clay, the gospel message is mostly interpreted (and not even in every song), rather than being overtly stated.

There are curiosities such as “Faking My Own Suicide”, the story of a guy who takes the extreme measure of the title to persuade a girl of his love. One takes it for granted that the lyrics don’t endorse such vicious and dishonest methods.

There is no poor song on this strong album. Oddly the lead single, “Must Have Done Something Right” is not even close to being the best song here.

Listen to: Deathbed; The Best Thing; Come Right Out And Say It; Forgiven; I Need You.