Jesus Freak

dc Talk

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 1995)
• Original Release Date: November 21, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin Records America, Inc.
• ASIN: B000000V0I
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (258 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,142 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Jesus Freak, like the 1970s phrase that it's culled from, is an oddity. Who could have ever imagined such a wonderful blend of grunge rock, rap, melodic pop, and funk? "So Help Me God" sets the tone with a wicked guitar riff that draws boundaries for the trio's magic harmonies. "What If I Stumble?" and the vastly underrated "Between You and Me" allow Michael Tait to showcase his silky smooth vocals, while "Jesus Freak" and "Mind's Eye" prove the band can change speeds and rock as hard as anyone. For good measure, they even improve upon Charlie Peacock's "In the Light." One of the best Christian CDs of the '90s. --Michael Lyttle

From CCM Magazine -- Subscribe Now!
The release of a new product by DC Talk into the marketplace is pretty much a major event. Any new product. It's been nearly three years since Free at Last first hit the streets, but every time an ancillary project like remixes, home video, the AVCD single, live concerts or whatever made the scene, DCT's fan base treated it like Holy Grail. The sneak-peek "Jesus Freak" single alone has sold well over 150,000 copies. Point is, this act's star has risen dramatically in the past three years, and the anticipation for a new album has been overwhelming.

Fans, start your engines... the wait is over. Jesus Freak is the logical extension of DC Talk's ever-expanding career/ministry, an extremely well thought-out next step musically for these still-maturing musicians, an impressive example of re-imaging and re-inventing an artist's musical identity... and lots more.

Part of DCT's transitional plan of action centered around the aforementioned single, which featured two mixes of the song "Jesus Freak." Interestingly, the mix which most resembled the Free at Last- era sound was positioned as the alternate remix, though even it represented good musical growth. The primary mix was something altogether new... sort of. It's hard driving guitar band attack was a radical change for the boys but it sounded an awful lot like... teen spirit. Was dc Talk going to become so influenced by Nirvana and the Seattle sound that they would lose the distinctiveness it had achieved as a pop/rap hybrid?

The first few minutes of this new album would make you believe it could be so. The fuzz-drenched guitar intro kicks hard into "So Help Me God," which could be a kissin' cousin to "Jesus Freak" musically. It's the next track, "Colored People," that helped allay those fears. Both a nod the group's past and a feel for the future, the song continues the group's stand against racism with a musical bed that is soulful, melodic, and catchy as heck. Kevin Smith demonstrates the significant progress he's made personally here, turning in a lead vocal that's nothing short of stellar.

The title song, "Jesus Freak," then makes its appearance, and its combination of alternative rock with McKeehan's rap breaks makes more sense in context with the album's overall direction than in the initial shock of first hearing the song as a single (and don't miss the hilariously cheesy reprise later on).

A brief sound bite from author Brennan Manning on the detrimental effect of hypocritical Christians on evangelism sets up the album's most revealing song. "What if I Stumble?" is a painful self-examination on the lure of fame and the role of a Christian artist (or any of us for that matter) as personal example. Lines like "Holiness is calling, in the midst of courting fame," and "If struggle has a purpose on t the narrow road you've carved/Why do I dread my trespasses will leave a deadly scar" should resonate in the hearts of Christian artists and fans alike in the wake of recent controversies with Sandi Patty, Michael English, and others in the media's hot spotlight. As Smith sings the chorus, "What if I stumble, what if I fall/What if I lose my step and make fools of us all," it's clear this is a lyric he's living, and it's delivered with a conviction that should send a collective chill up all our spines.

"Day by Day" provides a welcome breather at this point-a clever cover of the Godspell anthem, expanded and reworked as "Jesus is Just Alright" was on Free at Last. The album's other cover is Charlie Peacock's "In the Light," more true to the original than "Day by Day," and replete with strings and other production touches (including a vocal tag from Peacock himself) slick enough to grab some Christian radio airplay.

Michael Tait sounds like he's been listening to Seal on "Just Between You and Me," a show piece for the vocalist and another important lyric for the body of Christ about confession and forgiveness between friends. It's a subject that touches us all, but is particularly relevant to the late teens/early 20s crowd that is DCT's core audience.

Toby and Kevin face-off vocally and stylistically on the highly infectious "Like It, Love It, Need It," a hooky mix of rock and rap that is sure to be a concert favorite on the next tour. It's here that we get the most significant slice of McKeehan's new vocal approach and it's... he's singing for starters. Toby's pipes are on the thinnish side (like Smitty's) and pale in comparison with the strides made by his partners in the last few years. Nevertheless, he has cultivated a somewhat unique style, and that's an important element in moving outside the hip-hop walls.

The album's most poignant moment comes on "What Have We Become," as the album's introspective lyrical theme embraces its entire generation, rebuking its selfishness and self-destructiveness, but stopping far short of branding it with the "X," and choosing to exhort toward compassion and generosity.

"Mind's Eye" (featuring samples of the Rev. Billy Graham) wraps the record in a celebration of faith and imagination-the very elements that distinguish the Christian artist from the rest, and that which has increasingly defined the work of dc Talk. Jesus Freak may not be the artistic quantum leap that Free at Last was from it's predecessor Nu Thang, but the group has, remarkably, managed to up the ante once again for itself and its fans, delivering the goods that make us all proud to share the vision. -- Thom Granger (c) 1995 CCM Communications, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extremely good Christian CD., March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This is a Christian CD. Their lyrics praise God, their voices tell about the love of Jesus Christ for the world. It's an amazing CD, really, with melodious Alternative and lyrics that actually mean something to the modern Christian. The most well known song from this CD, the title song, is not the best one, as a matter of fact. There are many other tunes and praises that relate the Message with even more power and hope. As for the Christians who, for some strange reason, feel that DC Talk are not true Christians that will "not go to heaven", in fact, call them "heathens", I have to say that it's "Christians" like them who shame this religion. It says in the Bible not to judge others. God is the only judge, and it is not up to man to proclaim who is going to heaven and who is not. I don't pretend to know that DC Talk is truly Christian. But I don't pretend that they aren't. I believe they are and I know that their music does help me in my faith. So please, don't judge- especially when a band like this makes such amazing music.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Shocker, October 29, 2003

By	K. Fontenot "Prairie Cajun" (The Bayou State) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Being a fan of many musical genres, it seemed only a matter of time before I began listening to Christian rock/rap/r&b/gospel/etc. I was first exposed to Christian artists such as Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. As my "secular" tastes changed, however, I wanted to explore more of Christian music's offerings. I found early on that most Christian artists who didn't sing gospel music were usually carbon copies of mainstream, secular bands who didn't sing about sex or drugs. Thankfully, the good Lord saw this and brought along groups such as PFR, the Newsboys and DC Talk. These groups sang their own style of music and revealed to us that Christianity isn't always good times at the church social, but an ever-changing lifestyle that brings with it persecution, humility and pain beyond mortal man's imagination.
Perhaps that is why I was originally drawn to "Jesus Freak" and a multitude of albums from other artists who were brave enough to stand up to the preachers and say, "You've got to reach out to people on terms that they understand."
You won't here Twila Paris or Sandi Patti singing about racism or how your personal image can destroy the impressionable minds of others. DC Talk does.
"What If I Stumble" is a question that I see very few so-called Christians asking themselves these days. With no intent to sound preachy or high and mighty, most folks these days who claim to be washed in the blood seem to wash their hands of those people that they should be reaching out to. I used to be a Protestant, but I grew weary of the hypocrites that I saw in the bar on Saturday and then the pew on Sunday. Now a Catholic, I realize that hypocrisy bleeds over into all religious belief systems, because there are just as many hypocritical Catholics as there are Protestants.
Moving on, "Jesus Freak" is the ultimate, in-your-face testament to being a Christian. But even it begs the question, "What will people think?" In the end, however, we learn that it doesn't matter what others think so long as we are living the way we should. There is no hiding your true self, advice which many Christians should heed.

"In the Light" is a Charlie Peacock tune that shows us a Christian struggling to be more like Jesus, and less like a man. It shows a person just how complicated internally that a real Christian can be.

"Colored People" may seem like a song about race on the surface, but its underlying theme is that we should not only get along with each other, but embrace each other for our differences instead of looking down on people whom we feel are less than us.

This album throws chinks in the armor of Christianity. It reveals the doubts and fears of true Christians, something rarely sung about in contemporary Christian music. Once again, it took rock n' roll to reveal what TRUE Christians are made of. They aren't perfect, and they know it. Yet they don't badger those who may not "look" as Christian as they do. You quickly realize that TRUE Christians are not some snobby group of people who try to force their beliefs on others, but they have fears and concerns like everybody else, and they do not alienate themselves from others because they are different. As a matter of fact, a true Christian WILL be in the bars on Saturday, but he'll bring a few friends to church with him on Sunday, instead of trying to hide from the other churchgoer he saw plastered on the sidewalk of a local dive.

Buy this album if you want a taste of real Christian concerns, and not the plastic Christianity that so many of us have to deal with each day.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one freaky album!, May 17, 2003

By	Alan Attebery (Arlington, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

dc Talk hit it big with "Free At Last" in 1992. That album was one of the best that had ever been made by any Christian group. Many thought that these three guys would not be able to duplicate that success.

They were wrong.

"Jesus Freak" has sold over 2 million albums since it debuted in 1995, making it one of the best selling Christian albums of all time. In addition, many more people became familiar with the group because of all the airplay many of these songs received on both Christian and secular radio stations. To this day, Christian radio plays more dc Talk songs from this album than all their other albums combined.

dc Talk blended a mix of song styles in "Jesus Freak," from rap, to rock, to grunge, to ballad. Unlike most of their previous effort, all three members exercise their vocal talents throughout the album.

As with the previous albums, "Jesus Freak" does not skimp on the missage or the words used to convey that message. Although there is no direct abstinence message like there was in "Free At Last," the second track, "Colored People," touches on the often controversial issue of skin color with their typical up-frontness.

If you are new to dc Talk, this album is the one to start with. It will give you a great appreciation for the talent of these three guys and will wet your appetitate for the rest of their work.