Customer Reviews

The Champion

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Teaming with producer Keith Thomas, a relationship that would successfully continue through 1991, THE CHAMPION was Carman's best-produced and slickest sounding album of his career to that point. It was also the first time that we began to see him begin to change his style in an attempt to be relevant to his target youth audience. That morph was evident from the very first note of the record. The hip-hop Carman of the 90's had yet to appear, but Carman was ready to rock here in the mid-80's. "Prepare To Die" was one of three songs on the project where Carman adapted a synth-rock 80's style which he later admitted was an uncomfortable fit. The song is an affront to "disease, hatred, jealously," and other enemies of the Cross, and it was a snapshot in the development of Carman's spiritual warfare discography.

"Abundance Of Rain" follows and the jazzy, First Call-backed track is a sharp u-turn in style. With speedy delivery on the verses and an upbeat message it is one of the most fun songs Carman has ever recorded. Carman co-wrote "Revive Us, Oh Lord" with Steve Camp. It still stands today as one of his best-ever anthems and has been embraced by many churches in their worship. "A Little Bit More Conviction" could've been co-wrote by Camp, with its bold lyric demanding holiness and a new attitude of seriousness in one's Christian faith. The song borders on legalistic for some, but at its heart the message is dead-on, saying "I'm telling you something's wrong/When holiness don't belong/In living day to day 'cause it ain't fun." A contemporary message if there ever was one.

"It Happened To Me," which relates Carman's conversion experience, is still a musical misfire. "The Destination Is There," one of the three rockers, was one of my favorite songs as a kid but today sounds dated. "Fear Not My Child" is a duet with Kim Boyce, who was a rising star at the time; she shines on her delivery and the song works. "Love Can" is largely forgettable.

The album closes with the title track. Elaborately produced by Thomas, it is a fictional story of a cosmic confrontation between Jesus Christ and Satan, in a boxing match setting. Carman had experimented with story songs before, on "Sunday's On the Way" and "Lazarus Come Forth," but neither had the "epic" feel that "The Champion" did, and it remains perhaps his best known and loved song. It's one thing to hear it on the album and quite another to hear it live.

That story song began the incredible run that Carman experienced up through the mid/late 90's. Never a critical favorite, he nonetheless won over the crowd with his genuine spirit and passion for the Lord. Where his path might be headed now remains to be seen. But THE CHAMPION continues to stand as a pivotal point in the career of this remarkable man, and as such it was named to the 100 Greatest CCM Albums list, coming in at #99. I give it FOUR STARS, on a heavy dose of nostalgia.

"Prepare to Die" is the first song on the album. Carman wrote this song after a brief conversation with Rev. Dake (author of the Dake Study Bible). Dake was sick and Carman was trying to help Dake prepare for the afterlife through a song of encouragement. Fortunately the only thing that afflicted Dake at the time was a bad case of the gout; Dake ended up living quite a few years after that.

Carman wrote this song (a fact unknown to many people) when he was only 5 years old. He dictated the words to his mother because he could not yet write.

Take this glimpse into Carman's earliest beginnings in Dake-Bonoism and cherish it.

Odd album, but one that is a classic among Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. Ironically the briefest review here was the best to describe him-Carman is very much a lounge-style singer, with a playful twist to him. This album has a lot of 80s style synth fused on to 70s? style lounge or ballads, and it's really hard to describe.

The songs are very hit or miss. The best ones are the simplest: Fear not my Child is my favorite on this album, and Love Can is schmaltzy in the way only very bad CCM can be. Most people who remember this album do so for the Champion, a very long synth-laden story song dramatizing Jesus's death and resurrection as a cosmic boxing match. I remember acting it out for my youth group, and I'm sure others did as well. It's...well, it's honestly pretty silly, but Carman was like this, and to a lot of fundamentalists this was his appeal.

Chances are you already know all this, but if you don't, Carman wont convert you. Pentecostals and ex-pens who need comfort music will probably like this, at least once, but his best album is Radically Saved, with this really only worth it for the title track and nostalgia's sake.

This was the album chosen by CCM Magazine to include in its book "The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music" [#99] (ASIN 0736902813) and while I feel it's nowhere near one of the 100 best Christian albums ever, it's definitely the best album in Carman's catalogue. Here, he was teamed with then-hot producer Keith Thomas (who's worked with Amy Grant among others) and crafts a peppy pop sound that was of the moment. While some have complained that this sounds "dated", discounting this record because of the synth and digi-drums is akin to asserting that NOTHING of musical worth came out of the 80s (not to mention completely gutting the new wave genre..).

Carman was one of the most popular figures of the 1980s in CCM circles. He was also quite controversial for his theology which leaned heavily on charismatic expression, "word of faith" healing, and at least hints that he empathized with prosperity gospel teachers. He also drew frequent criticism for legalism and ties to questionable "Jesus is a conservative Republican" themes in his music. ("America Again" from his album THE STANDARD especially fits this critique)

HIGHLIGHTS:
"A Little Bit More Conviction" is a call to be more careful about our behavior in front of non-believers as Christians. It's got a passionate Carman vocal and a good track to buoy it up. "Revive Us, Oh Lord" (#10 Christian hit) is almost hymnlike and did find a home for "special singing" in many churches that had members sing with soundtracks. The title track is definitely the centerpiece of the album..the battle between sin and salvation played out as a boxing match. It lodged at #1 on Christian radio for 4 weeks and it's worth every second of the 8 1/2 minutes it takes for the recitation to play out.

LOWS:
"Love Can" is a pretty trite "God loves everybody" ballad. It's boring to the extreme and loses a star for the album all by itself.

BOTTOM LINE:
Carman comes closest here to assembling lyrics that opaquely present the Gospel message while marrying it to timely music. Those who don't consider themselves of a charismatic stripe or in agreement with "Word of faith" teaching may not agree with all Carman says here (predominantly in "Prepare to Die" and "Abundance of Rain", a #14 Christian hit). There are no misguided genre attempts here..he sounds comfortable. If you're curious about his appeal, this is the one to start with.

3 1/2 stars

For some odd reason, this album was voted #99 on the recent listing of the 100 Best Gospel Albums of all time. With that in mind, I decided to take another look at it.

Songs as follows:

1. Prepare to Die--rather typical song that addresses illness and healing in a rather simplistic fashion. Also, like most of this album, it sounds horrendously dated.

2. Abundance Of Rain--Again, horribly dated, although the song itself isn't bad. It's another fairly average uptempo song about revival.

3. Revive Us, Oh Lord--A great song about revival, again, sounds rather dated, but the strong lyrical message is able to overcome that.

4. A Little Bit More Conviction--The strongest lyrical entry on this album addresses the idea of holiness and sin in the everyday life of a Christian. Sounds not so dated as the others and the great lyrical content manages to make it great.

5. It Happened To Me--This simple, and therefore undated, song continues the run of greatness started with track 3 by addressing very simply the salvation experience. Beautiful.

6. The Destination Is There--another very dated one, but again, the strong lyrical content overcomes that. Uplifting, inspiring, encouraging.

7. Fear Not My Child--Another beautiful song, albeit with a little help in the vocal department. Uplifting, touching, beautiful.

8. Love Can--Entirely forgettable song that addresses the usual tripe about love bringing everyone together. Like we needed another song from the eighties about that. ;)

9. The Champion--The title song, with good reason, is a typical Carman epic, going for something over eight minutes. A strong message and a typically uplifting and inspiring ending to the song do not excuse it's extreme length.

All in all, the album starts out weak, segues into a sustained run of greatness in the middle, weakens briefly and then punches back with a pumped up finale that turns out to be, in retrospect, just a little too pumped up for it's own good, if you get my drift.

Quite arguably the greatest song in Christian music HISTORY, "The Champion" has touched so many souls and inspired so many, including myself. The beautifully played out battle between Jesus and Satan will stand as a timeless work of art by one of the greatest singers of the 20th century. If you for some reason have not yet heard this album, please do yourself a life-changing favour and get it as soon as you possibly can.

There is no way to convey the experience you can have if you believe in the power of the Lord and then hear The Champion for the first time. I am unable to listen to this song and avoid an outbreak of goosebumps on my arms. "Satan is defeated, and JESUS IS THE CHAMPIONchampionchampion...!!!"

This body of music was a real encouragement to me and is now a favorite of my 7-year old son. He especially likes "The Champion". Its a song about the battle between good and evil, a theme whose boundaries have been blurred in our society with the propigation of gangster rap and it's ilk.
Carman has a heart for those youth that feel disinherited and ignored. And in that spirit he lives his life and creates his music, to Glorify God and to encourage.

The Champion is an absolutely amazing CD that shows us all the truth that Jesus DEFEATED satan, and now offers eternal live to all who believe in Him! Jesus is the only way to go!

This is an awesome CD. Carmen expresses the Power and Majesty of our God. While listening, you have no choice but to praise God.