Posted by Admin

Artist: Parachute Band

Genre: Praise and Worship

Release Date: 25 September 2007

Parachute Band’s Roadmaps and Revelations is a perfect example of an album that showcases the band’s versatility, while still remaining true to the Christian rock genre that they are known for. It gives listeners a mixture of hard, in-your-face, driving type of rock sound and a smooth, gentle, easy-listening, acoustic kind of sound. The best examples of this combination of sound can be found in their tunes "I Belong to You" and "One Day".

The former is a straight up, fast, energetic rock song which begins with electric guitar lines followed by a two-bar drum fill that leads in to the full band intro. The song mostly stays true to the rock feel with pounding bass lines and distorted guitar sounds. However, there is a structure within the song that highlights the dynamics and creativity of the group. For example, in the verse part, there is a different bass and drum pattern that is played. The B section and chorus pick up volume-wise and there is a slightly different pattern. There is also a bridge portion within the song which is clearly defined. In other words, the listener can clearly distinguish the different parts of the song – it is not limited to one kind of sound only.

Parachute Band may be known for their rock style, but they most certainly aren’t afraid to delve into other styles of music. The tune “One Day” highlights this to a great extent. It is a soft, gentle song that is reminiscent of the folk sound of James Taylor. The main sounds are of an acoustic guitar (played in a plucking method) and lead vocals. The following track, entitled “Keep in You” is a similarly sounding tune, although the difference is that there is some electronic piano (Rhodes-type) accompanying the guitar and voice. Still, this proves that the band is not constrained to one kind of sound – they can play mild and calm tunes, and deliver it well.

Rock music can take on many forms and Parachute Band shows that it is not restricted to only pure, energetic rock. Tunes such as “Alive Within”, “Love it Leads Me”, “Fill Me Psalm 119”, and “Mercy” are examples of slower rock tunes that are both a mix of a tender, ballad-kind of approach while still having that heavy edge. These tunes are similar in such a way that they can be considered slow rock (or even power ballads), yet each tune has a different taste and feel that sets it apart from the others. A great example of this is “Mercy”, which begins with piano and voice, followed by a strumming acoustic guitar (coming in the chorus), followed by bass and then drums played in a marching feel (throughout the song). The progression of the song increases as it gets longer (volume and heaviness-wise).

Roadmaps and Revelations is certainly an album to listen to, especially if you’re an avid listener of Christian rock. Each tune in the album is well thought-of and well executed. The band has good ideas and their overall sound is that of a jelled, musically mature group. Roadmaps and Revelations is a rock album, but at the same time, is more than just typical rock.

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