Decyfer Down - 'Crash'

Crash is a must have for fans of Decyfer Down as well as for those who simply like their music loud, proud and uncompromised. The CD is well put together and carries a very honest message while covering a variety of topics that we all have faced at one time. It has my vote already for Dove Rock Album Of The Year for 2010!

Decyfer Down + Paul Ebersold + life's ups and downs = a winner!

Crash was one of those hard CDs to review. But not because it was bad and I was searching for anything positive ... oh no! Crash never seemed to be around! Between my husband and my daughter, I probably heard it about a thousand times, but I couldn't actually get it long enough to write.

For me, cases of disappearing CDs like that always signal hits and in my mind, that is exactly what Crash is ... a hit! The release reached out and grabbed two generations in my house and that speaks volumes. In the end, isn't it the impact an album has that makes the big difference? Does talking technicalities and comparing the band to other groups say more than that?

Oh sure, I could talk about Caleb Oliver being replaced by TJ Harris, thus making the band sound different, but that is old news and to be honest, the band doesn't sound so much "different" as a little more mature. Isn't that what sophomore albums are supposed to sound like? Yes, TJ sounds a lot like Chris Cornell from Soundgarden but is this necessarily a negative?

I could speak of the near-fatal wreck that made the band really re-examine their lives and their calling, but again, old news and if anything, the almost tragedy only made the guys more passionate and more emotional.

So why don't I just say this ... ?

My husband (a musician of 25+ years himself) was reduced to "Wow .. wow ... WOW! This is one of the best, most hard-hitting, honest CDs I've heard in a long time." He promptly put it on his Xbox 360 so he can listen while he plays.

My daughter cried when she first heard "Best I Can." Then she played it over and over and over while telling everyone she knows about Crash and how great it is. Of course, she put over half of the songs on her iPod so she can listen while she runs.

For me, well I fell in love too and it now lives on my computer so I can listen while I work!