Smell the Color 9 by Chris Rice

Chris Rice's third release, Smell The Color 9, certainly confirms his place among the most talented songwriters in the Christian pop music world. His Everyman persona is once again played out well in songs like "Questions for Heaven" and "The Face of Christ," where the songs' characters realize divine presence in the most mundane details of life. As in so many numbers on Deep Enough to Dream and Past the Edges, Rice's characters pose questions to the Creator that we all struggle with but seldom seem to ask. Yet the doubts are always driven by a deep desire to experience God as Rice sings in the title track ("I would take no for an answer / Just to hear you speak"). Additionally, the silky-smooth production from Monroe Jones gives Rice's tunes an almost wistful quality here, especially on the haunting ballad "Belong" and the gentle "Home Tonight." Rice now brings more styles into his music, but it's the straight songwriting skills that continue to shine so bright. –Michael Lyttle

Chris Rice's 1997 debut was, in retrospect, one of the most significant albums of the last decade: It introduced a little-known producer named Monroe Jones, a tiny new label called Rocketown and an overgrown teenager/poet named, well, Chris Rice. In the last four years, all three have found more than a little success. Now on his third album, Rice steps beyond the quiet, singer/songwriter stylings of his first two discs, but the change is more a natural progression than a radical departure.

He shakes loose some of the stripped-down arrangement business with the carnival-esque effects on "Questions for Heaven." While that seems a little overdone, the title track isn't, welding a killer band groove to one of Rice's typically engaging lyrics, punctuated by the occasional laughing child or barking dog sample. The idea behind the weird title is that, for all our perceptive abilities, finding God on a consistent basis remains elusive: "I can sniff, I can see/I can count up pretty high/But these faculties aren't getting me/Any closer to the sky/But my heart of faith keeps poundin'/So I know I'm doing fine/But sometimes finding You/Is just like trying to/Smell the color nine." "Face of Christ" takes a similar musical direction (sans pets and kids) with its vignettes reminding us that people in poverty or bad situations may reveal "the face of Christ" if we don't turn away from them. The ballads "Belong" and "Home Tonight" return to more standard Rice sounds, though the latter could easily be mistaken for a track from David Wilcox's Big Horizon.

Rice uses metaphors (a journal, a bank account) to remind us that "Life Means So Much": "Teach us to count the days/Teach us to make the days count/Lead us in better ways/Somehow our souls forgot/Life means so much." It's Rice at his best, making something obvious fresh and profoundly touching-and singing the dog out of it in the process. While not every song here is that brilliant, his willingness to stretch is admirable and his knack for vivid, tender lyrics is unparalleled. – Beau Black © 2000 CCM Communications, Inc.

Tracklisting
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1. (00:02:50) Chris Rice - Questions For Heaven
2. (00:04:59) Chris Rice - Life Means So Much
3. (00:04:10) Chris Rice - Smell The Color 9
4. (00:03:07) Chris Rice - Belong
5. (00:03:46) Chris Rice - The Face Of Christ
6. (00:03:56) Chris Rice - Home Tonight
7. (00:02:54) Chris Rice - Magic Wand
8. (00:03:56) Chris Rice - Sailing With Russell
9. (00:03:34) Chris Rice - My Prayer
10. (00:03:35) Chris Rice - Somebody's Watchin'

Playing Time………: 00:36:47