Album Review - Glenn Packiam's Rumors And Revelations!

Album reviewing is inherently subjective. Everyone has a different view and a different opinion about the music they listen to. At the end of the day, it boils down to the experience that you have with the music - does it connect with you, does it trigger a memory, does it make you feel better on a bad day - and everyone's experience with  music varies according to time and place.

Glenn Packiam's Rumors And Revelations was one of those albums that simply didn't connect with me, even after repeated listens at different times and different places (my initial impressions gave it 3 iPods).

It's hard to pin down why exactly I didn't feel much for it.

Perhaps it was his voice - unique, definitely, but not carrying quite the same amount of weight his fellow Desperation Band-ers have (that's Jon Egan and Jared Anderson).

Or perhaps it was the arrangements - somewhat bland and unremarkable (with the exception of the opening track This Is Our God, which might be the guilty party here for raising my hopes for the rest of the album).

Or maybe it was just that the whole album just lacked any sort of punch. Nothing outstanding that made me stop and listen and go wow.

It does bother me that I don't particularly love this album (or any other album, for that matter). I guess I feel bad because it's as if I'm not appreciating all the hard work the artist and band and producers have put in.

But I just can't help coming away from this record just feeling a little bit...


Underwhelmed.


I'm guessing this is probably because of the high hopes I had for this one (I talked about that a bit in my initial impressions). I've heard opinions on both sides of the fence so far - some agree with me, while others argue that the whole laid-back quality of the album fits in snugly with GP's style.

That argument kinda fails for me here because I've listened to artists who make a living out of being laid back and I've liked them. So I'm not sure it's a matter of style here.

Nonetheless, the songs are great congregational worship tunes and it's very likely that a number of them will be sung (if not already) at your local church.

Here's hoping that Glenn Packiam's next album will be better than this one!

Because I'm still quite the fan.