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Critical Mass
 It
wasn’t that long ago that we got word that
one of our favorite groups, Critical Mass,
had disbanded. It looked like the group was
heading toward that bright light at the end
of the tunnel when lead band member David
Wang took out the defibrillators and shocked
the band back into existence. God wasn’t
through with the Catholic band. Wang
reformed with new members and with that,
Critical Mass has just released its new
album entitled Grasping for Hope in the
Darkness. This is a winner, folks! I was
wondering if Wang and his fellow members
could pull off again what the band did with
the first two CDs, Faith Looks Up and
Completely. "Grasping for Hope in the
Darkness" is the bomb! I was blown away by
this CD! The music – excellent…the
songwriting – excellent…we may just have
the best CD of 2004 here.
I have always been a sucker for the concept
CD. For those of you who don’t know what I
am talking about, a concept CD is one
 in
which all of the tracks are stand-alone
songs. If you take the songs and play them
back to back it creates a kind of story.
What Critical Mass has done is to mix modern
rock and Catholic Christianity with a
storyline involving a jaded man, his
daughter who becomes pregnant and a priest
who saves the baby's life. If I were to
break down every song I'm afraid that I
might give the "plot" away. It's almost like
telling a friend about the ending of a movie
or book. One of my favorite songs on the CD
“Reverend Larebil.” It is Wang’s song to
vent about religious leaders who water down
God’s laws so they can fit in and find a
paying public. It also deals with the
doctors who teach "safe sex" that isn’t safe
and spreads STDs. The only cure is to be
pure. “Time Slave” is a tune that deals with
the lack of time we have and how fast it
seems to go by. We will never know what
minute or hour God will come knocking on our
door. Taking its name from the classic
novel, “Dorian Gray” deals with the evils of
pornography. You may seem OK on the outside
but the pictures eat at your soul and mind
making you
 numb
and craving for more. Some of the songs on
the CD were played at WYD 2002, such as the
attempted theme song, “Make Us One,” and the
pro-life anthem, “Running With Eyes Closed.”
Yet, the one song that every one will know
is the cover of the Kansas song, “Carry On
Wayward Son.” Wang adds a modern flavor to
this classic rock piece with a spiritual rap
mixed in. That song was the theme to a
little-known film starring Henry Winkler and
Sally Fields called, “Heroes.” Critical Mass
is becoming
heroic with Grasping for Hope in the
Darkness, as they are not shy in exploring
edgy topics while still sending the ultimate
message of hope and redemption.
The previous winners of the Canadian Gospel
Music Award for Best Rock album and
producer, Andrew Horrocks, hope that
"Grasping for Hope in the Darkness" will be
a novel listening experience for the
Catholic audience with styles ranging from
hard rock to rap. Each copy is comes
autographed by band leader Dave Wang.
Reviewed by Jeff Burson for the Catholic
Music Network.
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