Brent Bourgeois – Come Join The Living World
I hadn’t heard anything out of Brent since his awful second solo project, A Matter of Feel, when I found this album quite by accident in 1995. It arrived at a radio station being run in the same building where I worked, and though it qualifies as contemporary Christian, it wasn’t suitable for the station’s country-gospel format so they were glad to part with it. I found it an interesting switch from Brent’s previous material, but in retrospect, with his first two solo albums’ abundance of songs about alcohol abuse and so on, it’s not much of a surprise. There are three songs I have to single out as favorites: “One Love”, with its very well-arranged harmonies and some really catchy lyrics and music, the James-Taylor-ish “All Is Well”, and my favorite, “Let His Love Into Your Heart”, an acoustic guitar and piano piece that was composed by Bourgeois and guitarist Lyle Workman – the same two guys responsible for “I Don’t Mind At All” from the Yoyo album by 
Bourgeois Tagg. The lyrics and the music are beautiful, and the minimalistic arrangement is perfect. I highly recommend this one. My one peeve is the song “God Is Not Dead”, which sounds so similar to Todd Rundgren’s “Miracle In The Bazaar” from A Capella, it’s just uncanny. The two songs could be segued one into the other seamlessly…and the only clue would be that Rundgren is praising Allah in his song…
… Read more
- One Love (4:01)
- A Little More Like Jesus (4:29)
- All Is Well (4:02)
- Total Surrender (3:46)
- Restored (4:13)
- Perfect Harmony (4:55)
- Blessed Be The Name (4:41)
- Let His Love Into Your Heart (4:30)
- God Is Not Dead (3:34)
- Come Home To Me (4:43)
Released by: Reunion
Release date: 1994
Total running time: 43:01
The album was my first exposure to Brent Bourgeois, and though it’s uneven in many places, it’s one of the last great breaths of pure pop music in the late 1980s. This was the second album for the combination of Bourgeois and fellow songwriter Larry Tagg, and also the last. And despite my affection for Bourgeois’ later works, Tagg wrote two of my favorite songs on this album, the joyous and well-harmonized “Best Of All Possible Worlds” and “Waiting For The Worm To Turn”. These two songs exude the best vibes of the catchiest Beatles and ELO tunes, while still bringing their own unique sounds to the mix. Bourgeois’ contributions include the somber and depressing “Coma” (about someone whose alcoholism has left him in – you guessed it – a 
The only thing from this album that anyone seems to recall is the horrid remake of the Zombies’ “Time Of The Season”. That’s a pity, because there’s much better material here that never hit the radio airwaves, and none of it delves to the banality of the cover of the aforementioned ’60s tune. Most of the good stuff comes early on, such as the rough “The Real Thing”, bemoaning the lifestyle of the working father, and the western-tinged “Compromise” (which I suspect laments the fate of Bourgeois Tagg). Other high 
points are the rocking “Wild Child” and “Can’t Feel the Pain”, a beautifully harmonized duet with Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie. Another highlight is a song which I’d best refer to here as “Out Of Luck” since that’s what the disc label itself calls it, though the jewel box track listings add the “s” word to the title. I highly recommend the whole album!
Jellyfish added a new dimension to their 1970s-inspired pop sound by allowing more than just a little influence from Queen sneak into their second – and, due to the quick breakup of a very promising band, last – album. From the opening lullabye number right into the immensely Queen-esque “Joining A Fan Club”, it’s obvious that Jellyfish assimilated some of the best and most distinctive trademarks of Freddie Mercury and friends. The precision of the vocal harmonies on this album are amazing to hear, as is the hauntingly familiar hard-rock-and-thrashing-vocals approach, also inspired by Queen. The only thing that really tips one off that this is not Queen is the absence of Brian May’s unmistakable guitar