About.com Rating
- Style: Pop/Rock
- 12 tracks
- Released: February, 2008
The Afters - 'Never Going Back To OK '- The Review
If you think about it, not everyone who comes to know Christ does so at the lowest point of their lives - that point where there is nowhere else to turn. For many, coming to know Christ is done at a time when things are going pretty good. They're "OK" with how their lives are going. It's not until after they've accepted Christ that they realize that things weren't as great as they thought - they really were just "OK."
That's the thought that hit me when I first heard about The Afters new album. I remember being at that OK point in my life and there is no way that I would ever go back!
Never Going Back To OK starts out with a 90 second blast called "Secret Parade." Here tomorrow, gone today. We're a part of the Secret Parade. The intro is one of those "make you think" moments with a musical backdrop that sounds like it could easily fit into the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie of yester-year. They segue right into the title track with plenty of rock guitar work, taking your mind right out of the 60's and into the 21st century.
Don't worry though, The Afters aren't all fast and furious here. In fact, track 3, "Keeping Me Alive" slows things down quite a bit without missing a beat. The flow stays, even though the speed drops. "Tonight" follows the same path, coming back up to pop speed. This exquisite song is all about coming back home to Christ after falling away, a place that most of us can easily relate to.
"Ocean Wide," Josh's favorite song, is next up and I can easily see why it's his favorite. Absolutely beautiful!
"Myspace Girl" is up next. It seems out of place with the rest of the album, but it's a really fun, upbeat song, so it's easy enough to get past the break in the flow. Plus, the next five songs all go back to "norm," so it's easy to look at it as a nice break in the action.
Bottom line - this is a really strong sophomore effort from The Afters. They are establishing themselves as a band with a lot of all-around appeal to Christian fans as well as secular audiences.