Audio Adrenaline: Bloom (1996)

Tracks:

1.  Secret
2.  Never Gonna Be As Big As Jesus
3.  Good People
4.  I'm Not the King
5.  Walk on Water
6.  See Through
7.  Free Ride
8.  Man of God
9.  Gloryland
10.  Bag Lady
11.  I Hear Jesus Calling
12.  Memoir

On Bloom, Audio A finally got all of their pistons firing in sequence as they made the transition from hip-hoppers who play rock to a full-on rock band.  On this set of songs, they leave behind the dance beats and samples and just play straight-on 90s roots rock, which means Stuart growls out his earthiest vocals, Herdman mostly plays organ and guitar (with a little help from Eddie DeGarmo) rather than a synth , and McGinniss gets a fat, groovy tone out of his bass.  But the stars of the show are Blair and drummer du jour Greg Herrington.  Blair, with Herdman kicking in, finally drives the band's sound full throttle with his dirty southern rock riffs, fashioning great licks and solos and creating a sweet grungy sound that's more organic than anything the band had come up with before.  And Herrington pounds brilliant modern rock beats with excellent timing and flourishes without becoming flashy or robotic.

The songs have also improved, moving away from the slogans and youth group themes and developing hooks and melodies that stick.  The opener, "Secret" continues their evangelistic aspirations, and Blair's squealing riffs and Herrington's thrashing drums set the tone for the rest of the album: this is a rock album played by a rock band.  "Never Gonna Be as Big as Jesus" was the first single, and it features a nice groove with a great guitar solo, gospel organ fills, and a neat stop-and-start lead-in to the final chorus.  They actually sound a lot like a young version of Third Day, who made their debut the same year.

"Good People" and "Gloryland" are fast groove-based rockers in the same vein, with catchy choruses and similar rhythmic breaks.  "Free Ride," the old Edgar Winter hit, is played even faster and features Blair echoing Stuart on the chorus through a voice box.  It also is the first of their covers of classic rock songs remade in a gospel context.
  
But they also slow it down, as on "I'm Not the King," which has a quiet opening with a screaming chorus.  They also had a major hit with "Man of God," featuring an emotional Stuart vocal.  Both songs are confessional statements of a believer trying to humble themselves and give the glory to Jesus.

The band have their usual fun and games with "Jazz Oddysey," a send-up of cappacino-sipping hipsters.  But "I Hear Jesus Calling" is little more than a demo of a rather lifeless song that is recorded so poorly, I have to wonder if it was meant as a joke.  "Hey Mark, I hear Jesus calling, and He's saying, 'Leave this one in the can, Bro.'"

Many people have put Bloom on the top of the band's all-time list, and the reason is simple:  The band's evangelistic messages mesh with a living, breathing rock band sound, and where the guitars carry the songs.  It also showed that they needed to find a full-time drummer, an issue they resolved immediately by bringing in Ben Cissel as an official band member for their next album.