Relient K- Five Score And Seven Years Ago (Classic Review)

Relient K is a name recognized by both Christian and secular markets. Their success was doubled by their 07 release Five Score And Seven Years Ago. This is their fifth album, marking their seven year anniversary, hence the album title. And it is quite a ride.

The opening A Capella song, "Plead The Fifth" is very well executed and would easily convince someone who was not familiar with RK to think this was a professional A Capella group. And a very good one at that. The next track, "Come Right Out And Say It" is a fun song about honesty and integrity. One of the album's harder songs, "I Need You" is about our dependency on God. Unlike many bands that double as Christian/secular artists, the majority of the songs on this album mention God in a more open way than other such artists. Songs such as "Forgiven" and "Give Until There's Nothing Left" demonstrate this. "Devastation And Reform" is another hard track, and like typical RK songs, it has clever and witty lyrics that, a lot of the time, come across as genius. Lines like, "Fear can drive stick and its taking me down this road, A road down which I swore I'd never go" might account for a few chuckles throughout the album. "Crayons Can Melt On Us For All I Care" is the album's most funny track that proudly proclaims "I just wasted ten seconds of your life." The album closer (that is if you bought the standard edition--I'm not going to get into the special edition), "Deathbed" is an eleven minute song that is about someone's life from beginning to end, and at times is pretty sad. But, in the end, there is a positive message, which is sung by Jon Foreman, and very nicely closes out the album.

Five Score And Seven Years Ago is a very strong effort from Relient K, and they are sure to pick up more than a few fans as their popularity inevitably increases. Their fun and energy is completely contagious, without being corny or overly positive, and they acknowedge God in their music, which is a huge plus.