Manic Drive:Blue

Brothers Michael and Shawn Cavallo, and Anthony Moreino have been busy in 2009. After signing a distribution deal with Bema Media and Provident-Integrity Distribution, they entered the studio with Lu Rubino, formerly of Storyside:B. Taking some of the songs from their previous release, Reset and Rewind, as well and 4 new tracks, they have emerged from the studio with 12 tracks, and a new direction. Listening to the album , the thing that took me by surprise is that instead of taking the easy way out and just using the tracks that they already had recorded, they put the effort in and re-recorded most of them, including the title track, Blue.

The album open with two new tracks, Music and Walls. Music is not only a glimpse into the musical journey that is Manic Drive, it is also an invitation to be radical and active in your life. They are never standing still in the song, always preparing for the road, or the next date, and that process often takes a great deal out of them. But ultimately, nothing can “take the soul outta me!” Walls drives you through the depths of its message with a synth/techno beat that never stops. If there is another “dance track” on this album, besides Dancefloor, it would be Walls. The best part is that its message isn’t lost in the music at all. It talks about how God reaches out to unite us, but we continue to fight each other. If we would only “turn these fists into hands that reach” and tear down the walls that seperate us, we can do what God called us to.

Blue, the title track of this album, features guest vocals from producer Lu Rubino, and describes what a life can be like when you try to do things on your own without relying on God. The choices that are made everyday may seem like the right ones, but after mere seconds, what was once right, has been revealed as wrong(black). The chorus crys out to tear away “my grey clouds, and let my skies go blue”, showing that only God can take the choices that we make without him(the black), and turn them into the choices that we should have made with him(the blue). Closer is written of of a desire to have a closer walk with God, asking him to take everything, because we need him closer.

There are so many “radio-ready” singles on this album, from the driving rock anthem NYC Gangsters(one of my favorites on the album), to the more worshipful Rain. Manic Drive has a hit on their hands, bottom line. In order to keep your membership card to the “Rock Club”, it is a requirement to grab this album as soon as possible.