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The Imposter

Kevin Max

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Album Review

An amalgam of the styles of Blur, David Bowie, Lenny Kravitz and Morrissey may not be what folks expected from the former dc Talk frontman, but then again Kevin Max was never known to be predictable. His third solo album put him yet further from the hip-hop-laced sounds of the group that made him a CCM superstar in the '90s. The songs reflected a change in scenery as Max uprooted from Nashville and moved to Los Angeles. His new digs helped draw out some of his most vulnerable and honest storytelling. He seemed to feel quite comfortable with the experimental sound. The album title comes from two writings of Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel and Abba's Child, both of which describe the inner struggle between the spirit and the "imposter" that opposes our spiritual nature. Many of the album's lyrics pointed toward this subject in one way or another. "Your Beautiful Mind," for instance, is addressed to a female university student who's an atheist. The student, who is a real-life friend of Max's, finally acknowledges the presence of God at the song's conclusion. The space-age crunchy guitar of "The Imposter Song," "Confessional Booth" and "Jumpstart Your Electric Heart" make each of them bouncing party anthems. His gospel-tinged cover of Bob Dylan's "When He Returns" seems a bit out of place, but in a surreal way it brings the album together.

Customer Reviews

Provocative, honest, bold music from one of our very best.

It remains a mystery and a crime to me that, eight years after the group released its last full-length album, Kevin Max is still unable to shake off his association with his old band dc Talk. Perhaps it was inevitable: Sting has his Police, Peter Gabriel (and, for that matter, Phil Collins) had his Genesis, and even Bob Dylan had his Band, and all four artists, even though they have created some extraordinary bodies of solo works, are haunted by the nostalgia of their former fans. In a way it is a compliment - certainly these bands created memorable music - but it also hardly does justice to their fierce creative solo energies. There is more to Max than Talk, to the point that, if I might be so bold, his eclectic, poetic, and provocative solo work renders the band's five-plus albums instantly forgettable. This isn't an easy confession to make, and I approached "The Imposter" with more than a little skepticism, because I believed so much in Max's abilities: His debut LP, 2001’s "Stereotype Be," is one of my desert island albums. I think Max’s brilliance in that album was his uncanny ability to draw multiple, clear influences and mixing them into a blender, to reveal how the sounds work together when combined. We essentially hear U2 spliced with Sting, spliced with Beatles, spliced with hip-hop, spliced with spoken word, spliced with Buckley, throw in a little folk, a little gospel, etc. It was an eccentric, almost schizophrenic album that worked because of A) its audacity, and B) Max's stupendous voice and cryptic but powerfully insightful lyrics holding the project together. It is a brilliant, progressive piece of work that is really unlike any album I have ever heard before or since, and it immediately ranked Kevin Max in my mind as comparable to other, great American songwriters like Bob Dylan, and, more recently, Jeff Buckley and Joseph Arthur, who are known for their ability to fuse haunting, socially relevant images with spiritual, probing lyrics, presented in utterly unpredictable music. Buy it. "The Imposter" perhaps lacks the blender-type styles of "Stereotype Be," and its approach to its musical styles is far mellower and toned down. But instead of emulation of his previous album, which would have been the easy path, he succeeds at total reinvention. "The Imposter’s” theme is the stripping down of all of our society-created layers and expectations put on us (“Be all that you can be,” right?) in order to find our true selves. Should it be surprising, then, that Kevin Max does no less to his artistic approach to such a premise? Therefore, Instead of giving us a sequel to "Stereotype Be", Max makes a far bolder move: He has created its anti-thesis. The result is a piece of work less about enigmatic poetry and frenzied technique and more about honest, simple words and quiet, soulful mood. The lyrics are therefore less cryptic and more probing and soul-searching. The music is less wildly-stylized and instead simpler and rawer, with clear, less frantic musical deviations from song to song. Quite frankly, this is just a subtler, clearer album in which Max eschews expectations placed on him to outdo himself with "Stereotype Be" and instead lays out, plain and clear, his soul. "Stereotype Be" proved what Max could do. "The Imposter" shows who he is. Not to say that The Imposter compromises Max’s poetic edge. Max’s imagery is as powerful as it has ever been, and just as enduring. I think the difference here is that Max utilizes his lyrics to wrap around clear, tangible ideas—to heighten the depths of an abstract thought, whereas in "Stereotype Be", the lyrics were shrouded in a bit more mystery, and the more we listened to them, the more impenetrable the song became. Kevin Max is an artistic force to be reckoned with, and "The Imposter" showcases his skills flowering and maturing. Fans of his former band might be disappointed, unless they can approach the album with two essential perspectives in mind: 1) This is not dc Talk, nor does it have any reason or intention to be. 2) It's not "Christian" music, though those who are unable to shake Max's association with dc Talk have labeled it so. It is simply a great artist covering a diverse range of topics as they spill out of his soul. And it is a lovely, brilliant soul to behold.

FINALLY!

This CD is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It's got great rock, and it fits his voice to a T. I suggest buying "Sanctuary," and "The Imposter's Song." ("The Imposter" is good too...I wish the song titles weren't so alike though.) There's a lot of good songs on this CD, and I'm so glad iTunes finally got it on here! This is his best CD yet, and if you haven't heard him before--check him out NOW!

One of the Best CD's I've Ever Bought

This is easily one of the best CD's I've ever bought (Christian or Secular). Each song is just awesome. I bought this the day it came out and still cannot stop listening to it. It took iTunes forever to get it on here (it came out last fall), but if you haven't picked it up....BUY THIS CD!!!

Biography

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '00s

Often perceived as the eccentric, attention-seeking member of the CCM trio DC Talk, Kevin Max grew up outside of Grand Rapids, MI. Formerly known as Kevin Smith, music played a vital part in his formative years. Max started singing at the age of four and remembers "being carted around to schools, churches, and radio programs." He attended college at Virginia's Liberty University, where he met fellow DC Talk members Toby McKeehan and Michael Tait. The three formed the band in 1987, merging the styles...
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The Imposter, Kevin Max
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