The Great Exchange

Album review

The Great Exchange was released in 1990, at the very dawn of a decade that would witness a significant revival of interest in acoustic-based music. With MTV's Unplugged providing the stamp of legitimacy from the most powerful force in mainstream pop, the musical domination of the electronic keyboard was crumbling every bit as rapidly in American pop music as was the political domination of communism in Eastern Europe. As always, the Christian Contemporary Music world was gradually responding to the trends of the secular music scene. Bruce Carroll timidly entered the bold new world with this country-flavored pop/rock record. Producer Bubba Smith doesn't completely discard the power pop arrangements of the '80s. "Who Will Be Jesus," for instance, closely follow synthetic pop formulas and "Living in the Pages" is a by-the-numbers lite rock ditty (though it does feature a strong guitar solo by Phil Keaggy). But many of these songs are surprisingly sparing in their use of advanced technology. The highlights might be "Average Joe," which benefits from a knockout harmonica solo by Buddy Greene, and "Wake the Dead," the finest track on the record and perhaps the most authentic in Carroll's career thanks to a rollicking bluegrassy jam on mandolin, upright bass, and banjo (thanks to secular folk stars Bela Fleck & the Flecktones). Overall, The Great Exchange is somewhat fragmented and disjointed and has the sound of an industry in the opening stages of transition.

© Evan Cater /TiVo