Music Review: Doing My Best by Steve Camp

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: "He Covers Me," "Don't Tell Them Jesus Loves Them"

Cons: All his songs weren't this good

The Bottom Line:

The best of Steve Camp

With many songs worth hearing

Lyrics that challenge

Doing His Adult Contemporary Best

During the late 70's and 80's, Steve Camp balanced the fine line between rock and adult pop. As a result, he had some huge hits on Christian radio, and some rock songs that were hits with the rest of his audience, but his radio audience wouldn't like. So how did he solve this dilemma when he went to went to release a best of collection? He released two collections, one for each audience. Personally, I love this first volume of Doing My Best, which focuses on his radio hits.

The disc starts with the two new songs of the disc. "Run to the Battle" is a solid rock opener about taking the battle to Satan instead of hiding out in church. Steve Camp is famous for his calling out the church on its sins, and this is no exception. It's got a classic 80's rock feel (this was recorded in 1990 after all), but that doesn't bother me.

The other new song is "Forgive Me, Forgive You." While still an 80's feel, this is a slower, more pop song. Over a keyboard base, Steve sings about the struggle to forgive but how it is the key to healing.

From there, we move into a list of classics that include several big songs from the 80's. I love so many of these. "He Covers Me" is a slow song about the grace of God. It not only discusses God covering out sin, but also covering our weaknesses with his strength. Again, the keyboard makes the musical backbone of this ballad.

On a much slower note is "Whatever You Ask." It starts with a quiet piano intro, and the rest of the instruments don't come in until the chorus. No surprise, this is a prayer of dedication as Steve surrenders his whole life to God.

Steve really tackles the struggle between living for God and following his fleshly desires in two classic songs. "Stranger to Holiness" is a slow rocker that finds him praying for help to become more like God. We're back to keyboard here, and you can hear a bit of synthesizer in it, too.

Along the same line is "Living in Laodicea." Piano opens this confessional about not living wholly for God. It draws its title from a church in the Bible that was accused of being luke warm. And while Steve confesses to living half heartedly for God, he also prays for a change in his life.

A song that had to grow on me is "Love That Will Not Let Me Go." This is a very slow song with piano and strings that celebrates God's unconditional love for us. At first, I found the song too slow. But as the message of praise seeped into my brain, I fell in love with it.

Remember how I mentioned Steve calling Christians out earlier? That's definitely the case with "Don't Tell Them Jesus Loves Them." And yes, the title does make sense when you hear the next line, "Until you're ready to love them, too." The song is filled with images of people in need and is a powerful reminder that we need to be out in the world helping them. Steve has never shied away from using provocative images, and this song has some of his best. At various times he sings "And a young girl sells herself on 7th Avenue" or "And another 40,000 children starve to death today." Musically, it starts with piano and strings, it moves into a regular slow rocker by the time he reaches the first chorus.

As you might expect from an artist of the 80's, the production here is dated. You stick it in, and you know what decade these songs are from. Yet it is more subdued then other artists of the time. If you can stand some 80's music, you'll enjoy these songs just fine.

I enjoy certain of Steve Camp's songs. Fortunately, most of them are collected on Doing My Best. These are songs to encourage and challenge anyone looking to become more like Christ.

CD Length: 57:41

Tracks:

1. Run to the Battle

2. Forgive Me, Forgive You

3. He Covers Me

4. Do You Feel Their Pain?

5. Whatever You Ask

6. He's All You Need

7. Don't Tell Them Jesus Loves Them

8. Stranger to Holiness

9. Surender Your Heart

10. Love That Will Not Let Me Go

11. Living in Laodicea

12. Revive Us, O Lord