Music Review: Happy by Matthew West

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Fun songs with positive lyrics

Cons: Could use more variety in the style

The Bottom Line: 

Matthew West's debut

Could use some variety

But has great lyrics

Happily, This was the Start of Matthew West's Career

Considering how many pop/rock singer/songwriters I listen to, I'm surprised it took me so long to get into Matthew West.  But after enjoying his last couple of discs, I'm going back and fixing this oversight.  Happy is his debut, and it shows the promise of things to come.

The song starts off with the lead single, "More."  Don't let that first little bit of strings and quiet piano fool you.  When he hits the chorus he really starts rocking out.  While the lyrics are fairly generic, the imagery from the Bible makes it obvious he is singing from God's point of view about His endless love for us.  That love is something to celebrate, and it's easy to do that since the melody is enough to make you smile.

Speaking of smiling, next up is the title track.  "Happy" finds Matthew chanting the verses.  It's not rap, but he's definitely not singing.  But he breaks into a soaring melody on the chorus as he sings about our reaction to God's love.  The verses are honest about the things that rob of us our joy like circumstances and fear and sin.  While the style wouldn't normally be my first choice, it actually does work for this upbeat song.

Matthew slows things down to mid-tempo and switches to a minor key for "The Turnaround," although it is still heavy on the drums.  It's actually the first in a series of songs that begin to explore more serious themes.  "The Turnaround" is talking about how much we need God to save us from sin and pain.  It's very poetic with images of drowning in rivers.  Trust me, it's great.  Likewise, "I Can't Hear You" is about the times we can't seem to find God no matter how much we try.  "You Know Where to Find Me" is one friend offering help to another going through a major trial in life.  It's a ballad, but even at that, it's mid-tempo.

Things get fun again with "The End."  Don't worry, this isn't the end of the CD.  The song is simple reminder that the bad days we have are "not the end/The end of the world/It's just about day, don't sleep it all away."  What makes this fun is that, at the end, he starts playing around with the end of the song, singing things like "I bet you wonder when this song is gonna end/But it's not the end."  It can get a little tiring if you listen to the song too many times in a row, but it usually makes me smile.

The second half of the disc talk about such things as trusting God when life doesn't go as we plan, resisting temptation, and the hope and promise of Heaven.  He even has a love song in "Every Second."

What's interesting to note is that the lyrics in this disc aren't overtly Christian.  I can't find one reference to God or Jesus.  There are lots of references to You and He, however.  That's probably at least partially because Matthew is signed to Universal South, which isn't a Christian label.  That doesn't seem to have hurt his popularity in Christian circles, however.  I can remember a time when this would have been a huge scandal.  I certainly don't mind the lack of blatant Christian language when the meaning behind the lyrics is still so strong.

My only real complaint with this disc is the music.  It's heavy on the rock side of the pop/rock spectrum.  However, Matthew doesn't feel the need to fix things up much.  Almost all the songs are strong on the guitar and in the mid-tempo to heavy rock range.  The one exception to that is the beautiful ballad "My Finest Hour."  These songs alone are quite fun, but they do have a tendency to run together.  Yes, even rock discs need some variety in tempo and style.  Fortunately, that's something he's incorporated into later discs.

Listening to Happy, it's easy to see why Matthew West's career has taken off.  It's music that is fun to listen to while still incorporating some great messages.  If you've missed out on it, get it today.

CD Length: 44:06

Tracks:

1. More

2. Happy

3. The Turnaround

4. I Can't Hear You

5. You Know where to Find Me

6. The End

7. Out of My Hands

8. The Lie

9. Every Second

10. My Finest Hour

11. Curtain