''Civil Rites'' is the tenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, by American

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

band

Resurrection Band Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for ...

(known at this point as "REZ"), released in 1991.

Recording history

By now, REZ had perfected their recent formula of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

-based rock, as evidenced in songs like "Footprints" and "In My Room", interspersed with

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

-inspired heavy metal numbers like the album's opener, "Lovespeak", as well as "Comatose". Co-lead singer

Wendi Kaiser Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for t ...

is given more to do on this record, which is good or bad depending on the listener's opinion of her vocal style. Along with "Comatose" and "Death Machine," she duets with her husband

Glenn Kaiser Glenn Kaiser (born January 21, 1953) is a Chicago-based Christian blues musician, singer, songwriter and pastor. He was the leader of Resurrection Band and is currently the leader of The Glenn Kaiser Band. Personal life Childhood Kaiser's ol ...

on the uptempo blues number "Hotfootin'" and closes out the album with a cover of the classic

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, that became one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock. Formed in 1965, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the Bay Area to ac ...

song, " Somebody to Love". Given that her voice has often been compared to

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, artist, and painter. Slick was a key figure in San Francisco's early psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. With a music career spanning four decades, s ...

, it's an appropriate choice. ''Civil Rites'' is also more forcefully evangelical than REZ' two prior releases. The band returns to issues of importance to its younger

high-school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

-aged audience, like

casual sex Casual sex is sexual activity that takes place outside a romantic relationship and implies an absence of commitment, emotional attachment, or familiarity between sexual partners. Examples are sexual activity while casually dating, one-night ...

and its emotional aftermath (song "Players"), family turmoil ("In My Room"), and drug addiction—specifically

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

("Little Jeanie").

Prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

and drug use ("Comatose"), the remaining cultural aftereffects of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

("Lincoln's Train"), and harsh criticism of the military-industrial complex ("Death Machine")—a frequent, ongoing REZ theme—are topics dealt with as well. On a brighter note, however, the upbeat "Hotfootin'" pays tribute to the tireless work of street

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

Track listing

# "Lovespeak" – 3:29 # "Mission Bells" – 3:36 # "Comatose" – 3:31 # "Death Machine" – 2:57 # "Players" – 4:17 # "Lincoln's Train" – 4:42 # "Hotfootin'" – 2:54 # "Little Jeanie" – 4:29 # "Footprints" – 2:37 # "Pauper's Grave" – 4:30 # "In My Room" – 2:44 # "Somebody to Love" – 3:01

Personnel

- vocals, guitars, harmonica *

- vocals * Stu Heiss - electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards * Roy Montroy - bass guitar, keyboards * John Herrin - drums Production'' * REZ – producer, mixing * Tom Cameron – producer * Ed Bialach –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* Roy Montroy – engineer * Roger Heiss – engineer, mixing * Steve Hall – mastering

References

Resurrection Band albums 1991 albums {{christian-album-stub