Larry Norman - Slinky

Reviewed by Matt Crossman

This is something of a trip down memory lane for the Father of Christian Rock, with this collection of early creations from the artist's Hollywood phase strangely only being released after several of them were illegally used in a documentary film, Frisbee. Whatever it took for these gems to be rediscovered should be to the delight of fans new and old. The songs show the '60s rock stylings meshed with clear and open lyrics about Jesus which were so associated with the Jesus Movement of the time. It is not the stories behind the compositions but the pure unadulterated songwriting ability and ear for a melody that seems to have come so easily to Larry that make this such a great collection, however. The sounds might show their age - it's unmistakably of the genre and age, but there is something so electric and just plain fun about some of Larry's classy observations like "Sweet Song Of Salvation. There are moments of the starkest honesty here too - "Baby Out Of Wedlock" being a highlight - only Larry could compare the freedom in Jesus to the captivity of "taking lots of LSD" and not sound cheesy. This is a 24-song treasure chest of Christian rock history which has already won one more fan.