Todd Agnew - Need

Producer: Todd Agnew, Curry Weber, Scott Hardin, James Joseph
Record Label:  Ardent/INO Records
Website:  http://www.toddagnew.com

It’s been two years since Agnew wowed us all with one of his finest releases to date: Better Days.  Since that time, Agnew has continued to tour but also found time to move from being a single musician who had not responsibilities to being a husband, homeowner and father of two.  That’s quite an adjustment for the budding singer/songwriter.  Agnew is back with Need - his fourth regular studio album (he released the highly acclaimed Christmas album Do You See What I See? in 2006).  Agnew has been able to both capture the attention of the music buying public and critics with his stellar songwriting and memorable melodies.  Better Questions became one of 2007’s most talked about releases, so there was a lot of buzz for that album’s follow-up.  Unfortunately, Need never quite lives up to it’s own buzz and feels more like a disjointed release with a handful of standout tracks.  The album kicks off with the rollicking rocker and current single “Joy Unspeakable” - a nice radio friendly song sure to make the masses happy.  Immediately following is where things start to crumble for Agnew - “Written On the Wall” while written wonderfully about the need to understand God’s way - musically it just never connects with the listener.  Also - Agnew’s voice can wear on the listener pretty fast - especially notable on the quieter moments on the disc - like “Did You Mean Me?” (another lyrical highlight), “Tell Me the Story,” and “The Love of God.”  His Nickelback-wannabe style was cute at first - but now four records later it would be nice to see him stretching himself vocally.  There are a few highlights to take note of - especially his country-tinged cover of “Give Me Jesus” and the Gospelified “Higher Ground” and show stopping album closer “Jesus, The Hope of Glory” which keeps the listener engaged before the big pay off and climax towards the end of the song.  Overall, Agnew continues to be one of Christian music’s finest wordsmiths - unfortunately his lack of vocal growth and strong melodies on the ballads really keep this album from reaching the level it needs to.  Agnew is still a fine musician, but this record doesn’t do a good job of showing that off.