Lose This Life (CD - 2003)

Tait: Michael Tait (vocals); Justin York (guitar); Lonnie Chapin (bass); Chad Chapin (drums).

Additional personnel: Jerry McPherson, Adam Lester, Jay Johnson, Javier Solis, Pual Moak, Mark Heimermann, Matt Bronleewe, Todd Robbins.

Producers: Mark Heimermann, Michael Tait, Matt Bronleewe, Chad Chapin.

Recorded at Fun Attic Studios, Bennett House, and Paragon Studios, Franklin, Tennessee.

This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser.

Michael Tait's second solo release entitled Lose This Life is an exercise in straightforward rock mixed with excellent songwriting. As one-third of the Christian supergroup dc Talk, Tait showed the world that he had the chops to contribute on many pop/rock gems. On Lose This Life, he shows that he is up to the challenge of fronting a full-fledged rock band. The disc sports many cuts with radio staying power. Tunes like "Lose This Life" and "God Can You Hear Me" reverberate with sounds of pop splendor and are backdropped with a solid band and groove. Harder moments like "Numb" rock with the industrial prowess of Skillet, while the bassline on "Free Will" drives the song into the stratosphere. One of Tait's strengths is the vulnerability he shows on the ballads. The piano-laden "Fallen" is a perfect example of the intimacy that Michael Tait has with these songs. Another example is the vocal elegance on the tune "Holding Out for Grace." Here an acoustic guitar and piano deliver a graceful backdrop for a sincere vocal melody that Tait delivers. Lose This Life is a sophomore release that exhibits a band with a serious groove and a vocalist with the chops to match. Michael Tait is the genuine article here. ~ Steven Douglas Losey

One of the most important Christian rock bands of all time, DC Talk was a key group in bringing the modern edge of hip-hop and alternative music to the genre's previously soft-rock-based sound. After DC Talk's demise, leaders Toby McKeehan (AKA TobyMac) and Michael Tait each established solo careers--McKeehan as a rapper and Tait as a rocker.

LOSE THIS LIFE, the latter's second record, is a varied and energetic mix of ultra-catchy modern rock ala Matchbox Twenty and the sweeping, dramatic epics of U2. Tait has powerful pipes, and he uses them to good effect, effortlessly switching from a Lenny Kravitz-like shout on the garage rocker "Wait" to a Johnny Mathis-style croon on an orchestra-backed cover of "The Christmas Song." Elsewhere, Tait and his group touch on Nine Inch Nails-like industrial metal ("Numb"), hard-edged techno pop (Eddy Grant's 1980's chestnut "Electric Avenue"), and dark balladry of the Radiohead/Coldplay variety ("Heartache"). An entertaining and wildly ambitious journey through rock's stylistic detours, LOSE THIS LIFE is an inspired offering. minimize