How timely is this? With all of Adam Again's records now long out of print, Gene Eugene and company were rapidly approaching the long, silent slide into obscurity, taking with them a catalog of pioneering music and five full length albums which all deserve classic status. Luckily KMG Records has stepped in and brought at least a portion of that material back into public view.

With Worldwide Favorites, a new crop of listeners is now exposed to the intense, passionate work of Gene Eugene. As the head of Brainstorm artists, Eugene brought a host of classic records into the Christian market. As the leader of Adam Again, he led the charge himself, penning songs of slow burning intensity and an unwavering honesty. Eugene tends to look into the darker sides of the human experience, offering his listeners a type of catharsis, and when he finds the kernel of hope in the midst of despair it very often is a truly transcendent experience.

With tracks lifted from all five official Adam Again releases (some of which have been unavailable in any format for nearly a decade now) Worldwide Favorites is a near perfect retrospective. All of the classic tracks are here (''Worldwide'', ''The 10th Song'', ''River on Fire'', ''Bad News on the Radio'') along with a cut from the ultra-rare debut record (which this reviewer has never even seen a copy of, much less heard) and one rare cut featuring DJ work by Cartoon from Freedom of Soul and described by Eugene as an abandoned experiment. Why it was abandoned is mighty hard to understand.

It's good stuff all, beautifully packaged, and absolutely essential. With any luck, Worldwide Favorites just might generate enough interest to convince Eugene to finally complete the long rumored Guadeloupe.

Todd Brown ( truetunes.com )

Contemporary Christian music producer and musician Gene Eugene has led the Adam Again project since 1986. This loose-knit collection of album tracks, B-sides, compilation one-offs, and rarities is supposed to serve not only as a look back at the previous 13 years, but as a way of coming to grips with the diversity and garage band politic inherent in the group's sound. For the uninitiated, Adam Again walks the strangest line in popular music: somewhere between the open-ended hookiness of R.E.M. and the blistering white-boy funk rock of Dave Matthews without the sense of self-importance. Indeed, Adam Again's sound has always walked on the apocalyptic shore as evidenced on the slow rocker "Worldwide," and especially "It's Alright." The fractured funk 'n' roll inherent on "Bad News on the Radio" echoes the out jazz stylings of Flipper and A Certain Ratio as much as it does Matthews. The syncopation and flailing distortion in the guitars calls forth a spirit that touches both desolation and rage before it resigns itself to the knowledge that the world itself can only be changed from inside oneself. "Strobe" digs deep in the groove bag, pulling out a steady 4/4 mojo that calls down the rock side of soul, and on the soul side of funk, with its knotty Bernie Worrell-esque keyboard break. The disc closes with "Relapse," a near gothic rock tune that calls down the wrath of the spirits on the faltering self, abandoning that faulty construct to the absolute Mercy of the Divine. It's so naked, so true, and so unflinchingly honest as the guitars drone their Zeppelin-esque riff that the listener begins to squirm in their seat and wonder if the Serenity Prayer shouldn't be invoked here. And perhaps that's what has made Adam Again so special for over a decade. When other Christian acts are trying to get the pose down right, these yobs toss it all to the wind and reveal themselves as a band of human beings rather than ideologues. In that way they provide a fine witness for their faith. In the rock & roll arena they are simply one of the most inventive and artfully canny bands on any scene.

Thom Jurek ( AMG )
www.allmusic.com

Adam Again has been called one of the very best bands in the world. Whereas that is quite likely true, at the very least they are Christendom's tightest and funkiest outfits, as well as one of the most interesting. With only five albums from 1986 to 1995 to their credit, their overall output is hardly considerable, yet each of those albums is chock-ful of finely crafted songs ranging from outright rockers to brooding ballads. Worldwide Favourites offers an appropriately wide assortment of selections collected from each of their albums, plus one harder to find cut ("Sleepwalk") previously only available on a Brainstorm compilation.

The creative force behind the talented band is Gene Eugene who earns his reputation as much these days as a crack album producer for other bands than  he does as the front-man and principal songwriter for Adam Again. Like a true soul singer, Eugene is remarkably in touch with his melancholy. The emotional range of his songs is exemplary, whether he is bemoaning the dangerous state of his urban neighborhood or reflecting on personal disappointments, including marital woes with former wife and fellow band-member Riki Michele (contributor of lush harmonies and groovy dance-steps). Eugene is not so much the consummate tortured artist as he is one merely beset by enough burdens to positively affect his art. Consequently, the band's fans have found him to be an honest and lucid communicator of the harsh realities of life and a sign of hope that even a fragile faith can and does triumph in shadowy valleys. But mostly they just love his incredibly funky side.

Back in 1986 with the release of  In a New World of Time, Adam Again were part of a Southern California movement to make relevant Christian music in currently contemporary musical forms. Their debut album drew both favorable and unfavorable comparisons to quirky alt-pop bands like Talking Heads, but also established the band's love of chunky rhythms and sheer creativity. Ten Songs by Adam Again followed in 1988, garnering even more praise for its funkier mix and danceable tracks on racism, lying, and the blessed nature of Christ's sacrifice. Two years later, Homeboys showcased Adam Again's love of Seventies sounds in what Eugene has called "a theme record of sorts about living (as we all were) in a pretty rough area of Southern California." This album was also the first to feature Johnny Knox on the "high kick drum laying a groove so thick." With a real and talented drummer as an official band member, the Adam Again sound continues to grew even more organic and intense.

Adam Again hit pay dirt in a manner of speaking with 1992's Dig. Still their most celebrated album to date, Dig had a harder, more alternative edge which relied more on Greg Lawless's and Eugene's guitar work than the previous album's affections for synths and organs. The result was a brilliant batch of songs that not only redefined their sound, but drew greater critical and fan-base acclaim. Their reputation as a great live act had also been proven by this time, and was solidified by various festival appearances. Their follow-up, Perfecta wasn't released until 1995, and chronicled Eugene's darkest hours in a collection of sturdy jams and solid songs like the infectiously funky "Strobe." A rare glimpse into Eugene's very soul, Perfecta proved to be another highlight for fans. Rumors and reports of a yet another album (at one time tentatively titled Guadalupe) have been bandied about for years, but 1999 may find this highly anticipated album boldly breaking into the light of day.

Like the case with most beloved bands, diehard Adam Again afficionados are opinionated and vocal about their favorite tracks. Curiously, only a portion of those songs cited recently by the Gene Eugene email discussion list as their favorites actually made it onto this greatest hits collection. In particular, the absence of "Who Can Hold Us," which was listed as the fan's #1 choice for absolute favorite pick, is a bit like Led Zeppelin releasing a greatest hits album without "Stairway to Heaven." Despite such other seemingly obvious oversights as leaving off "No Regrets," "Tree House," and their cover of Bill Wither's "Ain't No Sunshine" which rivals the original, Worldwide Favourites still provides an excellent glimpse into some of the band's best material. Not all of the favorites are here, but enough of them to keep you busy boogieing and belting along.

Although there are no lyrics offered, the sleeve features a wonderful collection of band photos and other bits artfully displayed by long-time collaborator Anna Cardenas. The final page also features "Fascinating Song Notes from Gene" with little quips and insights into the selected song's themselves.

True confessions: I have been a diehard Adam Again fan since their first album. Writing a review of their greatest hits collection is a bit like asking a child to play in a toy store. I'm hardly what you would call an objective source when it comes to critiquing their music. However, as a fan I can think of no better way for you to become acquainted with Adam Again's music than to personally endorse this collection for your enjoyment and then urging you to pick up their other fine albums.

Steven S. Baldwin ( The Phantom Tollbooth, 8/20/99 )
www.tollbooth.org

Track listing with albums appearing in parenthesis:
    Worldwide (Dig)
    It's All Right (Perfecta)
    Hide Away (Homeboys)
    Bad News on the Radio (Homeboys)
    Strobe (Perfecta)
    Eyes Wide Open (10 Songs)
    Dig (Dig)
    Stone (Perfecta)
    Homeboys (Homeboys)
    The 10th Song  (10 Songs)
    Deep (Dig)
    You Can Fall in Love (In a New World of Time)
    All You Lucky People (Perfecta)
    Sleepwalk
    River on Fire (Dig)
    Relapse (Perfecta)

The Gene Eugene Discussion List's Rank of their Favorite Adam Again Songs:
(Those with the # symbol appear on Worldwide Favorites)
1.)    Who Can Hold Us
2.)    No Regrets
3.)    Dig     #
4.)    Stone #
5.)    Relapse #
6.)    Deep #
7.)    Worldwide #
8.)    Harsh
9.)    Homeboys #
10.)    Ain't No Sunshine
11.)    River on Fire #
11.)    Strobe  #
13.)    Tree House
14.)    This Band is Our House
15.)    Don't Cry
15.)    Try Not to Try
17.)    Every Mother's Way
18.)    Hideaway #
19.)    Save Me
20.)    All You Lucky People #
20.)    Songwork

Adam Again - discografi / covere / tribute nettside