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JFH Music Review


Larry Norman, Only Visiting This Planet
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Larry Norman
Only Visiting This Planet



Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 11 tracks
Street Date: April 8, 1972


READER RATING:   


Larry Norman's Only Visiting This Planet is as important to the "Christian Rock" scene as "Sgt. Pepper" is to the secular scene. It was the first Christian rock album selected for the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.

Norman wrote edgy songs. "Why Don't You Look into Jesus," his song inspired by Janice Joplin's tragic life, cuts hard with lyrics like "Gonorrhea on Valentine's Day," but Norman addressed the issues of the day. The music is top notch, especially for Christian music at the time. Solid rhythms set up Gordon Giltrap and Mickey Keen's guitar work behind Norman's piano. By current genre assessment, one might consider it Southern Rock. It certainly has many of the same elements.

There isn't a bad song on this album. Some have become classics, such as "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" (featured in the movie "A Thief in the Night" and popularly covered by DC Talk in the mid-90's) and "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music."

The only issue with Only Visiting This Planet is that because Norman directly confronted the issues of his day, the album can be quite dated. However, this also makes the album a good historical marker.

Only Visiting This Planet is a must-listen album for anyone interested in the history of the Christian Rock movement. This could easily have been titled, "Songs from a Christian Outsider," because that is how many in the established church saw Norman.

JFH Reader Review: Review date: 6/10/22, written by Jim Campbell for Jesusfreakhideout.com



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JFH Staff's Additional 2 Cents


    Only Visiting this Planet is among a handful of albums that could claim the overall greatest CCM album of all-time. For over fifty years, it has held up, and remains as relevant now as it was in 1972. With some of Larry Norman's most iconic songs present like "Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music," "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," and "Why Don't You Look into Jesus," there isn't a skippable track among the eleven main offerings. This is a must for any CCM historian and/or fan of quality rock n' roll. - 7/30/24 Josh Balogh

 

 

. Record Label: Verve Records
. Album length: 11 tracks
. Street Date: April 8, 1972
. Buy It: Amazon

Side 1

  1. Why Don't You Look Into Jesus
  2. The Outlaw
  3. I've Got To Learn To Live Without You
  4. Without Love You Are Nothing
  5. I Wish We'd All Been Ready

Side 2

  1. Six O'clock News
  2. The Great American Novel
  3. Pardon Me
  4. Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music
  5. Reader's Digest
  6. Oh, How I Love You (Not listed)

 



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