With two albums already under his belt, Chris Rice was ready to crank out another very uplifting album, Smell the Color 9. A very heart felt release, it seems like Rice is nearly pouring his heart in to the every song. The majority of the songs are very catchy and, trust me, you will find yourself singing along to songs like "Smell the Color 9" and "Sailing With Russell" in no time. Another great concept in Rice's work is his ability to fuse simple, child-level words with highly educated and God-inspired messages into flawless, flowing sentences and verses. For example, in the title song, "Smell the Color 9," he finishes the song with a simple, yet profound message: "...9's not a color /...and even if it were, you can't smell color, no..."

And beyond that, after several listen-throughs, you will pick up on little soundbytes, such as children laughing, which give it a young, summertime vibe. Other songs, such as the aforementioned "Sailing With Russell," bring forth images of beaches and docks on a lake or an ocean with boats in the water and a windy but warm sunny day. Such bright imagery is very constant throughout the album, though still dark in certain spots.

However, where the album falls short is that it can be very repetitive in a way and doesn't have the staying power of a good album and, despite the qualities, you might get bored after a while.

Overall, Chris Rice's Smell the Color 9 is good album nonetheless, and is well worth picking up for some easy listening and worshipful times.

JFH Reader Review: written by TJ Husker, 9/17/07, for Jesusfreakhideout.com