Rebel Poet, Jukebox Balladeer: The Anthology : Larry Norman : Review : Rolling Stone

Most people who have heard of Larry Norman at all know him primarily as a sixties Jesus Freak who pioneered today's multi-billion dollar Contemporary Christian Music industry. But Norman, who died in February at age sixty, was anything but a middle-of-the-road musical sheep who followed a prescribed formula of simplistic shout-outs to Jesus. He was an eccentric, psychedelic music-loving, politically left-leaning hippie folksinger who also loved the lord and wanted everybody else to love him, too. If his music opened sanctuary doors to subsequent Christian acts from Petra to P.O.D., Norman's idiosyncratic voice, melodies and arrangements also inspired secular artists like Black Francis, who named the Pixies' 1987 EP Come On Pilgrim after a line in Norman's bluesy "Watch What You're Doin'," in which he sings, "Come on pilgrim, you know he loves you."

Seven of the twenty songs on this anthology come from Norman's George Martin-produced masterpiece of 1972, Only Visiting This Planet, including the raw, psychedelic garage-rock of "I Am the Six O'Clock News," about media coverage of the Vietnam War; the Dylan-like ballad "Great American Novel," which takes on racism and Christian hypocrisy; and the lush chamber-pop of "Pardon Me," in which Norman rejects a young girl's offer of free love. While Norman's faith fuels even the most tangentially Christian-related tracks here, his visionary music should not be limited to Christian audiences.