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Where Would I Be is the debut release from Patrick Ryan Clark. Produced by Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, Bebo Norman, Dave Barnes) the album allows listeners a rare glimpse into the heart of the artist, with Patrick making a bold attempt at telling his entire life story in these songs. He says "When I got to Nashville to record the album, I really wanted to tell my story in song and how I fought Christianity for so long, I was such a bad person in my eyes, and I was always worried about disappointing God. But I learned that I...
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Where Would I Be is the debut release from Patrick Ryan Clark. Produced by Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, Bebo Norman, Dave Barnes) the album allows listeners a rare glimpse into the heart of the artist, with Patrick making a bold attempt at telling his entire life story in these songs. He says "When I got to Nashville to record the album, I really wanted to tell my story in song and how I fought Christianity for so long, I was such a bad person in my eyes, and I was always worried about disappointing God. But I learned that I didn't have to please Him by works alone,and that was incredibly freeing." This definitely comes out during these eleven tracks, but more about that later
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A lot of male Christian solo artists can sound very similar, there seems to be a certain sound and style to the songs that they all aim for. Patrick is similar in that respect too, but the opening track has a very polished rock sound, something that fits perfectly onto Christian radio. But what really makes Mr Clark stand out from other artists is his lyrics, at times there seems to be an honesty about his life that other artists may stray away from. This could be down to it being his first album, or just that he isn't scared to show the listener what and why and how he believes in Jesus. In opening track What Was I Fighting For Patrick sings "I never liked surrender. Thought I had the answers. Too proud to ask for help. But you knew that my heart was dark like December, Cold like the winter, Until You pulled me to Yourself".
A more distorted guitar sound can be heard during When All The World Falls and this moves the style slightly in a more forward direction compared to the opening track, but again the lyrics stand out for me "I lift my eyes, when my foundation starts to break... I lift my eyes when I feels like I can't escape, all the doubt inside, like a bitter lie..." Of course Ryan goes on to explain how strong God is during these tough times and that is a concept and theme that runs throughout the whole of the album.
At times I felt like Patrick's voice sounded familiar, and it wasn't until the track Hallelujah, God Is Here that it really clicked, at times Patrick does tend to sound a like bit like David Crowder, not all the time but his voice does tend to lean towards that sound. One song for me that stood out was the brutally honest title track Where Would I Be, he asks the question what or where would he be if he didn't meet God, or we didn't have God by our side during the hard times in life. I'm sure it's a question that we all have asked.
This very polished, well produced album is very good, yes it does have a similar sound to other such artists, but when the song quality is this good and the lyrics are top notch, it makes the album standout compared to other such albums. Ryan is a great songwriter and as a matter of fact, a very interesting artist to look out for in the future.
Review by Jono Davies
LTTM Rating 4 Out of 5 Stars
Standout Tracks
Hallelujah, God Is Here
When All The World Falls
Where Would I Be
