Rick Altizer is a multitalented instrumentalist who has released a number of excellent albums. He has worked with the amazing Adrian Belew, and as part of the Soul Lift project has produced music with Johnny Cash, Russ Taff, Mike Roe (77s), Steve Mason (Jars Of Clay) and Mark Stuart (Audio Adrenaline).

My first experience with Rick's music was through a Daniel Amos tribute project. His contribution was wicked, and sparked my interest in his music. The first album I bought was Blue Plate Special from there I took advantage of Rick's site and ordered the rest of stuff. He was also in a band called Dum Dog Run which released a great old fashioned power pop album.

In May of 2003 I was lucky enough to get some time with Rick and bounce a few questions off him. Click here for the interview.

Blue Plate Special (©1998 KMG)

Make A Monkey / Never Shake His Hand / How Many / Not The Enemy / Oxygen Tank / Jan The Best / Amy and Her Baggage / In L.A. / Blue Plate Special / River Of Grace / Walk Beside You / When You Walked Up That Hill

One of the biggest surprises to hit my CD player in quite a while. Blue Plate Special features Adrian Belew, and is the kind of album Adrian himself would release if he ever concentrated on making a pure pop album. Rick is a quirky writer, and a multitalented performer, and shouldn’t simply be categorized as Adrian Belew lite.

Rick’s name appears on a couple of tribute albums I have, and his version of Daniel Amos’ "I Love You #19" is great. So I figured some day I’d pick up one of his CDs. Sure enough as I was looking around the bins and there was a copy of Blue Plate Special. Hmmm, cheap and on my list. “How cool is that?” I thought.

This is an excellent album, and every time I listen to it more layers (man how many times am I going to use the layers theme? It’s wearing thin …) and depth emerge through the speakers. He’s got the pop sense of The Beatles, and the inventiveness of Belew.

All in all a very worthy addition to my collection.

Reviewed April 2003

Blue Plate Special (European version) (©1998 KMG)

1) Make A Monkey 2) Amy And Her Baggage 3) In L.A. 4) Jan The Best 5) Tape Gun Baby (not on CCM version) 6) Oxygen Tank (different lyric from CCM version) 7) Puzzle (not on CCM version) 8) Never Shake His Hand 9) Untitled (different lyric from CCM version) 10) Blue Plate Special 11) The Last Thing I'll Say (not on CCM version)

The ultra secret never released European version included four songs not on the debut: “Tape Gun Baby” (which would later appear on Go Nova), “Puzzle”, “Untitled” (which popped up on Neon Fixation) and “The Last Thing”. Some of the songs also feature slightly different lyrical content than the official release.

I tend to lean toward the CCM release, mainly because I liked a number of the songs not represented on this version. I’m glad I have both, and to Rick’s hardcore fans (the only kind he has) this is something you should have – just because you should. If you’re new to Rick, go for the more widely available version. Write Rick, he’ll write back, and his stuff is incredibly reasonable.

BUY BUY BUY – otherwise the guy won’t be able to make more albums.

Reviewed May 11, 2006

Neon Fixation (©1999 KMG)

1: Disco Ball 2: TV Preacher 3: Let It Go 4: I'll Say Yes (She Said Yes) 5: Untitled 6: Ray Guns And Plastic Flash 7: Surrender To You 8: Holy Love Transmitter 9: Who Do You Love 10: Moon And Mars 11: You Are Beautiful

My love affair with Rick’s music continues with his second release Neon Fixation. Once again Rick enlists the assistance of Adrian Belew to good effect on some of the songs.

Musically this is a bouncy happy effort, and is more hook laden and consistent than Blue Plate. Rick is obviously having a lot of fun and the music is infectious. His pen is a little more barbed this time, and his TV Preacher pricks the balloon of televangelist pomposity (ooh man, I’m on a roll today, watch out or I'll roll all over you).

One of the standouts is "I’ll Say Yes (She Said Yes)", which is about the Columbine shootings. The debate over the legitimacy of the source story is beside the point - nothing can change the fact that Cassie is gone. This is a powerful song, and the meaning is clear - be true.

There are a lot of really great songs here. You want to me to make a list? Not today, I’m feeling lazy. Okay I'll give you one. Disco Ball, is pretty catchy ... (that's only one, and one does not a list make. If I was to go on, and say Moon and Mars is great, as is You Are Beautiful, take those and add on TV Preacher and I'll Say Yes, that's a list - but as I said, I'm not going there today).

Subtle plug coming: Buy buy buy. I don’t want to sound like a PBS pledge drive here kids, but if he don’t sell more records, he’s not going to make more records. If he don't make more records the sky will darken, the seas will dry up, Carman will get his own TV talk show, and Robert Tilton will open a family oriented theme park using the book of Exodus for source material.

Scary stuff kids, so buy something today.

Reviewed May 13, 2003

Go Nova (©2000 True Tunes Records)

1: Resurrection 2: Trash Can Darling 3: Gold Coast 4: C M Superstar 5: Love To You 6: I Don't Deserve You 7: I Love You #19 8: Last Day Of Summer 9: Tape Gun Baby 10: Risen

Oh my goodness, these reviews are starting to read like the sycophantic drivel you'd read at Amazon.com. Look, I’m not in the habit of giving out stars like a clown on a parade float hands out candy. Although I do tend to review music from my own collection, so I should like the stuff I own.

Three years, three records. This alone is a kind of record (no pun intended, oh who am I kidding, I go for the low hanging fruit whenever I can). Rick either has a huge backlog of songs or he’s been pounding back the Ron Popeil ©Creat-o-juices (available in three yummy flavours. Grape, Cherry and Prune).

One of things that was initially appealing about Rick's work was his musical quirkiness, which was handsomely augmented by the addition of Adrian Belew’s guitar work on some of the songs. Adrian is a wonderful artist, and I’ve been following him since the early 80’s, and those who know of him are awed by his ability, but the average plebe on the streets wouldn’t know him if he stood in their soup.

What am I getting at? Yeah, what the heck am I getting at? Bear with me, I’m onto something here, it just may take a bit to get to, or I may just get lost before I figure this out. Rick has aligned himself with a niche artist, and it doesn’t matter that Adrian has artistic accolades coming out his nether regions, it’s probably been as much a hindrance as a help to helping this talented artist break wide open. Although I’ll bet he’s had more fun working with a musical genius, than one of Jennifer Anniston’s t-shirts has being, well, one of Jennifer Anniston’s t-shirts (ooh, I’ve crossed a line there somewhere I’m sure).

Here it is. Rick is Rick, and although he likes to highlight Adrian's contributions on his records, people need to be aware that Rick isn't just standing in Adrian's shadow.

So why isn't this guy a household name? It’s not his material holding him back that’s for sure. This guy’s top shelf. Who knows why things click for some people? I don’t that’s for sure. Which would explain why a number of my favourite artists struggle in near obscurity.

With Go Nova we have another great album full of great hooks, solid technical ability, and thoughtful lyrical content - both poignant and witty. "Gold Coast", "CM Superstar", "Love to You", a great cover of Daniel Amos’ classic track "I Love You #19" (what you’ve never heard of them either?) and "Risen" are among the great tunes this time out.

In time Rick may yet get an answer to Mark Heard’s (wait, don’t tell me - Mark who?) great question (paraphrased). “Am I a has been or a never was?”

I was feeling more wordy than usual today. Must’ve been that monstrously huge 32 oz coffee I just finished drinking (12 sugars, and 2 creams).

PS Can someone explain this cover to me? I don't get the burning rocket thing.

Reviewed May 13, 2003

(All Tie Zur) (©2001 Not Lame)

1: Resurrection 2: Disco Ball 3: World's Longest Night 4: Trash Can Darling 5: Ray Guns And Plastic Flash 6: Moon And Mars 7: Oyster 8: Never Shake His Hand 9: Tape Gun Baby 10: Just Because 11: Renee Is 14 12: John Lennon's Glasses

This is a really good album by Rick, and for those of you who have been playing the home version of Album by a Rock Star, Rick delivers the goods as always. (All Tie Zur) is an odd little album though in that it’s like a bridal album: something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. There are old tracks from Go Nova, and Neon Fixation, has new tracks, a borrowed a track “John Lennon’s Glasses” and also mined stuff from Blue Plate Special (it was the only blue reference, cut me some slack, it was an iffy allegorical allusion at best anyway).

This is not a greatest hits album, the songs mesh well together, and unless you knew that the songs were a mish mash of old and new you’d never know. But for those of us out there who have all of Rick’s other stuff, one has to ask is the new material strong enough to warrant the purchase of said album? I believe it is. I forget at times that there is a Christian marketplace, and the big bad secular (oooh scary kids) arena. Since I buy a lot of stuff online from the artist or specialty sites, I forget there’s distinction. With the Not Lame release, this was Rick’s foray into the mainstream.

Adrian Belew is associated with the project as he lends his signature work on some of the songs, and although Adrian is a killer talent and musicians know him around the globe, dropping his name will not move units. Look at the sales figures for the last King Crimson album. Not a dig, just reality. In terms of pop music, Rick takes the pop sense of The Beatles, with the fun quirkiness of Cheap Trick and mixes in his own special brand of musical alchemy.

So here we have what is in a sense Rick’s major label debut, and sadly as good as it is, it remains like all of Rick’s albums a guilty pleasure for those in the know. Rick will sell you a copy cheap, write him and get your own copy.

Reviewed January 16, 2006

Scripture Memories - Pop Symphonies (©2007 Fuseic CD-R)

1: There Is Therefore - John 3:17 / Rom. 8:1 2: Let No Unwholesome Word - Eph 4:29 3: Think About These Things - Phil 4:8 4: Turn My Eyes Away - Ps. 119:37-38 5: As Far As The East Is From The West - Ps. 103:8, 11-12 6: The Beatitudes - Matt. 5:3-10 7: Love Never Fails - I Cor. 13:4-8 8: I Can Do All Things Through Christ - Phil. 4:11-13 9: Trust In The Lord - Prov. 3:5-6 10: For I Know I Have The Plans I Have For You - Jer. 29:11-12 11: Be Kind To One Another - Eph. 4:32

There's something rotten in Denmark when a collection of songs as good as this can't get decent distribution. I picked this one up back in May shortly after Rick made it available, and it spent quite a while playing on the big system. Somehow I just never got around writing it up. Then the other day Rick sent out an e.mail blast reminding people that Christmas was coming, and that boy howdy this here disc would make a nifty stocking stuffer (I think that's a pretty liberal paraphrase).

Anyway it got me thinking about the album again, so I went to the library and pulled it up (yes, I have all my stuff ripped to a hard drive) and was struck by how passionate this recording is, and how deft Rick's pop sensibilities are.

First thing you need to be aware of is that this is an album of scripture verses. So if the Bible ain't your thing, you can turn off now. However, if you're tired to death of the overly ernest syrupy praise drek that serves as the instruction manual for "christians" to learn how to become double jointed so they can pat themselves on the back while ignoring everything else but themselves and how much Jesus love them and them alone, this album may actually serve as scripture therapy.

What's cool is that it's not a stretch to take verses and put them to verse. Musically Rick blends in elements of The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Queen, E.L.O. and Bread. The songs work really well, and there's a nostalgic quality to the tunes that makes everything old seem new again.

Rick spent three years working on this one, and it's a sparkling example of how to make a good pop album.

There are quite a few places to find this on the net. CDbaby, Payplay.ca - but the best place of all is Rick's own site. Write him, he writes back - and you can directly support his music. Tell him you want to get the secret "bunny slipper" deal.

Reviewed November 24, 2007