PHILjoel
Watching Over You
Bio
Most albums take a matter of months to complete, at most a year or two. But for Phil Joel - best known as a member of the formidable pop band, Newsboys - Watching Over You has been 27 years in the making. The ideas and emotions contained in it are retrospective of Phil's life up to the present. The result is a solo album in the truest sense of the word because it's a story only Phil could tell.
Produced by his bandmate Peter Furler for inpop, Watching Over You is a testament to one grown-up kid's journey to self-discovery, toward understanding that the steps of a good man are, indeed, ordered by the Lord.
Adopted at birth, Phil grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and was brought up in a Christian home. Although he made a commitment to Christ at the early age of eight, he still struggled with his identity. At the age of 13, he came to an amazingly mature decision: "I decided for myself that it was okay that I didn’t exactly fit, and I determined that I would become the person I was meant to be, regardless." As providence would have it, around that same time, Phil discovered an integral part of his missing piece. "When I picked up a guitar," he says, "it felt like a third arm, it was just such a natural extension of me. And for the first time ever, I realized that there were things out there that would fit me."
Like teens the world over, Phil struggled with image in his teenage years, but he found strength in God’s promises, in the companionship of Christian friends and in music. When given the ultimatum, "Do your homework or get a job", He chose the latter and left school to become a hairdresser. At the same time, He spent every spare moment in his "off-time" as lead singer and guitarist in his band Drinkwater. Five years later, after being offered a position with Newsboys, Phil found himself in Nashville - his long lost home away from home. Knee deep in the music business, Phil met Heather, the girl of his dreams, in Kansas and married her a year later. All these experiences sharpened and matured him, but the questions he's always wrestled with, about himself and his place in life persisted.
The past two years, however, have been a revelation. Having learned more about his biological parents-his birth father is a London musician; his mother, a wigmaker from Perth, Australia-Phil had the opportunity to meet his birth mother. The reality, as you can only imagine, could never have matched the high expectation. But some major pieces of his life-puzzle came together during their visit. "For the first time in my entire 27 years," he says, "I realized that I had not become the person I am because of nature or nurture. While those things have their place, I realized that I had become who I am because of the commitment I made to Christ when I was eight and the continuing commitments I have made to God, to myself and to others in my life up to now." It’s easy to forget, he says "that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Not that I'm trying to say that I’m a good man, but my commitment to Christ has always been central.
Or to put it in the words of American essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Such a revolutionary lesson is worth repeating.
Which brings us back to the present. The point to all of this is that Phil Joel's Watching Over You is not your typical first solo effort. This is about as autobiographical as an album can get, with lyrics that speak directly to the questions most young people, especially most Christian youth, spend years asking. Questions about self-image and purpose, about love and devotion, about God. About the fragility of life. "Some of these songs," Phil says, "I started writing five or six years ago, but I was only able to finish them in the past year or two. Everything here is something I've been through and wrestled with. It's the good, the bad and the ugly. And it’s like therapy. It's been good for me. I needed it. You have to go back before you can go forward."
From the awkwardness of youth in "Strangely Normal" to pain of seeing his boyhood friends lose their faith in "My Generation" to the life-changing experience of "El Salvador" - all of these things continue to shape him into the man God meant him to be.
"I've become who I am and am becoming who I am because of my relationship with Christ, not necessarily because of my parents or my genetic makeup. God will take care of your life, but you've got to be open to Him. You can't force His hand, anymore than you can force an ending. That's why we call this record Watching Over You. God is watching over us in everything. Just looking back now at 27 years and seeing how the road was up and down, here and there, and more than a little bumpy, but still His hand was on my life the whole time. It's amazing."
Phil has high hopes for this album, and we're not talking about sales or radio charts. He simply hopes his life story will resonate with his generation. "Its like that whole diamond in the dirt sort of thing," he says. "You've got to dig to discover the truth. And I think kids are way more like that than we imagine. We think they need to be told exactly how to think and what to think, but if you can express something through your personal experience then that is 100 times more powerful. That’s how I like to learn, and that’s how I think most kids learn today. Watching Over You is what I've felt and how God has carried me from point A to point H. I'm nowhere near point Z. I am 100% called and passionately excited about doing this because I feel I really have something to say to my generation."
Musically, you can expect the same innovative, modern pop Phil has contributed to in his work with the Newsboys-with whom he'll continue to work - but with a different edge to it. And although it's somewhat subjective, there is a certain vulnerability that courses underneath the lyrics here. It's not as polished as one might think, not as predictable as one might imagine. It's real, but it's good. It's what it's supposed to be.
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Phil Joel
Watching Over You
INPOP RECORDS
Track Listing
1 God Is Watching Over You
2 Strangely Normal
3 El Salvador
4 Author of Life
5 Tonight
6 My Generation
7 Be Number One
8 Fragile
9 It's You
10 Together
If you've ever wondered just exactly how much influence the songwriting and musicianship of Phil Joel has had on the music of the Newsboys over the last few years, you can finally stop wondering after hearing his debut solo album, Watching Over You. Joel wrote or co-wrote all ten songs on the disc.
Largely an autobiographical album, Watching Over You addresses many thoughts and feelings Joel himself has gone through over the course of his life, as he's wondered about his destiny (the title track), his identity -- he's adopted ("Strangely Normal"), and God's providence in the hard times ("Fragile"). These are surely things that all young people (and maybe some older ones too) can identify with.
Joel wrestles with watching old friends turn away from God on "My Generation," and makes a steadfast commitment to his wife Heather, who also contributes vocals, on "Together." The album was produced by fellow Newsboy Peter Furler, and there are definite similarities. Furler gives Joel just enough of a distinctive style to let him be himself, all on his own. But still, as I said before, it's easy to see how Joel has influenced the music of the Newsboys. Joel contributes much of the band's lyrics these days, and while his lyrics aren't extremely complex, they are poetic, honest, and deeply soulful.
Watching Over You is made up of mostly simple little songs that clearly come from a very complicated man. Joel is searching for meaning in all of the struggles of life, while at the same time trusting in God that that meaning really is there. Consider this album to be his journal, opened up for you to read and relate to.
Top Picks: "Watching Over You," "Strangely Normal," "Fragile," and "Together."
Pros: An intimate portrait of one honest man's questions about life and convictions to trust God regardless. Great-sounding pop/rock music, not entirely unlike what you hear from the Newsboys.
Cons: It's not nearly long enough; just when you find yourself really digging it, it suddenly stops, leaving you wanting more. It clocks in at a little over thirty minutes.
The Verdict: For Newsboys fans, this one is a must. It would make a great outreach disc for teenagers, as well. For anyone else into modern pop/rock music, you should definitely give it a listen.
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Phil Joel
Watching Over You
It's kind of interesting to see what band members of popular bands do when they record their own solo projects. Sometimes you realize they're better off sticking with what they do with the band, and sometimes you find out they have a lot more to offer than just a few guitar chords or drum beats. Phil Joel (formerly Phil Urry), the bassist of those lovable Aussies, The Newsboys proves he indeed has more to offer than the strum of his bass.
Being described as "27 years in the making," Phil's debut solo project is a collection of personal experiences and thoughts transferred by Phil into pop songs that are often catchy and easy to relate to. Although it can be clear he's describing things he's experienced himself, it doesn't feel so disconnected or distant. The CD opens with the acoustic pop tune "God is Watching Over You," a highly catchy encouraging song that reminds you that "God is watching over you as always, you are loved, whatever you go through He's right beside you... And if you think He'll ever leave you, you better think again." "Strangely Normal," driven by a subdued electric guitar riff, addresses the awkwardness of childhood and the search for an identity. "El Salvador" is certainly an album highlight. Phil's voice passionately tells of his experience that he and his wife had when they went to El Salvador in June '98 with the World Vision child sponsorship program. The song really conveys musically and lyrically the effect it had on him and how it changed his life.
"My Generation," a funky pop tune with a slow, groove-influenced intro, is another emotional song. This time, Phil brings attention to the pain of friends from his childhood who lost faith as they got older and his desire to reach them. "Be Number One" is a simple, catchy, bouncy song with over-simplified lyrics that was written by Phil and 2 of his friends when they were 17. "Together" is another album highlight about his love for his wife Heather and his longing for being in his homeland of New Zealand. The song also features background vocals provided by his wife.
A good debut, but nothing all too different from something we'd heard from the Newsboys, Watching Over You is an almost autobiographical account of moments from the life of Phil Joel that is worth listening to.
-review date: 1/8/01, written by Cor
Record Label: Inpop Records
Album length: 10 tracks, 33 minutes and 6 seconds.
Street Date: July, 2000.
1 God Is Watching Over You
2 Strangely Normal
3 El Salvador
4 Author of Life
5 Tonight
6 My Generation
7 Be Number One
8 Fragile
9 It's You
10 Together
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