The Ringing Bell Explained

The Ringing Bell
Type:studio
Artist:Derek Webb
Cover:Derekwebbtheringingbell.jpg
Released:May 1, 2007
Studio:The Smoakstack and Sumner Studio, Nashville, TN
Genre:Rock, singer-songwriter, contemporary Christian music
Length:30:33
Label:INO
Producer:Derek Webb, Cason Cooley
Prev Title:One Zero (Remix)
Prev Year:2007
Next Title:The Ampersand EP
Next Year:2008

The Ringing Bell (2007) is the fourth solo album release from singer-songwriter Derek Webb.[1]

Background

Webb has described the record as a rock record but that "it's fitting that it would be a hard thing to categorize that you couldn't just call it a rock record, that it would be too easy." He also stated that the song "Name" was "probably as close to a thesis as the record has." It carries Webb's theme that "categories in general are not helpful...it's hard to live in a world of categories when really what we need is to know each other and to engage each other and not to let our categories do the talking."

Webb has stated in response to some of his lyrics in "A Love That's Stronger Than Our Fear" and "A Savior on Capitol Hill", which generated talk that Webb was against the George Bush administration, that "I'm not anti-Bush at all...all things considered he deserves the benefit of the doubt and I want to give it to him...This has nothing to do with any specific people."[2]

Reception

The Ringing Bell received universally positive reviews from Christian critics. The review site Patrol gave the album a nine on the site's ten-point scale – a record high – praising its "substance." Paste Magazine gave The Ringing Bell a 5 out of 5 and ranked it No. 27 on their Top 100 albums of 2007.[3]

Personnel

Band[4]

Additional musicians[4]

Technical[4]

Notes and References

  1. "Derek Webb Speaks Out And Is Heard" (June 29, 2007). Press Release. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  2. http://derekwebb.net/discography/trb/
  3. http://www.inorecords.com/v2/artistsdetail.php?id=26
  4. Derek Webb, The Ringing Bell (liner notes), INO Records, 2007