Third Day Rocks With Second Album

Don’t compare them to Hootie.

As in Hootie and the Blowfish.

Sure, with their roots planted in Southern rock, this Christian band from Atlanta may have sounded a bit like their soft-rock secular peers on their first album.

At least that’s what the critics said of Third Day’s debut album.

But Third Day’s sophomore effort, “Conspiracy No. 5,” finds these boys with a religious bent rocking it up a good bit more.

From the blast-off pace of the opening song “Peace” to the crunching guitar swirl of “You Make Me Mad” and “Have Mercy,” this fivesome has bumped it up an assertive notch.

“We got a lot of Hootie comparisons on the first album,” guitarist Brad Avery concedes. “It was mixed a little safer, not as heavy as we were live. But I think this album (‘Conspiracy No. 5’) is really a representation of where we’ve been for a couple of years as a live band. We’re aggressive and we’re fun.”

Third Day, named after the day in the Bible when God created the Earth and the sea, brings their rock and message of redemption to Shadle Park High School Tuesday.

The band is fronted by Mac Powell, whose lead vocals have a vaguely Eddie Vedder quality to them. Tai Anderson follows on bass, David Carr on drums, and Avery joining Mark Lee on guitar.

While songs like “My Hope is You” sing of religious themes - “To you, O Lord, I lift my soul/In you, Oh God, I place my trust” - tunes like “You Make Me Mad” speak to more earthly subjects.

“We are a Christian band, there’s no lie about that. Our lyrics are blatant, and in our show we are blatant in the message that we send out,” Avery says. “But also I feel we have integrity with our music; our music is very accessible to anyone.”

” ‘You Make Me Mad’ was originally written about music, about how it makes you feel. Music has a way of making us mad, has a way of making us sad, making us happy,” Avery says. The song is a message to artist and fans alike to be wary of how they use the power of music.

“Everyone knows how much music affects people. You’ve got to be careful what you’re allowing yourself to listen to, and you’ve got to be careful about what you’re throwing out there.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT Third Day will perform Tuesday with All Star United and Switchfoot in the Shadle Park High School auditorium. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $13 per person with a $10 group rate, available at area Christian bookstores, G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.