AMG Review of So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt

Darryl Cater
All Music Guide

Keith Green made a few waves in the CCM industry in the process of making this album, as he broke his contract with Sparrow Records in order to form his own record company. After turning down lucrative offers from other labels for fear they were satanic temptations, Green mortgaged his house to make this record, saying God wanted him to give his albums away to anyone who couldn't afford the sticker price. At concerts, some of his fans took advantage of the policy by taking off with armfuls of free records, but Green felt that he couldn't demand money for ministry. His controversial zeal was often more interesting than his music, and his mellow '70s piano rock is not particularly inventive. But the passionate intensity of his religious conviction puts a spark into his performances, and his sense of hippie humor (while less than witty) infuses his Biblical storytelling with a degree of freshness. Bob Dylan was a friend and fan of Green's during the folk superstar's period of fascination with Christianity, and he plays harmonica on this record. While taping those tracks, Dylan remarked that Green's first album, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, ranked among his favorite records of all time; unfortunately, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt lacks the lush strings and timeless quality that made that debut so unusual.