''!Hero'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

featuring the songs from the

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

, !Hero. It is based on the question, "What if

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

was born in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...

?" The rock opera modernizes Jesus' last two years on earth and features a cast of many well-known

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

artists with

Michael Tait Michael DeWayne Tait (born May 18, 1966) is an American contemporary Christian music artist. Tait met Toby McKeehan in 1984 when he was in high school. Both Tait and McKeehan and Michael met Kevin Max while attending Liberty University in the ...

, Rebecca St. James, and Mark Stuart as the three main characters: Hero (Jesus), Maggie (

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

), and Petrov (

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Track listing and performers

Reviews

Chris Well, writing for CCM Magazine, reviewed it favorably and stated, "''!Hero'' is inventive, rhythmic and should, no doubt, spark debate everywhere about the real Jesus. On the other hand, Andree Farias of Christian Music Today, wrote, "''!Heros attempt to be all things to all people is well-intentioned, its 'replayability' value is minimal, deeming it no more than a glorified post-concert souvenir for the live stage show."

Primary cast

as Hero * Mark Stuart of

Audio Adrenaline Audio Adrenaline was an American Christian rock band that formed in 1986 at Kentucky Christian University in Grayson, Kentucky. The band gained recognition during the 1990s and received two Grammy Awards and multiple Dove Awards. Audio A ...

as Petrov * Rebecca St. James as Maggie * Paul Wright as Special Agent Hunter * Nirva Dorsaint as Mama Mary * John Cooper of Skillet as Chief Rabbi Kai * Michael Quinlan as Jude * Matt Hammitt of Sanctus Real as blind cripple * T-Bone as Jairus * Donnie Lewis as Jairus' wife *

Pete Stewart Pete Stewart is a singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer from Seattle, Washington. He is the lead singer and guitarist of Grammatrain, was the lead singer for The Accident Experiment, and is the former guitarist of Tait. Stewart released ...

as Chief of police Devlin * Bob Farrell as Governor Pilate * John Grey as Preacher Rabbi at the wedding * Nathaniel Lee as Janitor Angel *

GRITS Grits (stylized as GRITS) is an American Christian hip hop group from Nashville, Tennessee. Their name is an acronym, which stands for "Grammatical Revolution In the Spirit". GRITS is made up of Stacey "Coffee" Jones and Teron "Bonafide" Carter ...

as the Wedding Party * Pete and Donna Stewart as the bride and groom at the wedding

Secondary cast and musicians

* Todd Collins – percussion * Eddie DeGarmo – piano, background vocals, executive producer * DJ Maj –

scratching Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and Turntablism, turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a phonograph, turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to ...

* Jason Eskridge – background vocals * Kim Fleming –

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

* Brad Ford – vocals, assistant executive producer * Robert Gay – children's chorus * Rachel Goldstein – choir * Kirk "Jelly Roll" Johnson – harmonica * Tony Lucido – bass guitar * Rick May – drums * Ann McCrary – choir * Antonio Phelon – choir, background vocals * John Ray – choir * Becky Robertson – children's chorus * Joanna Robertson – children's chorus * Thomas Romines – choir * Pete Stewart – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, piano,

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

* Greg Thomas – choir * Patti Thomas – choir * Michelle Valentine – choir * Paul Wright III

Support staff

* Eddie DeGarmo – executive producer * Brad Ford – assistant executive producer * Carl Marsh – Fairlight, string arrangement * Bethany Newman – art director, design * Marcelo Pennell –

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

* Carter Robertson – choir director * Dan Shike – mastering * Pete Stewart – audio engineer, producer, programming * Greg Thomas – choir director

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hero 2003 collaborative albums Rock operas Contemporary Christian music albums Depictions of Jesus in music ForeFront Records albums 2000s concept albums