Quest for Certainty aims to serve as both a spiritual exploration and a religious affirmation of the Hare Krishna faith. If the album's instrumentation followed the lyrics' more exploratory angles, it might make for a more interesting record. Instead, the music, with its
Youth of Today meets hard rock feel, clings to the more affirmative side of the fence. On the whole though,
Shelter's honesty is commendable and it's hard to deny the catchiness of songs like "In Defense of Reality" and the title track. To his credit, vocalist and songwriter Ray Cappo injects more melody than ever before throughout
Quest for Certainty, a move which would be realized even further on
Attaining the Supreme. For anyone interested in the musical and religious evolution of
Shelter and the
Youth of Today family,
Quest for Certainty is a necessary listen. ~ Matthew Kantor