I'm never sure how to approach these things. I could simply talk about the music, which is competent here. I could list comparisons, like Third Eye Blind or any other modern-rock geek-of-the-week. I could tell you to check out the almost Pantera-flavored "Encourager" (and if that comparison isn't sacrilegious, then I don't know what is) or the Tears For Fears-sounding "Abandon All" and leave it at that, never going anywhere else with the commentary. The music is good, not great, but good. It's straight-ahead derivative rock music, not much different structurally from what you hear on the radio every day.

But isn't a band more than that? The sum total, after all, is the work as a whole, right? Okay, then. The subject of the lyrics Does Not Deviate from one Subject - the Subject of Jesus.

I don't know what it is about more Christian artists that brings them to the conclusion that the only tack to take is one that smacks of God O.D. (to quote Meat Beat Manifesto - and all of my friends who are reading this, just shush, okay?). My understanding of being a Christian, and I was one once, was that one should set an example by living one's life according to the Word, but not necessarily by spouting this kind of preachy, overblown rhetoric at every turn. Where is the worship of the earth here? Where are the songs about successful relationships, about strange experiences and how, as a Christian, one can deal with them? This doesn't happen here.

Let's retrace a few steps in the CCM pantheon: Amy Grant manages to make pecular albums that don't, to my knowledge, compromise her Christian faith. I've read the lyrics on her records, and they frankly discuss issues that all people have, not just issues of faith, and do it in the way that Christian life prescribes. Then there are artists like Jars of Clay and Sixpence None The Richer who managed to get a radio hit, all the while hiring publicists to summarily quash any evidence in the mainstream media that they ever were a Christian band. This, as we all know, can destroy any and all credibility you have with the kids, who are having none of that Jesus-freak stuff and the critics, a group of grown-ups with liberal educations and no tolerance for music direct from the pulpit.

There are many artists who choose to bridge both worlds successfully. Aretha makes gospel records AND R&B records. Duraluxe are Christians themselves but choose to set a quiet example rather than preach (see interview this issue). If I heard tomorrow that David Sylvian had gone with Christ, it wouldn't change my love of his music.nor would it change my opinion of Matchbox 20's work, which is very low to begin with. An artist's religion is nothing that I take issue with unless I feel its use is gratuitous and being shoved down my throat. That's what makes this record unlistenable. The only people who are going to enjoy it are those who DON'T need to be saved.