The album can almost be broken down by thirds, as if "Anny" decided to get the sex/relationship stuff out of the way in the first four (of 12) songs, before moving on to the heavy political lyrics (middle third), and leaving em crying, and crying for more with confession time in the final four tracks.

To be frank, it's not an album that instantly enchants. Those first 4 songs include an early "Madonna"-ish dance pop number in the album opener, "White Lipstick Girl," and another 80s style danceable pop tune in "Soulmate," which also has lines like, "Love is a creamy chocolate kiss." Add in an ode to sexual aids, "Purple God," and the first few spins had me scratching my head.

Fortunately, the middle section of the album is so strong, it should give listeners incentive to go back and give the first part another chance. And when they do that, they just might notice the themes of female empowerment in "Purple God," (accompanied with a sultry vocal), or the baritone sax part that adds just the right touch to the chorus of "Soulmate," or the war between doubts and a surrender to sensuality that elevate, "Slowly," to more than just another love song.

The comes the good stuff, beginning with the powerfully anti-death penalty, "Gonna Get Mine." The song begins in a hushed mode, with "Anny" describing the preparation of a female prisoner for execution in an odd breathy little girl's voice (think "Alanis Morissette"). She switches to normal vocals just in time to deliver the highly visual pre-chorus line, "The poison spread/Like ink in a water glass." That sets up the payoff in the chorus, with its highly ironic, "It's a Wonderful Life," twist set against soaring synths and background vocals. The fictitious prisoner's last words are accompanied by a heavenly' chorus of chimes, "They say when a bell rings/An angel gets wings/Tonight when the last bell chimes/I'm gonna get mine." "Anny" sums up a potent anti-capital punishment argument in one subsequent lyric, "What point has been made/through this retribution/Any souls saved/Anything changed?"

That track is immediately followed by, "The Saint Louis.' Back in 1939, 900 Jews attempted to escape Hitler's persecution. Unable to find shelter in Europe, they set off in the titular ship across the Atlantic. Promised refuge in Cuba, they reached its shore only to find that it had changed its mind. So they tried America. "We begged Roosevelt to take in some more/but the melting point had already boiled over/there wasn't room for 900 more/so the St. Louis sailed," back to Europe, where the Voyage of the Damned ended with a majority of its passengers taken to Hitler's concentration camps. Set to an appropriately haunting soundtrack, "The Saint Louis," could well draw a few tears.

At that point, the light hearted country-tinged dance pop of, "Angels Fly" is almost a relief, after the weighty topics in the previous two tracks. Given what follows, it turns out to be a necessary respite. The middle section of "Strange and Beautiful," comes to a close with an open letter to Jesus, outlining various offenses committed under some aspect of religion, and asking, "Is This What You Died For?" The laid back, syncopated groove that drives the song almost belied the seriousness of the song, but there's no mistaking the intensity behind "Anny's" no-punches-pulled lyrics, "Jesus...did you mean for desire to be stifled into rape/Does it feel like poison eating at your gut/When you see that Father Mike/He like to take em young."

The final third of the album strays away from the political, but it's no less powerful in it's storytelling. "Love is Water" has a very conventional AOR structure, but tells of how a Jew tames a Klansman with love. "Monsters and Magical Sticks," poses an interesting challenge in the bridge, "Why am I constantly tricked by reality/Am I held captive by my insanity?/Whatever I believe is what I will perceive/It's time to kill off some beliefs," followed by a very "Tori Amos"-like jazzy piano break. The journey comes to a close, "At the End of the Road," with "Anny" having a dream of the future, with an older version of herself dispensing painfully gained wisdom.

If the musical content isn't enough, there's a multimedia component to the disc, featuring "Dreamspree," "Anny's" own fantasy island. Besides featuring the lyrics to the songs, it also includes fanciful stories set in that fantasy land, that describe the supposed origins of each of the songs. All in all, "Strange and Beautiful" is quite a trip, and certainly not one to be taken lightly. You might not "get it" at first, but trust me, those second and third looks will be well worth your time.