Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

For the first three songs of Cadia, I continually waited for Zach Efron to come in and accompany one of the...sisters on their self-titled debut CD, thinking this was the new Christian version "High School Musical: Vacation Bible School". But, happily for me, sadly for some, Efron never showed.

The begining track sounds like the B-side to every Barlow girl CD ever made, and although the Barlow sisters are very talented, this is not intended to be a compliment to the members of Cadia. The best comparison I can think of for them is: shampoo. Listening to them reminded me of going to the grocery store and picking out shampoo, there's always that nice name brand version and then right next to it is the off brand. Ulimately, the off-brand gets the job done, but it's still missing that key ingredient that makes it good. Cadia is the off-brand of music, showing promise of being as talented as artist they clearly emmulate, but not quite being as good.

Cadia, comes from the Greek word Arcadia, meaning place of peace. This duo is composed of long-time best friends Courtney Myers and Tori Smith. After becoming fast friends in the seventh grade, the girls have been singing and performing together for years. This is their first CD, and it sends a great message of finding one's self worth in God.

I really enjoyed song four, This One's For The Girls, especially when Sarah Evans originally sang it. Though I generally have absolutely nothing nice to say about Christian artists that cover secular songs so that their sound will be acceptable for the ears of the saved, I was happily suprised by the duo's rendition. Their sound made it relatable for younger audiences, and seemed like something both me and my younger sister could agree on listening to in the car.

Songs one and two, Trust in Me Now and Safe Place To Fall, sound the same more or less. It wasn't until song six, Jesus, that I figured out this was a Christian CD -- what ever happened to using the name "Jesus" or "Lord" in songs instead of "he" or "you", I thought it was the musical longings for puppy-lovelorn teens. Song two, I'll Stay, is the best song on the entire album. It shows the promise that this group holds, if they'd only take the time to find their own sound rather than try and be the next Zoegirl.

All in all, there's not much to say about Cadia. They're not bad, but they're not exceptionally good either. I can only hope that a few years will pass and life will not only add a little more depth to their lyrics but also help them gain that ingredient that's missing. Until then, pass this onto your 12 year old sister's youth group, maybe they'll enjoy it more.