"Million Voices" by BarlowGirl from How Can We Be Silent

My eyes spring wide open. The Barlow sisters are playing with genre and song speed in "Million Voices". The vocals are undeniably the three sisters, but…

I struggle to link this music style to anything I've previously heard from BarlowGirl and my mind keeps recalling Within Temptation's "Frozen", with occassional remembrances of "What Have You Done" and something else nagging at my memory that I can't isolate, though I want to say Nightwish's She Is My Sin". Oh, and a touch of Flyleaf.

In other words, this song makes me think more of metal than rock. And is it a wower! I'll readily admit, whichever sister is lead singer, I kinda like her sisters' voices a little more, but she sings maturely and strongly. The sisters take advantage of the three separate voices to give the song a beauty lacking in many standard rock songs.

Add the involved tempo switches, intricately mixed electric guitar and drums, and it's a refreshing demonstration that BarlowGirl can flex its musical skill into other genres when it has a mind to it, as they've done in the album How Can We Be Silent. But if you don't like electric guitar, you will not like this song.

"We're a million strong, and getting stronger still. They'll remember we were here! With the million voices breaking silence 'till they'll remember we were here."

What are they talking about? BarlowGirl (and Christians') constant "stand against the normal"! As Christians, "How can we be silent when a fire burns inside us?" "Million Voices" testifies to the impact strong Christians can have on those around them.

Four listens, and I already know this song is going to haunt me…

As of this writing, "Million Voices" was a sample listed on BarlowGirl's MySpace page.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 10/10

"All Around Me" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

"I can feel You all around me…"

Say what? A Christian metal band? Yep.

Unfortunately, this song in particular suffers from that one complaint many Christians have about "Christian" bands: it doesn't point-blank mention God. Still, that's not a particular habit of Flyleaf, and the details and imagery of "All Around Me" obviously speak of an omnipresent being surrounded by angels and white light.

What this song does have is Flyleaf's continued insistence that being alive is a good thing. "I'm alive! I'm alive!" with a "heart that's healing" and "healed".

At any rate, while "All Around Me" may not be the best lyricwise that Flyleaf has produced, I think it's the best I've heard from them for music and vocals. Both meld smoothly and well-accentuate the lyrics. I can easily think them top of the post-grunge music genre.

For a debut album, I'd say Flyleaf's done pretty well to have this as their third single.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 9/10

"Fully Alive" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

Lacey Mosley would sound a whole lot more "normal" if she sang a different style. But she doesn't sing a normal style, and for me, that's part of her appeal. Even in live recordings, she sounds the same (unlike some artists).

"Telling Layla's story spoken 'bout how all her bones are broken" may open "Fully Alive" on a dark note, but "she's glad for one day of comfort only because she has suffered". It's a poignent point that having had a bad life should make you all the more appreciative of good things. In Layla's case, she's "fully alive, more than most, ready to smile and love life"—"she knows how to believe in futures".

When was the last time you found another post-grunge or heavy metal song that said that?

The music is better than average, with some involved electric guitar in there. It is a little rough on the ears, according to its post-grunge genre, but it's well put-together.

Looking for heavy metal or post-grunge music with uplifting lyrics? That's found in Flyleaf.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"I'm So Sick" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

My first thought on hearing this band? …Weird voice. Interesting, but weird. My brother's response? "Girls growling doesn't sound right."

Nonetheless, this was Flyleaf's debut single as Flyleaf (they went through a few name changes while independent), and it does well demonstrate the band.

Overall, Flyleaf has dark themes, yes, as are commonly popular, nowadays. But they don't leave the narrator (or listeners) wallowing. They are Christian! Not only do they explore the dark and gritty, but hope is included in the darkness. The narrator is "so sick, infected with where [she] live[s]." But she's not content to stay there till she can "sell out [or] die out"—she wants to "live without this empty bliss, selfishness."

Moreover, the lyrics are clean, as well. My complaint is the lyrics seem more together associatively rather than as a coherent expression of their point. (And there's the grammatical problem of using to heed as if it's an intransitive verb, but hey, I'm a grammar nutcase.)

The music is the very dark, low base type that I know a lot of older adults don't like (and worries some of them). The music is very limited, but that's part of its appeal. (Evidently it's post-grunge.) Any more would be overdone, particularly considering Lacey Mosley's voice.

Lacey Mosley's voice is odd. I have no better way to describe it, but it does work well with the heavy metal she's chosen to produce. It may just be a matter of what she's done with it; I suspect her voice would sound more "normal" in a different range. She sings and she screams.

Um, yeah, about that screaming… It's at the beginning when she's saying she will "break, break", with a little more at the end. I don't particularly like screaming, but at least Flyleaf doesn't seem to throw it in there for the heck of it. It's chosen on purpose.

Also as a warning, the words tend to have odd tempos, making it a bit harder to understand what's being said, but once used to it, it can be followed. Somewhat.

Sure, I'll listen to more Flyleaf. I'd rather look to see if there's another song I might like more, though.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Cassie" by Flyleaf from Flyleaf

The first song I'd consciously ever listened to by Flyleaf, I first heard "Cassie" when Cassie came up in conversation. That's the Cassie who died in the U.S.-famous Columbine school shooting through the words, "Yes, I believe in God". (Though some people say it was an urban legend, my memory and the old news articles I can find verify her martyrdom.) I've been wanting to read her biography/diary for years.

"Cassie" is a tribute to that girl and her final words. "'Do you believe in God?' written on the bullet. Say 'yes' to pull the trigger." "And Cassie pulled the trigger."

The Christian band Flyleaf doesn't stop at offering a tribute to Cassie. Lacey Mosley directly brings the story home to where it should apply to the listener: "How many will die? I will die—I, I will say yes" (screaming the "yes", but the rest of the song is sung with a second "in the air" whispered). What happened to Cassie could easily happen to one of us, and what would we say in that event?

There are a few versions to this song. Two main ones, the regular LP one and the EP version referencing another Columbine death, Rachel, as a fellow girl who was shot for her faith that day. There's also an acoustic version of "Cassie" that can be at least listened to online.

The simple music of all the versions well-suits Lacy Mosley's unusual voice, as does the odd tempo of the lyrics.

If you can't handle post-grunge metal, check out the acoustic version of this song, at least. Flyleaf isn't just "good for Christian music", but they're good for their post-grunge genre. If you don't mind the singer's strange vocals, that is.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

Edited 10/16/07 thanks to Anonymous.