"Secret Number 486" by Younha from The Perfect Day to Say I Love You

It was only a matter of time, I guess, before I found a foreign singer who sang in foreign languages—in this case, Korean and Japanese. Younha mixes a bit of English in some of her songs; this song uses the line, "You're my secret boy."

The album name and song title are therefore translated up above. I understand that "Secret Number 486" is the official English name, though more commonly people seem to call it "Password 486". The album, her premier one in Korea (though Korean, she's previously released in Japan), has a title that's more literally translated "Good Day to Confess".

The song basically gives a boyfriend advice about making his girlfriend happy. "Guys aren't as fragile as girls," Younha says (in Korean), warning that girls really don't like being surprised by their boyfriends without a chance to put on their makeup. (…I guess that's how most girls think; I don't wear makeup anyway, myself.)

There's also an acknowledgement that she "hope"s he's worth something, though he might not be (or so she implies). So the lyrics end up only slightly silly despite the request for 4 "I love you"s, 8 laughs, and 6 kisses a day.

K-pop is specifically South Korean popular music, which at this time is pretty much pop. Younha has a bit of a piano-based rock touch, too. Her voice suits nicely, and her pronunciation of English (not her first language) sounds natural and native when she does use the rare phrase. (I can't speak for her Korean, but I'll assume so, since that is her first language.)

Overall, the song's pretty normal pop (though thankfully not quite as silly or stupid as a lot of it), but it's in Korean. Nonetheless, if you like pop, you'll probably like it.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"What Are You Waiting For" by Natalie Grant from Awaken

"So you wanna change the world? What are you waiting for?"

That message that you have to start now to start changing the world draws me to the song more than anything else. The catchy chorus at least makes me want to sing along when it comes on the radio, even if the pop rock does sound like a ZOEGirl clone.

Eh… Actually, Natalie Grant doesn't even sing that well. I even checked a live recording, accounting for the microphone issue in recording, and her singing isn't very good but at least makes up for it a little bit with the emotion she includes in this 2005 album.

Nonetheless, she's won awards for that not-so-great voice. (Which makes me worry about the quality of the rest of contemporary Christian music (CCM)—wait, I already knew that stank. Never mind.) In 2006 and 2007, she won the Female Vocalist of the Year in the Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards. Odd, since she's not released any music since 2005, but the GMA awards are full of such irregularities and genre favoritism.

Overall, "What Are You Waiting For" is standard substandard contemporary Christian pop rock music. For CCM, it's on the decent side. Natalie Grant provides fans with both a MySpace page and a band website.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 6/10

"Amaranth" by Nightwish from Dark Passion Play

"Tears of snow-white sorrow…"

Not many bands produce dark songs with upbeat music and tones. Nightwish combines an almost-light pretty pop tone with some dark symphonic and gothic-influenced undertones. The symbolism in "Amaranth" and the music video confuse many viewers, but at least the video stems from the picture "Wounded Angel" by Hugo Simberg.

The "Amaranth" video interprets the picture (two boys carrying a blindfolded sitting angel on a stretcher) as the boys finding the girl unconscious, her eyes bleeding. They bind her eyes and carry her home to treat her, but in the process they pass by the elderly neighbors who see the angel. The neighbors become a mob who swarm the house, drag the boys away, and set the house on fire with the trapped angel inside. The angel escapes up to heaven.

"Amaranth" and I think the angel symbolize eternity in the song, so I think the song's talking about how some people welcome the idea of eternity and some seek to destroy it when it doesn't conform to their expectations. Some people believe "but what [they] see", it says. But some "dare" to go beyond. (Not that any of this is really clear without the video.)

You might think that pop rock added to Nightwish's symphonic metal would sound strange, but the band melds it so it flows naturally. None of it feels out of place.

Anette Olzon reminds me of a mix between Amy Lee and Charlotte Wessels in "Amaranth". Sometimes she sounds comparable to one, sometimes the other. But she does have her own sound that's definitely different than that of Nightwish's old singer, Tarja Turunen.

Overall, it's a fun pop rock song with some metal aspects and more thoughtful lyrics than most bands produce.

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

"Nothing I Won't Give" by Vic Mignogna from Metafiction

Aw, nice gentle sound with the "wet" (echo) I like. Rather simple but with a few different parts in that simplicity to make the sound a bit more interesting to the ear… Makes me think of a TV show or something—and what do I find with a little research?

"Nothing I Won't Give" is based on a TV show, specifically the anime Full Metal Alchemist. Vic Mignogna evidently voice acts the character Edward Elric in that anime, and he wrote this song based on the show with a fan's help.

Vic Mignogna apparently is a Christian. That somewhat surprised me and made me realize, I think some elements of the song reminds me of DC Talk. (Guess who he went to college with.) I'm also reminded a tad of Evanescence on the piano style.

The singing's a nicely clear… tenor, I believe it would be called. I'm reminded of the lead singer for Linkin Park.

The song's story considers someone regretting a past decision that's had far-reaching consequences. He's "haunted by the past", wanting to "turn back time and spare the pain that we both feel". They've changed thanks to what has happened, and the narrator says his "brother" has paid the more of the two of them.

The narrator wants to recover the other from what he's become, to bring back the smiles. And he'll do anything for it, though they both must work together to recover what they've lost. (Okay, so there are a good number of clichés in the song, but they don't necessarily ring as clichés to the ear.)

The initially simple music grows with other deceptively simple layers that meld together well. All together, it's a surprisingly pleasing song and free of objectionable elements.

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

"Time to Dance" by Panic! At The Disco from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

"Have some composure—where is your posture? Oh, no, no… You're pulling the trigger, pulling the trigger all wrong…"

One thing Panic! At The Disco's good at is making weird lyrics. From the opening ("Well, she's not bleeding on the ballroom floor just for the attention") and throughout, the words and catchy techo dance-style music capture the listeners' attention. The band loves word play ("When I say 'Shotgun!' you say 'Wedding!'—'Shotgun!' 'Wedding!' 'Shotgun!' 'Wedding!'").

The story comes from a scene in a novel, where evidently a girl is holding a shotgun to her fiancé in attempt to get out of the wedding, while blood spills from her and further destroys the tatters left of her wedding gown. (Or so I understand—I've not read the book.) The violence and abuse are more implied than stated, with the language uncharacteristically clean for Panic! "Time to Dance" may not necessarily be very applicable to your life, but it's thought-provoking, amusing, or a mix, depending on your personality.

Many people dislike techno since it's the same throughout, but Panic! well manages keeping a consistent subbeat while varying the music throughout and giving it a lot of depth. It's mostly electronic, but it's fun and memorable. Though if you don't like electronica, you'll have a hard time enjoying it.

I, like many people, was first drawn towards Panic! from Brenden Urie's voice when I heard the band's music at school. (Of course, I also somehow completely missed the blaspheming in the chorus of the song I heard, but still…) This song offers a linguistically clean means to enjoy the singing of Brenden Urie, if you so desire.

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

"Hero (Red Pill Remix)" by Superchic[k] from X 2004: 17 Christian Rock Hits!

"He doesn't know he's a leader with the way he behaves." "He can do what he wants, because it's his right; the choices he makes change a nine-year-old's life."

When "Hero" first came out on Superchick's Last One Picked in 2002, it wasn't the only song bemoaning the state of the nation's youth. P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation" similarly spoke of our sad state (or at least it was a "we" for me at the time when I first heard those songs.)

But now, five years after the song first appeared, this remix seems more popular than the original version. (Hey, I liked the first one.) Superchick's standard odd mix of music appears in both with nearly-identical choruses, though overall I'll have to call the "Red Pill Remix" an improvement on the original. It's not nearly as harsh-sounding.

Many people, not necessarily Christians, have been convicted by this song, and it strikes close to home for many. It's a warning that a little bit of kidness from each one of us can make a difference. Each verse tells a different story where that can be true—of a boy who lashes out at his tormentor through suicide or a gun, of a girl who in her loneliness fights "the lie that giving up is the way," and of a boy who doesn't realize he's leading many others down the path for life that he's chosen for himself, including his young brother.

An addition in this remix to the original "Hero" comes with the rap part (that actually has some of the best background vocals and music of the entire song), returning to the first boy and telling of him putting a gun to his head.

Superchick's an interesting breed of music, mixing aspects of pop, punk, R&B, contemporary Christian, and rapcore. It's therefore hard to rank, since it's rather "unique." The layers were designed to flow together as a unit rather than work separately, so sometimes there's a layer in the song that's an assault on the ears. I therefore don't care for Superchic[k] nearly as much as I once did, but their lyrics still rank among my favorites.

Superchic[k] doesn't try to preach theology; the members offer Bible-based advice. The clear… singing… when it is singing… sounds very much like it's geared for teens, as some listeners have complained. The band also dresses like it's trying to reach a teen audience.

Go figure. It is.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 8/10

"Dreams" by Diana DeGarmo from Blue Skies

"Dreams are just dreams when they're stuck inside your head, and all it takes is a little help from you…"

Diana DeGarmo isn't afraid to play with genre even in her freshman album Blue Skies. "Cardboard Castles" was pop rock, and "Dreams" offers a softer ballad accented primarily by simple piano.

I said before that twenty-year-old Diana DeGarmo had an excellent voice, and I stand by it. She knows how to sing and sings purposefully. She narrowly escaped first place in American Idol's third season for a reason.

On the surface, the song seems to be speaking of dreams in general, and of getting help from a loved one to make the dreams come true. But details in the song lyrics suggest that Diana DeGarmo might be intending to refer to God (though it might be an accident). Either way, "Dreams" encourages the hearer to reach for dreams rather than merely cling to them in the mind, where they can't become reality.

Diana DeGarmo ended up as a top seller on singles charts with this song for a reason. It's very soft, relaxing as it edifies the hearer with (not necessarily but potentially God-oriented) encouragement.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10

"Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie from The Dutchess

"It's time to be a big girl, now, and big girls don't cry" since…?

Oh, I know! Let's add money to all the therapists' pockets by creating an ideal of personality that's emotionally destructive. What ideal will that be? That crying's for babies; that'll work.

Fine, I'll admit, Fergie's point is that though she's "gonna miss [him] like a child misses their blanket" she's "got to get a move on with [her] life". So in that sense, it's a good point. She hopes her boyfriend realizes it's not personal; she just needs to cope with her all-consuming emotions. Obsessions aren't healthy and cause problems; she "forsee[s] the dark ahead if [she] stays" and fails to address her problem.

Fergie as song narrator is obviously sleeping with her boyfriend. ("The smell of your skin lingers on me now" and that they'll "be playmates and lovers" when she's through.) So it's average, though thankfully not crass.

Her voice is pretty and could be more so. It doesn't sound lazy in the sense that she can't control it, but it sounds like she doesn't much care to keep it consistent. If it were consistent throughout the song, it would sound a lot better. The mostly acoustic guitar background seems mainly an excuse to let her sing rather than an excuse for music.

The music video shows a bit more coherency than tends to be normal, but I don't think folks really need to see her in underwear. In the video, she drives up to a building and sits down to sing. This intercuts with Fergie in a shirt and underwear leaving her boyfriend where he sleeps, getting up, getting dressed in what she's wearing while singing, and driving off to go to the building to sing.

Overall? It's not strictly a bad song, but it's not good either. It could've been much better.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 6/10

"Contagious" by Avril Lavigne from The Best D—— Thing

Lazy albeit familiar-sounding singing greets my ear on this one. Thinking how to describe it for this review, I abruptly wondered, is that Avril Lavigne?

Lo and behold, it is she who sings this song. Thankfully, it's not so horrid as "Keep Holding On" on the singing, but she sounds like she doesn't care about what she sings, that she's just singing for the heck of it. She tries to hide it by sounding appealing, but I get a languid sense of the singer herself.

The stock upbeat pop rock doesn't help that, I guess. It's not bad, but it's definitely not anything notable. The music aspect's a fun listen when I need something upbeat to help me wake up. It's nothing special, though.

"Contagious" starts out with the okay story of how people tend to long to be around someone they're interested in but have no idea what to say when they are near to that person. But it, like "Girlfriend" of the same album whose name I've edited, this song devolves into a "give me a chance" to be your girlfriend, and "I can prove I'm right."

As the (edited) title of this album and its released single "Girlfriend" have demonstrated, the singer has no qualms about cursing and misuses damn twice in the lyrics. The statement that the boy makes her "feel so high" might also be seen as a drug reference.

Ulgh, good-bye Avril Lavigne. If I ever review you again, it'll be even more of an accident than this one was. In short, I'd advise she—or at least this last CD—be avoided.

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Lyrics: *1/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 2/5
Overall: *4/10

*The song curses.

"Invincible" by Pat Benatar from The Best of Pat Benatar (& other albums)

Starting with an upbeat… beat, the beginning of "Invincible" by Pat Benatar promises a song of mostly beat with some of synthesized music and a focus on catchy lyrics, and it delivers on its promises. The song is '80s era pop rock by some definitions, but it's still attractive today for even modern fans who like upbeat without getting screamed at.

Initially released as the title track for The Legend of Billie Jean, a 1985 drama that didn't get the best reviews, "Invincible" offers an entertaining beat and catchy tune without cursing or inappropriate lyrics for those who like story-songs.

Though "Invincible" does, in a fashion, promote violence, the song's narrator only does so because she's trapped and has no other way to escape but self-defense. It's not violence for violence's sake. "We can't afford to be innocent;" "there's nowhere, nowhere we can run to anymore." By saying innocence can't be afforded, the narrator evidently wishes it could.

Pat Benatar didn't get awards as a top female rock artist without a reason. After hearing "Invincible" (several times), I'm now interested in looking up some more of her songs. I'll be sure to let you know what I think. I think "Invincible" is worth hearing if you like the older upbeat rock from the weird hair times.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 7/10

"Brave" by Nichole Nordeman from Brave

"So long, status quo" "The way it always was is no longer good enough—You make me wanna be brave!" Great verses speak of many of the skittishness many of us fight, particularly when speaking of the Gospel, and the chorus admits a rejection of that "status quo."

"Brave," one of Nichole Nordeman's best songs, sounds like it might meld the music overmuch, but it's still catchy and varied. The little discernable piano under the pop rock is beautiful, like Nichole Nordeman's alto.

She gives some of her best singing, lyrics, and music in "Brave." Her time off for her infant son has brought her back with the precise same style but lack of sameness she started with in 2000.

"Every storm will start with just a drop of rain," she reminds the listener, countering the common argument that an individual can't make that big a difference. Each person can make a difference, she insists, and God gives us the bravery we need.

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

"Scarlet" by Jars Of Clay from The Eleventh Hour

Admission: when I first heard and liked this song, the meaning was utterly lost on me. I don't think I'd even heard of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter at that time. The song assumes you know the book. So, if you don't know the basic plotline, the song's pretty nonsensical.

A woman has a child by adultery in Puritan Boston. (Her husband is not in the country.) Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter A for adultery on her bosom for the remainder of her days as a reminder of her sin.

"Scarlet" speaks of such a scarlet letter and a refusal to let it hold the wearer down. "This old scarlet letter won't keep me from holding you. And there is nothing you can do. Nothing you do." Besides it being a reference to the letter and how God will hold us regardless of our sins if we repent, it also brings to mind a scene in the book where the woman casts her scarlet letter aside and forcefully appeals to her former lover to flee somewhere with her for them to be together again, since they still love one another. (The preacher, much-loved by the community as a saint, fears to confess his sin, leaving others in the community unaware that he is the unknown father.)

Dan Haseltine sings with his usual direct voice that I believe is a tenor, with a slight echo at some points in the song. Heavier on the drums and cymbals than on the other CDs by Jars Of Clay—a usual situation on The Eleventh Hour—the song is still very much of the band. The guitar-heavy rock melds with one other major instrument that I can't identify, unfortunately, and the song credits don't name it.

The song's short (for Jars Of Clay), a bit repetitive, and dependent on a knowledge of the book, but despite all that it's still one of my favorites.

(More about The Scarlet Letter can be found at Cliff's Notes, or you can download a free e-book from Project Gutenberg.)

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

"Famous Last Words" by Jars Of Clay from If I Left The Zoo

"You say you heard every word, but I watched you turn away," Dan Haseltine sings in this aptly-named song from If I Left The Zoo, "Famous Last Words." Strongly symbolic, as is usual from Jars Of Clay, I think they're speaking of the common "Famous Last Words" people often use to put off response to the Gospel: "I'm not ready yet—I won't be gone a minute."

I happen to like Dan Haseltine's voice, which I think is a tenor, though I'm pretty sure it's not superb. Several guitars interweave in this pop song, with a bit of piano, for example, and some other instrument on the song credit listing that I have absolutely no idea what it is but looks Eastern European from the spelling (a wurlitzer). Oh, and a minute timer goes off once, emphasising the song's message that you never know when your time's going to be up.

One point of the lyrics, that "wasted are the days you said you were only waiting," ends up getting a bit repetitive. I know that's common in choruses, but some people find it particularly annoying when songs repeat. I just generally do if a song repeats something over 6 times. (A noteable exception would be Within Temptation's "What Have You Done," but those repetitions are distinctly intentional for the song's meaning.) I find "Famous Last Words" bordering the repetitive line.

"Famous Last Words" is nonetheless one of my favorite songs from If I Left The Zoo, and among my top favorite songs by Jars Of Clay in general. It's not their best by any means, but it's still on the better end.

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

"Clothes" by BarlowGirl from Barlow Girl

Ah, so you've noticed how… lacking clothes have gotten? So few things seem to fit—especially if you're well-endowed up there. (If you wouldn't know, just trust me on that one.) Clothes just "don't seem to fit you and me anymore."

The Barlow sisters have noticed that and the mockery they (and other young women) receive for intentionally dressing modestly, and they return the treatment in "Clothes," demonstrating the ludiocrity of the matter, producing an intentionally silly song. "Pay so much for clothes so small—was this shirt made for me or for my doll?"

Sure, everyone says "Modesty is out the door" if you want to "look like a model." BarlowGirl returns, "Don't want to be a model—they don't eat anyway." "Clothes that fit are fine!" they insist. Question why people demand the immodest clothing, and refuse to be a sex object! (In keeping appropriate for younger audiences, they don't say that last one point-blank.)

Did I mention they dress modestly, too? These girls certainly practice what they preach!

The music isn't their best. It's not bad, but it's… a bit overloud pop rock. They've done a lot better on the music aspect. And their voices could have stood out a little more—I suspect that would have made the song sound a lot better, and at one point they sound downright weird. As things stand, if you want to enjoy the fun lyrics, you have to sit through an otherwise not-so-great song.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 2/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 5/10

"She Walked Away" by BarlowGirl from Barlow Girl

"She walked away; she left all she had believed in." Sometimes, a child of believing parents leaves the faith—even for non-religious folks, a child might leave a home without realizing they "love her." BarlowGirl captures the emotions of that in "She Walked Away."

The girl "couldn't take one more day; home was her prison now." "I'm finally on my own; don't try to tell me no," she says, while her parents plead to God, "tell her please come home!"

But the lyrics don't stop there. It's not just a story but a message to such a girl. "She Walked Away" tells the girl who's left, "The choice is your alone now. Tell me how this story… ends…" A quote from the story of the prodigal son follows, where the father runs out to greet and welcome his son home.

The sisters' vocals are in top form on "She Walked Away." They are excellent. The music isn't anything special, but at least it's well done. Hints of above-average elements appear in the music, but it's not enough for me to rate it that. They could have done better, as is the case with many of their songs.

But what they have done is still better than many artists deliver, especially in the God-centered lyrics.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10

"Sunrise" by Nichole Nordeman from Recollection: The Best of Nichole Nordeman

Touching speedy piano starts out this pop song from honest Christian singer Nichole Nordeman. Why "honest"? She's brutally direct on the conflict of the Christian's life, of her own life.

"How would I know the morning if I knew not midnight?" she asks in "Sunrise." And that is why Nichole Nordeman wouldn't "take a different road, bear a lighter load" if she "had the chance." God alone "is sunrise," He "alone can resurrect" her heart. None of us like the dark points in life, but she reminds us that we cannot know the brightness of the light without first knowing the dark.

Recollection: The Best of Nichole Nordeman might be well-named if "Sunrise" aptly represents the rest. This may be the best song beginning I've heard in any of her songs, even if it devolves into comparatively middling quality, from her chorus. The chorus may have the annoyingly characteristic drop in music quality, but the verses are lovely with the few different layers that underline them.

Nichole Nordeman uncompromisingly speaks of real life with her usual soothing alto. The touching beginnig draws you into the rest of the song as she guides the hearer through darkness into the Light. Besides the less-than-great chorus music that brings down the quality of the music overall, the only complaint to be made might be a bit of cliché and repetitive imagery. But that won't bother everyone.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10

"Cardboard Castles" by Diana DeGarmo from Blue Skies

Poking around on the American Idol website, clicking on names and song previews that look interesting, I found this song. I immediately started writing this post, already decided I would review "Cardboard Castles" if not look up more songs by Diana DeGarmo.

Diana DeGarmo, an American Idol winner, sounds promising on this selection from Blue Skies. "Cardboard Castles" actually has nice-sounding music beyond the stock, though it's still mostly of average quality in its pop. Diana DeGarmo's voice, though, that is an attraction.

At first, her voice sounds like it might just be the average nice voice that lacks control. Paying more attention, I noticed that she actually does have control of her voice. Her voice is consistent rather than clumsy as some poorly controlled singers demonstrate as they can't even keep their voice the same in a single song. (I would be one of those vocally clumsy people, myself, if I actually had a nice singing voice. Which I'm not sure that I do)

Dream-bubbles tend to be burst by life, but that doesn't mean we can't keep dreaming dreams we know will likely never come to be, "building cardboard castles in the air." I know I doubt I'll ever be a bestselling author. Even those times when life's going great don't last, as much as many of us hate to admit our goals of comfort wouldn't last, anyway, even if we reached them. The song admits this and our unwillingness to think about it. "Does anybody know? Does anybody care?" she asks.

Though not great, I still found it surprisingly good and look forward to hearing more songs by this singer in the future.

P.S. Since I keep finding myself returning to this song, I decided to reevaluate my rating. Thus its upgrade.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 8/10

"Who Knew" by Pink from I'm Not Dead

Pretty strumming at the beginning of "Who Knew" sounds promising, but that promptly proves to be nothing more than a beat-holding method like the drums. The result is disappointing. I fear to lookup more of Pink's music; will it likewise be a disappointment?

The lyrics, though clean, lament a lost boyfriend's lies. Three years ago she would have been furious at anyone suggesting he'd "be long gone" by now, but that's the case. He'd promised to stay with her forever; "Who Knew" he wouldn't keep his promise? (With all the songs whining about this, you'd think people would realize how temporary these situations are.)

Pink as narrator also continues to mope over his absence instead of moving on. Nothing about the lyrics, vocals or music of "Who Knew" strike my notice as anything of note, though I do wonder if Pink has smoked or she was born with a voice like that.

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Lyrics: 3/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 5/10

"Whatever She Wants" by Jars Of Clay from The Eleventh Hour

One of Jars Of Clay's most direct songs, "Whatever She Wants" is still chock-full of symbolism as it evidently speaks of the adulterous woman, "Like a vampire, a parasite."

I call it one of their most direct songs because of a certain line that brings to mind something that would not be appropriate for children. I don't think "when you're up, she's down; down, she's up and whips around" needs any explanation on that level. In context, it's evidently also a reference of the dichotomy involved: "whatever she wanted for whatever you need"—the reversal is extreme. What you do to support her destroys you.

The music of "Whatever She Wants" might be one of the strongest rock Jars of Clay has ever produced. It's a bit stronger on cymbals than many ears may find comfortable, but it's done in unity with the rest of the music rather than in discord.

Dan Haseltine's voice suits this song superbly. It's on par with "Art In Me" for his voice. After Jars Of Clay's previous production of lighter music, you might not expect them to handle rock well, but I believe they've done a surprisingly good job.

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

"Legacy" by Nichole Nordeman from Woven and Spun

"It wouldn't matter much," Nichole Nordeman admits of worldly accomplishments, even of being added to "all the 'who's who's' and so-and-so's who used to be the best at such-and such." Sure, we may long for it, but what ultimately matters is a legacy of pointing to Christ.

Nordeman once again shows her skillful flair for songwriting with "Legacy" on Woven and Spun. Dripping with the conflict of a Christian's life, she's brutally honest to what we tend to care for and what we should care for—and she doesn't exempt herself from that group.

Her soothing alto sings strongly as she includes herself in the questions she's asking her listeners. More accurately, it's in asking herself that she brings her listeners to ask themselves, what do they put their trust in?

Nichole Nordeman has distinctly improved her piano-based pop since such hits as "Wide Eyed" on, for example, her first album. That's not to say the style's changed; it hasn't. It's still not great music; she unfortunately lets her skill at piano get drowned out. As usual.

Piano and violins still provide a lovely background to the soft rock more geared for young adults than teens, though mature teens will likely enjoy it. I did, and still do.

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