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Track One: I See Love (Three Kings)... for those of you in the dark... this is Steven Curtis Chapman, Bart Millard of Mercy Me and Mac Powell of Third Day splitting the vocals on this... they are the "three kings" apparently... the song itself is pretty nice... there's a slight... slight edge to it... i think the coolest thing about it is the way they hand-off lead vocals... though, Bart and Steven are actually tough to tell apart at times... so... stylistically i suppose this would fit on any of their respective albums... and the idea of the lyrics is to identify what it is when we look at Christ... (I see love)... some people see living dead people... Track Two: Relearn Love (Scott Stapp)... i think it's safe to chalk this Scott Stapp guy up as yet another Christian Creed copycat... i mean... the vocals sound nearly identical to Creed... it would be difficult indeed to distinguish him from Creed's lead singer... alright, alright... joke's over... i'm not sure that i like this song actually... it's not bad... but it is slightly boring at times... the bridge is cool... kinda wakes you up and it features the stereophonic sound... and it takes until the very end before Stapp unleashes the lethal raspy edge in his vocals... thematically, i'm not sure if he's asking Christ to come down and die again, so he can "relearn love" or what... but hey, it's over... Track Three: Truly Amazing (P.O.D.)... this is a pretty mellow tune for the southtown boys... it's kind of a throwback to the Satellite days.... i like how when they harmonize it sounds somewhat hollow... the chorus is simple but it has a nice vibe to it... the guitars are pretty full but the drums seem pretty thin... it's a nice little tune... shortest on the album... i like the guitar solo... not a big fan of the near-scream vocals toward the end... Track Four: New Again (Brad Paisley & Sara Evans)... God loves country artists too... just thought i'd say that... i'd heard of Brad Paisley before this track... (i love the video for his Reality TV song)... and i enjoy his voice... hey... it's okay to like country once in a while... i said so... anyway... Sara Evans, i'm not familiar with but her vocals here are very strong and enjoyable... the interplay is really nice... this song is probably the most emotionally moving songs on the disc... unless you are a stone-hearted meanie head... but it is going to make me pull out a country CD sometime in the near future until my fix is achieved... this instrumental section is really sweet... okay... i'll move on because i can tell that you all are staring at me strangely... Track Five: Rainy Day (Big Dismal)... well... if you don't like country... you probably won't like my next statement... but here goes anyway... Big Dismal sounds like a country band trying to sound like a rock band... not that that's a bad thing... but the chorus in particular... Eric has that country twang to his voice... anyway... it's a pretty cool track... i'm somewhat at a loss when i try to connect it to the movie though... i guess the whole "come and save the world" thing... but it just seems to me like a pretty decent song that may or may not have... woah, shot of falsetto please... anyway... it may or may not have been directly related to the movie... (in the movie i think it rained for 15 seconds)... oh well, good song... Track Six: The Passion (Lauryn Hill)... i was probably most excited about this song... haven't heard anything new from Lauryn Hill since the Unplugged sessions on MTV... (not that i would watch or endorse watching that channel... but you might have heard someone talking about it)... anyway... on track... well... it's quirky... how's that?... it brings to mind images of late night bonfire slams on the beach... there's a lot of interesting sound effects going on... the tempo and rhythm is defined by some sort of a kettle drum... very tribal... and Lauryn's vocal touches come in throughout with variations of "if they only knew love"... it's a pretty catchy song actually... it catches you off your guard but quickly wins you over and you just have to like it... or at least respect it... very well done... more please...

*** INTERMISSION (maybe it's cheating but i'm falling behind on this typing and i need to go stretch) ***

Track Seven: How Many Lashes (Kirk Franklin ft. Yolanda Adams)... this starts out with a sinister-sounding piano part... and it plays like a journal entry... this is obviously a reaction to the movie... he's relating each sin he's committed to individual lashes that Christ received... and Yolanda's part is a nice touch... Kirk is pretty much just talking, but Yolanda adds a melody to the chorus... very touching song... and, if you're wondering, i believe that is Ambassador from the Cross Movement making a brief guest appearance... Track Eight: The Empire (MxPx ft. Mark Hoppus)... this is quite a change of pace... between the reflective Kirk Franklin song and this upbeat pop-punk... pretty interesting... the inclusion of Mark Hoppus from the somewhat infamous band Blink 182, but he blends in well with MxPx and the song is pretty tight... the lyrics are quite intriguing... "you're not dead, you're alive, but why?"... one of the critical complaints about the movie was that it failed to explain why it was all happening... not sure if that's what they're getting at... oh... what a great line... "my head turned with the doorknob as you came in the room"... great imagery... Track Nine: Finding My Own Way (Charlotte Church)... Charlotte Church... i'm not sure why... but i picture "Touched by an Angel"... or something like Leann Rimes singing opera... this is more of a pop song... but it is very low-key and you can tell that her voice has more of a classical leaning... it's a good song... but, similar to the Big Dismal track... i don't see this relating to the movie... i mean... it has kind of a rebellious attitude about it... almost like a negative reaction to the movie... like... "i'm gonna do my own thing, even though you did all that for me"... i don't know... that's what i get from it... if you take it out of context from the movie, it's a pretty decent message about growing up... but otherwise... Track Ten: Miracle of Love (Bebe Winans & Angie Stone) ... mmm... i like this song... very soulful... i love the rhythm to it and how the piano simply outlines the melody and allows Bebe and Angie to really fill it out... i don't think i've heard Bebe sound as good as this before... it's just so free and captivating... it's a very well done song... the vocals are great complements to each other... it's just such a jazzy feel... very nice... Track Eleven: To Give Love (Dan Lavery)... generally known as the bassist/background vocalist for the mainstream group Tonic, Dan shows here that he has quite a bit of talent to share on his own as well... this has a very nice sound to it... i suppose it could blend into the modern rock scenery fairly easily... but it's a smooth sound and the vocals are on point for the most part... "to give love, is to get love"... pretty good song... i guess it can get pretty repetitive though... perhaps it'll wear thin quickly... par for the course i guess... Track Twelve: Reason I Live (Big Dismal)... the second entry for Big Dismal... and it starts out sounding very much like a Creed song... i know, i hate to make that comparison too... but well, it's just the beginning... after that... they resort to the pseudo-country sound again... there are some nice rock elements to it... the guitars and percussion works well... but it's mostly the piano and Eric... and it's somewhat pretty... but if i'm gonna listen to country... ok ok... well... that's a wrap...

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