A little background, Reese Roper became well known for the ska/punk band Five Iron Frenzy, which mixed zany, random hilarity with spiritual depth and honesty. Well, he also had some songs that he could never record for a FIF album.

Thus was born Brave Saint Saturn, dubbing themselves, "astro-rock", and bringing out Roper's darker songs. And dark they are, BSS's songs are depressing, cynical, and bitter. Almost the opposite of FIF's general mood, yet these songs were ultimately about hope at rock bottom.

Their first album was more hit or miss, lacking a coherent theme and sometimes being a bit schizophrenic. This, their second album, went a different route and told the story of the USS Gloria through narration, which served as a metaphor for the spiritual journey through darkness expressed in the songs.

Now for the fun part,

The Prologue paints a vague picture of the crew of the USS gloria over some dramatic strings. It sounds pretty cool, and sets us up for the story.

The Sun Also Rises is an odd start to the album, as it's bright and optimistic and almost cheesy at times. The spaceship imagery is interesting, and I suppose it makes sense to start with the optimism of the crew as the story begins. It's a straightforwad rocker, nothing really suprising, some electronic noises in the background as opposed to a simple lead guitar, but overall, it's not the best introduction to the band as it's one of their weaker songs.

Binary shifts the mood and tempo to an acoustic guitar and a mid-tempo pop song. The lyrics here are starkly honest and depressing as Reese sings about loneliness. Lines like, Blessed are the drifters, the stars that die, and Doomed are those who hold and cherish seem almost overdramatic, but Reese also introduces the thought, The bravest thing of all is always hope, as though in spite of all of his despair, courage is found in continuing to face it and press on. This probably also ties into the song addressing his ex-fiance on the previous album. Once the song fades out, we get the next part of the story.

Mercury tells us that the USS Gloria has finished their mission and is going to be starting their trip home soom.

Speaking of that ex-fiance, Enamel features a stop/start guitar rythmn as Reese almost spits out a bitter rebuke, punctuated with some, "doo doo doo"'s. It's one moment on the album that I have a harder time being sympathetic. I understand you're hurting, Reese, but Independence Day did a better job at conveying your pain without sounding overly hateful. There's also a pointless foreign language tape played during the bridge. This song isn't bad, but it would have been better if he reigned in his bitterness a little bit.

Anastasia is a slower song, picked on acoustic guitar. In another odd mood shift, this is a sweet love song to a girl who makes Reese feel alive. He makes reference to her, "haunting his dreams", but he fears he'll just drag her down. The song switches from softer acoustic sounding to more of a rock sound at about the bridge and it's quite seamless. There's also a reference to a song from the previous album, Moon Burns Bright.

Titan starts off with a haunting piano and some white noise, then a sound clip from War Games brings us in to the dark rocker. It's pretty much one of the most honest descriptions of depression that you're likely to find, speaking as someone who has known that place. It's not one of "emo depression", but one of even though you want to break free, there's a fear that you won't break free of the "cancer" that is eating you. After it seems to fade out for the bridge, the drums suddenly bring us in to jam out to one more time through the chorus. It's very cool.

Gemini tells us that the USS Gloria has malfunctioned and is trapped on the dark side of Titan, unable to contact NASA. At present there is no way of knowing whether they are living or dead, but the chances of survival are pretty slim.

Estrella strikes a personal note with me after the death of a friend of mine. It's a full on acoustic ballad, stripping away the other instruments as Reese sings about a friend whose faith makes him feel as though his own is pointless and fake. He muses about how he mourns his friend's passing when he knows his friend no longer is in pain and how he fought to stay but always wished to leave and be in Heaven. It's genuinely moving without being manipulative, and Reese's voice does a good job of conveying the emotion of the song.

Heart Still Beats was pretty controversial when the album came out. It's got an odd rythmn, distorted guitars and vocals, lyrics about down and out people who are fighting to make their way. But that wasn't the controversy. It was all about the words, "wh*re", and the phrase, "go to hell". Which aren't used gratuitously, but still, this was released in CCM land, where girls NEVER sell their bodies and men hardened by a life and prison never say rude things. The song slows down a little for one chorus before launching into a final verse sung over the final chorus.

Babies Breath starts off with sleigh bells and a haunting whistle with some light acoustic strumming. It's not terribly memorable, lacking any sort of strong hook and the lyrics do a bit of rambling. The music is fine, keeping an almost dreamlike mood as Reese give an exhortation to, Close your eyes until daylight comes. As though trying to comfort someone to shut out the fear and despair and just wait.

I Fell Away starts with an electronic fade-in to an upbeat rocker. The pace is a little more frenetic as Reese sings about falling prey to habitual sins. The chorus is actually slower than the verse, which provides some needed variance. This could pretty much have been a FIF song if you switched the electronic sounds for horns.

Recall is a sparser, mid-tempo ballad built around a piano that has an almost jazzy feel. Reese isn't singing this one, and I don't know the name of the guy, so I'll leave it at that. The lyrics talk of reaching the point of exhaustion and defeat and remembering God is there. It's done well and handled in a subtle way.

Now to tie everything up in a couple tracks!

Atropos is the last narration track, giving a message to, "Saint Saturn", seemingly coming from the perspective of God, assuring him that He sees his hope in the face of darkness and once again stating that the bravest thing is to hope, tying in that theme we first visited way back in Binary.

Now for the big finish in Daylight, we get to find out the fate of the USS Gloria AND get a great song. The song slowly fades in to some crunchy guitars, similar to Titan, with a violin over the top, building the tension. Reese's lyrics can be seen both as his personal life and as coming from the view of the Gloria's crew. There's that thought of, "The bravest thing I have is hope", even though lyrics like, There is never any sunrise here are still pretty depressing. The verse build to the cry of, Daylight, save me, in the chorus. This track can be also seen as the logical progression from songs like Titan an I Fell Away. The bridge has NASA trying to contact the USS Gloria, and vice versa. The narrator states again that we don't know whether they are alive or dead. All of a sudden, the Gloria comes through with a message that they are coming out of the eclipse and can see the sunlight. This leads into Reese triumphantly shouting out a thankful prayer at the top of his lungs, his passion almost maxing out the speakers. The song ends with the joyful scream of, I am coming home. It's a wonderful way to finish off the story.

There's also a hidden track that is basically just a brief jam session, it's pretty cool, but nothing it feels anti-climactic after that song.

Rumor has been passed down from Reese that they have been slowly working on the third BSS album to complete the trilogy, but it's been about five or six years now, but if you'd like to keep hoping, that would be very brave of you.[/badpun]

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving