This album came out in late '06 and man I loved it. I remember rocking the album while I chewed some caffeine gum, yeah. Well, it's 2008 now and I don't consider myself a Christian any more, but most of my music is still Christian rock due to parental restriction, but I don't mind because a lot of Christian rock bands are great. And yes, X 2007 has some great songs and bands on it.

It might seem a little too late to be reviewing this album, but think of it this way: they're still releasing albums in this series, and I consider it the best one they've done so far. In past compilations, they tried to include rap, and it often seemed out of place. And they were obligated to advertise pop groups like Barlowgirl, which was awkward, and also made the occasional nu metal song seem like it totally didn't belong. Well, the only pop here has enough edge to fit in, the metal songs are catchy enough to work, and the rap is gone. Rap is actually one of my favorite music styles, but admittedly it didn't fit in and I'm glad they ditched it. Besides, they have the Hip Hope Hits series for Christian hip hop now.

And so, without further ado, let's skidoo:

1. Flights~Falling Up
Since the song has pretty abstract lyrics, it might seem like an odd choice for the first track, but I think it's perfect for the job... it does a good job proving that Christian rock bands are capable of channeling different kinds of modern rock flavor into a nice concoction (in this case, some aggressive power chords and electronic dabbling a la Linkin Park, some Evanescence-ish melodies, hard rock with softer vocals a la Trust Company, some pop rock qualities), its mix of nu metal and pop rock is a good indictment of what you'll find here on both fronts, and yes, the lyrics are a far cry from generic Christian rock. This isn't my favorite song off Falling Up's album Dawn Escapes, but it has enough ponderous hook to it to keep ya comin' back.

2. Go~Newsboys
Alrighty, so once again, on paper it might seem odd to have a band mostly known for their pop at the top of a rock compilation's track listing, but this song does rock. As much as it, uh, pops. The combination is a word I could use a lot to describe this song--perfect. It's got that perfect mix of catchy rock, polished yet punchy hip-hop dabbling, pop hook, familiarity and freshness that made "All Star" by Smash Mouth such a big hit. And, even though the lyrics are much different than that song, it's something you can relate to just like Smash Mouth's hit, and the band throws in a nod to Jesus' call to make disciples of all nations in the bridge to keep things from getting too ambiguous.

3. Is Forever Enough~Hawk Nelson
What's a modern rock compilation without some pop punk? Usually a better modern rock compilation actually, but as much as I disprove of the homophobic immaturity (or should I say immature homophobia?) Hawk Nelson displayed on the title track of their debut album, their second album is catchy as, uh, heaven I'll say since this is Christian rock. And this song has a heavier punk riff to it, as well as some nice post-hardcore aggression, before delving right into the musical comfort food for the chorus. This song has some good lyrics to it during the verses, even if it's similar to the kind of cliche punk message you hear in a lot of pop punk, post-hardcore and metal core albums these days. (On that topic, they definitely stoop to some obvious "crossover ambiguity" in the song with the line I know you'll be there whenever I wake up.)

4. Awake~Seventh Day Slumber
Here's another song I like a lot from a band I'm not quite obsessed with. Well, most of the songs I hear from this band are incredibly paint-by-numbers, but this song gets contemporary hard rock just right--a punishing but catchy riff a la P.O.D., a bevy of hooks, some aggression that sounds like a smoothed over version of grunge, and... yes, a predictable soft detour with some piano, I'm not too into that. But overall, this one is a winner. The vocals sound nice, the lyrics, while not amazing, are far from despicable, and overall it's enjoyable.

5. Tonight~Jeremy Camp
You know, I'm not a huge Jeremy Camp fan, even though there's nothing particularly non-respectable about his music. He's got a solid message for overproduced CCM, but I'm not really into his music or vocal style, even though his vocals have a lot of quality. But this is a song is just catchy, rocking slightly harder than his typical fare but with a strong focus on hook, a little bit like "Alive" by P.O.D., even though I like that song much more. So yeah, this song is catchy and familiar, but the lyrics have a certain amount of substance for Christians listening.

6. Fly~Sanctus Real
For a band that's usually tailor-made for the radio, this song is a little less accessible, but has about 10 times more hook than most '90s underground emo bands. The song starts on a less upbeat note, about trying to fly in a spiritual sense, but falling because of sins. But then at the end of the song, it talks about God picking you up from the ground when you do fall. That's nice. But really, I don't have much reason to listen to this song a whole lot.

7. Somewhere In The Sky~Kutless
This song is a great way to follow it up, like the sequel where the person's soul finally gets to fly in the heavens, or something like that. Not to mention, it brings things back to an upbeat note, and helps prepare the compilation for the barrage of slightly harder material coming up. But in between, it's got cleaner, more poppy sounds in the verses, which is predictable for post-grunge songs, but there's a sense of pop texture in this one, and the attempts to be optimistic in the verses are certainly likable. Let me get one thing straight, I prefer my music to make me feel darn ecstatic (i.e. J pop baby) or be something that's practically unpleasant (i.e. death metal or death core), but if you're the type that likes a good pick-me-up for going to work or doing chores or homework, this song might be for you. I also like how the band goes into a hardcore punk beat in the chorus for a few seconds. (I saw a video of the song live and the band upped the tempo a little bit for a more rocking feel.) OK, so the attempt at nu metal in the bridge with the singer hissing "I thank God for our freedom" more like he's saying "I'm gonna kick your butt" and then awkwardly trying to scream is a little embarrassing and totally unnecessary, but whatever, it's still a pretty sweet song.

8. Rebirthing~Skillet
Making up words that sound cool is a little bit of a trend in hard rock and emo music, so why don't Christians try it, too? Well, I wish they wouldn't, actually. I know there are a lot of Skillet fans around this particular site, but let me be honest, this is one of the most formulaic songs I've ever heard in my life. I wouldn't mind so much if Skillet weren't formerly one of the last of a dying breed in Christian rock: bands with a slightly unique and slightly rebellious sound, but spiritually overt enough not to scare your parents too bad (i.e. Five Iron Frenzy, East West, The Benjamin Gate, PAX 217, and, while this breaks the "slightly" unique theme, Earthsuit). But even though this song has hard guitars in it, you know 10 seconds in that Skillet has been sucked into the radio CCM vacuum: yep, it's got the predictable cinematic string segue from the wizards behind Train (I actually like that band by the way), crunchy yet smoothed over riffs, and a towering chorus. Besides it being so different from Skillet's old stuff, two things that make this song grating are: the attempts to make conversion to Christianity seem like this cool goth thing, where you're reduced to a sneering skeleton (but keep your fringe haircut), and then suddenly, gasp, you feel good. And that's it. The other thing is the female backup singer's high strung squeal during the chorus. It makes my ears ring and I don't know how anyone could think it sounds good. I just don't understand the logic behind it. But life goes on...

9. Writing On The Walls~Underoath
Whoa, life goes on indeed! In case you haven't read my short biography, Underoath is one of my favorite bands. It might seem strange to have a metal core band on a collection of mostly rock/pop songs, especially one that, as of now, is relatively hook-less, even in comparison to a death metal band like Immortal Souls. But this song is fairly short, isn't terrifyingly heavy, isn't particularly disturbing in the lyrical department, and best of all, is a great song. It's also sandwiched between two relatively hard rock songs, so it fits like a glove. This is a dramatic and heavy song with plenty of piercing screams and some melodic emo guitar detours. The song builds up a definite climax through a simple but highly evocative guitar solo, leading to some soft rock empyrean, and finally a pee-your-pants surprise of a quick thrash-off.

10. Absolute~Thousand Foot Krutch
The fading guitar decay of the last song leads into the deceptively soft groove starting this one off quite nicely. This song is one of the band's attempts to diversify from The Art of Breaking, and you can tell, but all the new tricks are enjoyable: the coffeehouse vibe of the first verse leading into some crushing guitars and angry yelling, all the way into an 80's hard rock shout-along chorus and back. A nice spin on a contemporary rock formula. And like most of the songs off The Art of Breaking, the lyrics are hit-and-miss: there's some reflective imagery that sticks to your head, as well as some cheesy rhymes.

11. Blaze of Glory~Audio Adrenaline
I've always thought that Newsboys, DC Talk and Audio Adrenaline were the "Big 3" of Christian pop. Newsboys are the most fun with some daring metaphors, a slight dance music background and probably the highest amount of radio glue (worship albums notwithstanding), DC Talk were the eclectic ones with bits of urban, hip-hop and Latin among others, and Audio Adrenaline were the ones with the best rock'n'roll vibe. And this song is just what you would expect from them-it has a rock sound, but it's really radio-friendly pop. Not really my style, but the music is catchy and the lyrics are definitely above average.

12. The Next Big Thing~FM Static
Okay, this band's album Critically Ashamed was very aptly titled and didn't receive nearly the critical shame it deserved. (Despite an appropriately scathing review from Christianity Today--man, if divad23 gave that album the review it deserves, my life would be complete.) Lame songwriting, crappy production, and lyrics with all the corniness of Christian t-shirt slogans and a clean/rock music version of Soulja Boy Tell 'Em's rhymes all in one. (Good ol' Soulja wasn't a major artist at this time, but I digress.) I mean, a song about falling in love at a video store, where the singer has the nerve to (rather crassly) chastise Limp Bizkit's lyricism smack dab in the second verse? And another song where the singer compares his relationship with God to a warm sweater (and horrendously cheesy rhymes ensue)? But enough of that, this is definitely the best song from the band's album, with a certain level of catchiness, even if it feels more like drinking sugar straight from the bag than ear candy. Next.

13. Do Not Move~David Crowder Band
I usually wouldn't associate "kickass" and "worship music" with each other, but if there is such a juxtaposition, this is definitely it. It begins with brooding, alien movie-sounding keys and a drum machine beat that's heavily tinkered with, to give the effect that it's malfunctioning (which, in case you didn't know, is taken out of an electronic music subgenre called "glitch music," but could also be compared to Linkin Park). The only words in the verse are I don't wanna move, and I don't think I could/should, but those are all the words it needs: Crowder's superb singing voice adapts perfectly to the creepy atmosphere, and the chorus takes on powering walls of rock with an acoustic guitar intertwined in the mix (like in the song 'Thinking About Forever' by P.O.D.). The singer's cry of breathe in deeper now is so beautiful and haunting. I don't see how you could listen to it and not sing along at least once. Set to a piano, the bridge has the kind of lyrics I respect from Christian rock the most:

The costliest of costs
The deadliest of loss
The wonder of the cross
The breath of life that stops
The hope of heaven bought
The wonder of the cross
The wonder of the cross

Wow. Nice.

14. Undying~Demon Hunter
OK, on paper, it seems really weird to pair up one of the most renowned worship bands with a controversial nu metal band, but the mood that David Crowder song evokes hits you like a stack of punishing downtuned riffs against crashing china and double kick. Which is exactly what starts off this song, but the song has an excellent, memorable riff, and does a great job taking advantage of contemporary metal tricks: intensely heavy segment leading to moving melodic chorus that's simple enough to sing along to, and later ominously tackling a pummeling low breakdown. There's also a beautiful yet ominous acoustic guitar between the attacks. And as you might expect, this is one of the band's most overtly Christian moments with lyrics like we are the ones, who, when angels cry, we'll see them face to face.

15. Studying Politics~Emery
Alright, so by now it may seem that the compilation is losing some structure, but tacking on this song was a very, VERY wise move on Tooth & Nail's part; a few years later, it's still one of the first songs that pops into my head when I think "catchy Christian rock song with awesome lyrics." Sure, it's a little more "emo" than it is "Christian rock," but with the brooding verses, incredibly sing-along-able chorus, the cool keyboards, and well-executed new wave backing vocals of the bridge, and deep, haunting lyrics, it's a no-brainer for any CCM-inclined rock listener. The chorus also has one of the coolest vocal kickers I've ever heard: it's this pained, quivering "uh-HO!" that could even make a hefty, black haired metalhead embrace their inner emo.

16. Who I Am Hates Who I've Been~Relient K
You know the song, and it rocks, but it was already a little shopworn (read: massively overplayed by every Christian station under the sun) by the time this album came out. Still, Relient K is one of the most recognizable bands in Christian rock, so tacking on one of their singles is obligatory (a word Strong Bad of homestarrunner.com fame has made me love to use), and besides, if you don't own the album Mmhmm, it's nice to have one of its songs in your collection.

17. Role Remodeling~MxPx
Only an idiot would've missed this one, so I won't praise the label for its inclusion. It's one of the bonus new songs from the new version of 1998's Let It Happen from MxPx, which was re-released to sort of celebrate the band reuniting with Tooth & Nail Records. Not to mention, it totally rocks! Raucous punk rock riff against a catchy "wha-oh!" hook, it's one of those songs that reminds you of why whoever created pop punk probably hasn't been assassinated yet. And the lyrics daringly take punk's bold and at times offensive message into Christian music (I would call it "bold and brash," but a certain episode of Spongebob Squarepants took the coolness out of that phrase).

It also comes with 4 bonus tracks: a cool, slightly raw pop-punk song by Last Tuesday called "Become What You Believe" (whose name I think I recognize from my old copy of the Message Bible), that also has some cool hardcore punk and ska flavor to it, and even a cool choir part, but I must say the opening riff sounds really disjointed. "Open Wide" by Future of Forestry isn't really my thing (one of those 'U2 goes to church' type bands), and there's a sly rock'n'roll-ish song by House of Heroes on here called "Invisible Hook" that I kinda like. It was a wise move to tack on the optimistic pop rock of Run Kid Run via the song "We've Only Just Begun" (that band is so good live), but they should've made the song fade out at the end, because it abruptly cuts off when it was supposed to change to the next song on their album (you know, the thing Linkin Park did with almost every song on Meteora).

So, in closing, this album could be the best introduction to Christian rock ever, despite some misfires which are fortunately few and far between.

More Corny Pun Extravaganza!
* Nailed.Dead.Risen. ~ Impending Doom
* Dance Dance Revolution Universe game for Xbox 360, the last chapter in a very weird trilogy

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Waking up