Flyleaf: Memento Mori

After about four years, and voice troubles for Lacey, I was beginning to think I'd never see another Flyleaf album. Memento Mori has everything I could have asked for from Flyleaf. The songwriting is a step up from their first album, and this is one album that I can put on shuffle in my car and listen to every single track. The only thing slightly disappointing was that most of the tracks are slower paced compared to Flyleaf's previous work. Lacey doesn't scream once. Her singing is still powerful though. Maybe, she is just taking it easy since she had all that trouble with her voice a while back.
"Beautiful Bride" and "Again" are a fantastic pair of songs to open with. They are two of the more forceful songs on the album, and also don't lack in lyric content.

Here you are down on your knees again
Trying to find air to breath
Right where I want you to be again
See and believe

Those lines are from "Again," probably the catchiest song on the album. "Arise," another striking song, reminds the listener that there's some hope still left in the world, and exhorts "Arise and be, all that you dreamed, all that you dreamed."
"Circle" is one of the more moving tracks. It deals with Jesus laying His life down, and the narrator who ends the song asking for forgiveness.

I left his arms empty and tied
Outstretched for me until he died

The lyrics remain with the listener long after the music has stopped.

Instinctive Rock

RED: Innocence and Instinct
Rating: * * * * ½

A band’s sophomore album is a good test to see if a band will endure. RED exploded onto the Christian Rock scene in 2006 with End of Silence. Of all of the new bands to release albums that year, Red is one that stood out. Few bands in the world of music have a sound like Red’s. They combine orchestral music with hard rock. Innocence and Instinct had been greatly anticipated and Red did not let their fans down.

The opening track “Fight Inside” sounds a lot like some of the songs on Red’s first album but its still a well written, well-preformed song. The next song “Death of Me” is a hard rocker but is only a taste of what is still coming on the album. The next four tracks, “Mystery Of You,” “Start Again,” “Never Be The Same, and “Confession,” though lumped together here, are each memorable songs with exquisite rock hooks, beautiful piano and strings, and haunting lyrics. The song “Shadows” is one of the most memorable tracks on the album and “Ordinary World” (a cover of Duran Duran) is also a great surprise. The last two songs, “Out From Under” and “Take It All Away,” wrap the album up very nicely. “Take It All Away” is different from the rest of the tracks. It is slower paced with quieter, but no less haunting, lyrics.

Red passed the sophomore album test with flying colors. Innocence and Instinct is an improvement on their first album, End Of Silence. Red kept the elements that captured their fans attention and even improved on them. I look forward to this band being around for a long time.