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The more you listen to this music, the more you will like it. As an American that has been to South Africa four times, I find their adventurous and stalwart character represented here yet again in their stand for their faith in Jesus Christ. One can only have admiration and appreciation for this project. May you be once again reminded of the greatness of God and his unlimited compassion in this cd as I have been.

The Benjamin Gate again pours out a disc that is far beyond almost anything else that is available in the Christian market. The trademark vocals, and the driving guitars are still there, but the loops seem to make less of a presence on this album.One of the problems seems to be that Adrienne uses the same vocal tricks that we have already heard on the first album. She has unique and talented vocal ability, it is a shame that she can't think of more original ways to express it. The other thing where this album falls short of the first is the lack of blatant lyrics that were present on the first disc. On the first disc there was no doubt that they wree talking about Jesus, on this one they succumb to the ambiguity disease that has infected 99% of the Christian artists that are out there.The way that this disc is better than the first is this album does not rely on loops to make catchy tunes. Instead guitar playing that is more distinct instead of the constant grinding (which I love, but different can be good) that pervades most music that is even remotely heavy today.There are numerous stand out tunes on this album, but the one that I heard that made me scream for joy was the cover of Men at Work's "Overkill". Incredible! I loved it! By far and away the best Christian Cover of a secular song since Vengeance Rising did Deep Purple's "Space Truckin'" (12 years ago).

Awesome band and cd!

On this album, the production trims the focus away from dense production stacked with walls of guitar atmospherics and technoish keyboards drifting in and out of the mix and instead focuses on "cleaner" guitar lines. The lyrics (a bit of a downfall for the last one) are quite a bit better here, avoiding much of the repetitiveness that undercut many tracks on the last one. Perhaps it's all the influence of wunderkind producer Charlie Peacock, whose name turns up here as co-executive producer with David Bach and who's been responsible for producing much of the most memorable Christian pop and rock of the last 10 or so years.HIGHLIGHTS:The debut began with mediocre track "How Long?" On this one, the Gate comes out swinging with radio hit "Lift Me Up", a soaring sonic merry-go-round celebrating the promise of Jesus' eventual return to Earth. The 'whoa-oh-oh-oh' hook to "This is Not" is infectious. "Do What you say" issues a challenge to spend more time living a TRUE Christian life rather than merely "doing what we should". ("We're here to love and not be manipulated/And that should never be understated/Let's see what we've got here/Let's take it on...") A completely revamped cover of 80s Men at Work hit "Overkill" also sparkles. "Your Kisses Blind Me" uses a unique image to try and express the wonder of knowing God ("Beautiful you are to me/Moon above a raging sea..")LOWS:There's still a couple songs where the words aren't up to snuff but at least they're at the end. Chorus to "Violently" is "Fight/Got to fight/Got to fight to get thru/Got to reach/Got to reach/Till we find you". Same thing with "Fall Away" ("I fall away/away/away..")BOTTOM LINE:In every way a step up from the debut. One can only wonder where they might have gone had the band not broken up. This one has a pretty good consistency to it and I think will probably still be listenable as time goes on.POSTSCRIPT:Keep listening after "Fall Away" for a hidden version of "The Calling" that's a little more raw than track 3.3 1/2 stars

The more I listen to this CD, the more I love it. It's rare that a cover is better than the original, but the BG version of Overkill is far better than the original by Men at Work. This is a great CD!