I Wish We All Could Win - Afters, The

This is a CD that I have to admit I initially checked out because of who was in it. You see, the lead singer goes to the same church that my wife and I do. So when he came out with this CD, I had to check it out. And surprisingly, I liked it a lot. At first, I didn't think I would, since it was going to be somewhat poppish, and I generally listen to things like Black Sabbath. However, I really enjoyed this. The songs were catchy, and fit my listening tastes well. It's not perfect, mind you, but it's terribly enjoyable. I particularly loved the songs Beautiful Love, Until the World, Love Lead Me On, and Way You Are.

They're a Christian band, but they're not being marketed that way. They don't try and really "hide" their message - it's all over their lyrics, and if you talk to them, you'll know it. But in terms of marketing, it's not being pushed to the forefront. That probably allows them to get into places that they normally wouldn't, as a "Christian" bands tend to get pigeonholed into corners and not allowed access to the mainstream of public music awareness.

I'm friends with the singer (Josh Havens) through my church, and I hope the band does well from a personal aspect, and as musicians - as I liked the album and want to see what they'll do for a followup.

One note, this band existed for awhile in the Dallas area (where they're from) with the band name of Blisse. Some of the songs on this album did appear on an indie release of theirs called "When the World was Wonderful".