Tracklisting:
1. Power & Love
2. Wondering & Waiting
3. Beauty In The Broken
4. Brothers
5. Calm in Our Storm
6. More Than Famous
7. Work in Progress
8. Lucky in Love
9. Well Done
10. Never Fails You

It’s interesting to hear bands that don’t exactly fit on the label they are on. This applies to a band like Kiro’s who’s rock is out of place on ANGR (a metal label) and Hyland who’s come to the forefront of the other rock/metal label Tooth N’ Nail which houses bands like Emery, Capital Lights and until recently Thousand Foot Krutch. With that said Hyland’s contemporary sound is something new for the label but their sophomore release isn’t much different from everything else on the market.

Musically the band doesn’t stray from the boxes set by other bands in the genre. Sure there are songs like “Wondering and Waiting” that seem a little out of the box but some tracks like “More than Famous” and “Brothers” follow the same pattern as everything else from the Christian contemporary rock industry. The pop beats feel used and the guitars seem repetitive and the instrumentation seems generic, expected. Even the piano of “Beauty in the Broken” wont take the listener off guard.

It’s a good thing most of us don’t listen to albums for just the music because what the music lacks the lyrics make up for. The album opens with “Power and Love” which encourages Christians to rest in the power and Love of Christ. “Beauty in the Broken” exhorts us to live broken before Christ who brings beauty in those moments. “Calm in the Storm” is a worship song (“our God is never gonna leave us he is the calm in the storm”). While “More Than Famous” follows it up with another worship song proclaiming God to be more than what we think of when we think of fame. “Lucky in Love” fits well into the album as a cheesy Love song giving a break from some of the more serious songs on the album.

“Work in Progress” may actually be the only major standout track on the album both musically and lyrical standpoint. Fans may find themselves whistling along with the introduction and even dancing to the pop guitars. They also may find themselves rapped up in the message of the work of Sanctification that we all experience as Christians. (“there’s a masterpiece within the mess, give it all you’ve got, you’re not done yet”).

Overall Hyland hasn’t produced the best album of their career but it is defiantly a good stepping stone to build on. This album may make a great addition to a Contemporary collection but may only receive 3 or 4 spins before it becomes invisible.