The people we identify with are those messed up with sin. In a way, that's a great place to be because if you can be honest about your own sin, you can begin to be honest with those around you and have an impact with them. 

So says Satellite Soul's lead singer/songwriter Tim Suttle. The band is based around Tim and lead guitarist/songwriter Rustin Smith who, along with drummer Ryan Green and bassist Tyler Simpson, deliver here a rootsy rock album. 

The lyric writing is divided between the two, Tim wrote the majority of the lyrics while Rustin wrote for two songs. The lyrics are overtly Christian and cover a range of subjects, some from a first-person perspective and some by storytelling. The lyrics are fairly well constructed and are more substantial than the average pop song, but they do not make much use of imagery and are sometimes a little blunt and off-handed when talking about pain and struggle. Tim's songs are stronger lyrically than Rustin's are, but both leave room for development as writers.   

Musically the band has been likened to a number of southern-rock bands, such as the Wallflowers and Neil Young, and to some extent those comparisons are accurate. The harmonica and guitar are dominant and work together well along with Tim Suttle's slightly strained vocals and some well arranged harmonies. 

The band uses a variety of instruments and bring in pianos, high-strung guitars, hammered dulcimer, mandolin and mellotron over the guitar/bass/drums/harmonica base on various songs. (Fans who are themselves musicians will especially appreciate the complete run-down of the equipment used on each track in the sleeve notes.) The music is tightly performed, but the production sounds a little too slick to retain much of the passion and raw-quality that can be found in the work of the more established bands of this genre  As a result, Satellite Soul can't really compete with the names that their record company is linking them with. 

The strongest track is "Pieces," which provides an acoustic backing which suits the lyrics based around a finger-picked guitar line, bringing the other instruments in slowly. Everything remains low-key throughout the track and more tracks like this would be appreciated by this reviewer. Lyrically this is also one of the strongest tracks. The lyrics are deeper than most of the other tracks and appear to deal with a mounting feeling of apathy: 

You can find less these days to be proud of 
Among the best and the worst just alike 
You can try turning the music up louder 
It numbs the heart and the mind, and the heart disappears 
And beneath it the fears still reside

Overall this CD is an interesting release, coming from a CCM label, but may be too commercial to be truly successful amongst fans of the genre it is aimed at. The band has obviously put a lot of effort into this recording, and with more time spent developing their sound should be able to record an excellent album -- unfortunately this album isn't it.-----James Stewart