[titan9]

Time for a real review from me:

1.Reach Out: The music on this track is rock solid. I think Goneblind did a fantastic job with the guitar work. Granted, the guitar work isn't as good as Tremonti's, but it is better than a lot of the stuff I hear on the radio. Lyrically, the lyrics are pretty good. Vocally, Stapp sounds good for the most part. His voice does seem to sound not as good when he tries to go higher with it. I'd give this song a solid 8.5 of 10.

2.Fight Song: Like with the first track, the music is good. I don't care for some of the lyrics on this song, but for the most part those are good as well. Vocally, Stapp sounds better than on track 1. It's a good "harder" rock song and gets 8.5 of 10 from me.

3.Hard Way: Good music on this track. Lyrically, it is one of my favorite on the album. Vocally, like with the second track, Stapp sounds real good. This is probably my second(or third) favorite track on the CD. 9 out of 10.

4.Justify: The music is fairly simple on this one. You'd think that'd make it a so-so song, right? No way. The lyrics are AWESOME on this track, as are the vocals. I mean, I am blown away by how good this track is. It is obviously the strongest track on the album. Hats off to Stapp for making such an awesome, different kind of song. 10 of 10

5.Let Me Go: Weakest track on the album...by far. The lyrics are bad, imo, the vocals are better but the music is boring. This is definitely the track I'll be skipping when I listen to TGD. 5 out of 10.

6.Surround Me: A beautiful track that helps the CD to rebound from the previous bad track. Lyrically it is quite good, vocally it is pretty good and musically it is simple, yet beautiful. This is a song that I can see becoming a huge hit, if given a good amount of promotion. I would definitely use this song as Stapp's second or third single. 9.5 out of 10.

7.The Great Divide: What can you say about this track except to say it is a single. Singles for almost every artist/band are typically the weakest on the album. Not much of an exception here. The lyrics are decent, the vocals are good and the music is decent. It's better than a lot of stuff on pop and rock radio, but I've come to expect better stuff out of Stapp. 6.5 out of 10.

8.Sublime: The lyrics on this track are decent, the vocals and music are as well. However, because of the repetitive use of the word "sublime" throughout the track, the track itself is a bit boring. I'll probably skip this track on every other listen, because there is nothing too special about it. 6 out of 10.

9.You Will Soar: I know, a lot of people don't care for this track. But I love it. Nothing about the track is particularly special, but I just like the message behind it. The lyrics, vocals and music are all solid on this track. Much better than Don't Stop Dancing, which shares a similar message. 8 of 10.

10.Broken: I'll start off by saying that I typically hate the use of choir in a song. To me, unless done properly, it sounds very cheesy. However, the choir was used in the proper way for this beautiful song. Piano is also used, which is nice, because I feel that piano should be used more often by rock artists/bands. Listening to this song, because of the very good combination of vocals/choir/piano/guitar gives me chills. Lyrically it isn't amazing, but being someone who has gone through a lot, I can relate to it. I think the track was very well done, so it gets an 8.5 of 10.
Overall rating averaged out: 7 of 10
Overall: It's a good debut from Stapp. However, with the next CD I would like to see a few less ballads and a few more rock songs. If he can do that, and improve upon the lyrics, I see a very bright solo career for Stapp.