Usually when a band achieves some notoriety for their "unique sound" (and you must admit - like it or not - TFK did have a distinctive sound on Phenomenon) they hold onto it for a while (Papa Roach excepted, of course) but, no, no! Not Thousand Foot Krutch!

*sigh* ... Before I go into this, let me say up front that this is by no means a bad CD. The songs are well written, the lyrics are (mostly) lucid and there are hooks galore. I *liked* this CD but, having said that, I was also disappointed by it.

Thousand Foot Krutch decided that they did not want to repeat the things that made Phenomenon a great disc. As can be the case with a band's first real taste of success, they seemed to have second guessed themselves into the dark waters on this CD. They have really changed their approach this time out, choosing to give their songs a more mainstream (read *unremarkable*) sound overall. The vocal delivery is not quite as distinctive and their highly syncopated riffs have been toned down quite a bit... The lyrics, while not bad, seem to lack the polishing that I would have expected. Pressure can be a bad, bad thing for creative types!

So here is the bottom line: if you were a huge fan of their previous CD then this one will take some time to sink in. Trust me - this is still the same TFK, just in a different, slightly tamer package. There is a lot of good stuff here so it *is* worth the effort. For those who haven't heard TFK then this CD is a fine starting place to get acquainted but you really owe it to yourself to grab Phenomenon as well.