How can an album that's been anticipated this long possibly deliver and please the anxious throngs of fans? Simple. Just let Ken Tamplin collaborate with another hot songwriter like Lanny Cordola. What we have here is one classy album with enough great tunes to live on the radio for a year. "End Of The Ages" starts the album off with a screaming flurry of arpeggios played by Lanny Cordola. The song blatantly declares that the truth can be found at the end of the ages. A reprise of the chorus eloquently finishes off the album, framing all the messages inside with that one basic truth. As in most of the album, some very witty lyrics can be found here. For instance: "Darwin's smokin' gun led so many from the One/ Adolph, Genghis Khan, Al the Great and Babylon/ There's hell to pay on judgement day." "Radio Bikini" shows off Kenny's voice as good as any of his previous songs ever did--finding him predominantly in a low register and not straining in the high ones. The lyrics are actually intelligent too, giving the song an added depth that draws the listener in. The song seductively opens with a crescendo and ends with an ebbing diminuendo, showing that attention to detail and a bent towards perfectionism can really spice up an album. "Shake", which I thought was titled "Shame, Shame, Shame" before given a lyric sheet, is a great little ditty with a sassy amount of Memphis Blues and R&B shuffle. The bridge of "On and on, on and on, without any reasons why" uses familiar sounds in a way that just ties the song together perfectly. The Peaches Trio adds its talents here and there's even a horn section, both of which make numerous appearances on the album. "Big Bang" mixes elements of Jazz and Hard Rock in an energetic fashion that has a chorus hook so big it could stop a whale in full stride. Knowing this, they repeat it over and over and over again. A horn section spruces up each chorus with a big band feel. I wonder if Ken and Lanny knew the pun they were creating here musically? Hmmm... A Beach Boys/Barber shop quartet feel a cappella intro starts "Cry Just A Little", a great melodic number. The bass playing of Brian Bromberg sweeps up a storm underneath the awesome vocal lines and the impressive lead guitar playing of Lanny Cordola. "Heartbreak Woman" trots along at a boogie pace to a great Delta-sounding rhythm. This song rivals the likes of Giant. "Love To The Rescue" sounds most like Shout used to. "Old Hard Line" is an all-acoustic number that adds even more character to this original album. I could see Magdallan rockin' the house down on MTV Unplugged with this one. Lanny brings out the sitar on the ballad "Wounded Hearts", which is the tune Ken and Lanny originally shopped to Cheap Trick. Now it's Cheap Trick's loss, because, like all the other songs on this collection, this tune has a hot commercial feel that's radio-ready. "House Of Dreams" is another melodic ballad, but this one could actually get Magdallan airplay and acceptance from the adult contemporary crowd. "Dome Of The Rock" appropriately starts off with sitar, before it kicks into high gear--one of the many shifts made in this song, which changes tempo about as many times as the land of Palestine has changed hands. A very cool a cappella bridge supports Ken's voice with a foundation not unlike Take Six. The tune "This 1's 4 U" has got the funniest line: "So you want to be a big star/ Thinkin' big hair and fast talk'll go far/ You'd sell your soul to be Mr. Big/ No matter what you do/ Dontcha quit your day gig/ You'd con the boys out of their share of the loot/ Would even sell a nun a condo in Beirut/ On top of the world, you scream and shout/ But whatcha gonna do when all your hair falls out?" Overall, this record is so big and so real that it will be a musical tragedy if it doesn't get heard and adored by the masses. I love this record--and I believe I'll be able to say that again in five years (which can't be said about a lot of music).