When you receive the number three slot in the first annual reader's poll in Heaven's Metal, when your video of the single gets airplay on MTV, and when I receive two or three requests to review this album. I favor Rez's first two albums as their truest faithfulness to the heavy metal/hard rock sound. That is, until this album. Rez has gone back to their strength. The first song, "The Main Event," is probably what Rez will open their live sets with for the next tour. It's a "Wendy Kaiser special." That means she handles the lead vocals position. The lyrics are heavy duty. "Open your eyes to the one Who rose/ Open your ears to the Holy Ghost/ Watch your step He meant what He said/ Step right up to the main event." "Love Comes Down" is the single with the video. Glenn starts it off before the instruments get a chance to speak. He snarls, "He said that He had your number," and then the band joins in for the rest. The message is written in a very profound and poetic way: "You can't beat the heat/ He's red hot on your trail/ He's the love enforcer/ An' He's paid your bail/ It's much more than emotion/ It's not just in your head/ You gotta die to get life/ An' You'd be better off dead." Ooh! Our "old man"/old nature must die and Jesus must live! "Zuid Afrikan" is like the sequel to "Afrikaans," off the Rainbow's End album. Notice that Rez spoke out on apartheid back in 1979, back when it wasn't cool to do so. In "part one," Glenn speaks to the white leaders in South Africa: "Forget the black man, neglect his body, ignore his hell/ We need apartheid to keep the animal in his cell/ You sweep the pavement, shine the buildings, display the maid/ You say 'republic,' I say blind man, it's a cage...Without the Lord's love, this injustice will prevail/ Until Jesus, is the only Master, we'll never break the bars of this jail." In "part two," Jesus is speaking to the white South African "slave drivers": "You cannot ban Me/ The walls and bars They cannot hold Me in/ I am no prisoner Not to your policies/ Your prejudice, your sin... You look for justice/ Then you will seek for Me/ To know compassion/ You must know My Name/ For forgiveness/ You must face your shame/ Die to live again." Ooh! There's that heavy preachin' again. I am glad that His servants are telling us over and over again that we must die to ourselves. "Walk On" will definitely step on all of our toes. Praise God there are some people who've been broken so much that all they know is compassion. For the most of us, we need to be reminded that we can't ignore the hurting around us, for "He is the least of these." As Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even to the least of them, you did it to Me." (Matthew 25:40) All the proceeds from this song goes to Compassion International, who minister to the needy around the world. I don't know how they figure out those proceeds. Maybe they take the proceeds from the album and divide that by the number of songs on the album to get the figure. "Talk to Me" is, I think, a perfect fusion of Wendy's voice and the style of music. It's in the rock vein, but laced with danceable synthesizer. Her voice is mixed just right to add that mysterious quality to it. (Kinda like something Debbie Harry of Blondie would do.) I think the song is about a person who has been vandalized by the world and whose heart has been calloused to God. The conclusion shows God's power to break into anyone's life: "The closer I get to You/ Your voice will start coming back." It must be hell for a person who's heard God's voice to go through a time where they can't hear Him anymore. We are NOTHING without God. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. "I Think You Know" is the heaviest metal on this album. The heavy bass and rhythm should get even the stiffest neck to start banging. I really love this one. Glenn carries his voice and lets it trail off, while the instruments keep going rapid fire. The ferociousness of this song ends abruptly and sets up perfectly for the crying guitar on the next one, "Shadows." This song is a tearjerker. I get the impression that Johnny, the character of this song, commits suicide. The song deals with the real-life agonies and struggles that many real-life people go through. Often it takes a tragedy like this, close to home, to feel compassion for these people and wake up to our responsibility to pull people from the fire. We need to realize that what we've got, God, has the power to heal. Hopefully you and I won't have to face a tragedy like this to wake up and let our hearts bleed. Maybe we can open our hearts after listening to the emotion-packed message of this song. This is a song that touches me deep and rips my heart in two, just by imagining the pain that some people have. This song edifies me and aids me in my quest for compassion, a quest God seeks to fill in all of us. God wants "Christ to be formed in you." (Galatians 4:19) Compassion is definitely a major characteristic of Jesus. "Save Me From Myself" is a "Wendy special," with all sorts of sound effects thrown in. The synthesizer is the backbone to this song, which sounds like it could be off the Hostage album. "Nervous World" describes the world's condition 'Til He comes again. Stu throws in a real nice lead break in this one, complete with lots of hammer-on action and string-bending distortion. "2,000" furthers the theme of "Nervous World" by asking about what the shape of the world will be in the next century. Glenn carries the lead vocals through all the questions this song poses: "Will we be machines? Will we push the button? Will we still have minds? Who lit the flame? Who moved the stone? Who promised grace in the face of Rome?" No matter what year it is, the questions and answers about Jesus Christ will be the most important. Maybe by that time all the questions will be answered. Right now we need to be concerned with the dying around us, who, during this short time, are Between Heaven 'n Hell.