Starfield's sophomore release Beauty In The Broken shows that not only have they matured in songwriting since their self-titled release of 2004, they continue to seek to break out of the box labeled "modern worship." Beauty is still a very worshipful album that offers some quality ballads; however, the band isn't afraid to rock. Several of the tracks have aggressive electric guitar and gritty vocals, such as "Everything is Beautiful," "Obsession," and especially "My Generation." Though these and other tracks still seem to lack some needed originality, overall they showcase a band that offers some good music and heartfelt songs of praise.

The album begins with "My Generation," which is by far the heaviest song yet for the band. They pull it off well, but it still easily draws comparisons to "Revolution" from their previous effort. "The Hands That Hold The World" is next, which is decent but nothing groundbreaking, with lyrics like, "I wanna stand before the King/ join in the song that Heaven sings/ I wanna hold the hand that holds the world." A better offering follows with "Son of God," which is a beautifully peaceful tribute to everything Christ is and has given us; it may just be the best song of them all.

Next is the energetic and encouraging "Everything is Beautiful" followed by the average ballad "Captivate" but an impressive rendition of "How Great Thou Art." "Unashamed" is the seventh track which is once again enjoyable but sounds like a few too many songs that have been done before. "Love Is The Reversal" is next, an upbeat, passionate song with some nifty guitar riffs that aid in giving the album more flavor. "Obsession" and "Glorious One" begin to wrap up the record reasonably well before it closes out wonderfully with "Shipwreck."

After listening to Beauty In The Broken several times, I really want to like it more than I do because the band obviously has a great amount of talent and a love for playing music. In the end, the record comes out somewhere slightly better than average, a step up from their debut but not everything it could have been. If Starfield continues to strive to stretch themselves they should keep getting better; if you're a fan of modern worship with a bit of an edge, you should discover Starfield, but otherwise you may be left wanting something more.

- Review date: 5/14/06, written by Spencer Priest