With the ever increasing new talent rising in the Christian market, I have to hand it to Tooth & Nail Records for finding this amazing band, Anberlin. Among all the new bands I've heard recently, I have yet to hear another band who plays with such a level of emotion and conviction as Anberlin does. From the moment I put their debut Blueprints For The Black Market in my stereo, I've been hooked on this band. It's most definitely one of those albums that offers many songs guaranteed to be stuck in your head for years to come.

The album starts off with the fast paced, "ReadyFuels," a perfect opener from start to finish with infectious melodies and catchy hooks that are likely to attract any music fan. Blueprints... proceeds into the very pop punk "Foreign Language," a track about the differences between guys and gals, and is an excellent second track (and radio single choice, might I add). It then immediately follows with the emotional "Change the World (Lost Ones)," which is by far one of my favorite tracks on the record. With every passing song, you really do begin to love this band more and more. The very melodic "Cold War Transmissions," follows with "Glass to the Arson" bearing a new metal feel to it, and if you ask me, feels very reminiscent of Trust Company, while serving as the most aggressive song on the disc.

We then go into the very contemplative, "The Undeveloped Story," which immediately follows the upbeat "Autobahn" which offers lyrics like "And the stereo sings the song / We don't hesitate to sing along / Tried to dream to live / We could see the world tonight" "We Dreamt in Heist" is an amazing rock track which precedes the renowned "Love song" (originally by the Cure). They truly do this song justice and would surely make the Cure proud! We then move into a more emo side of the record for one of my personal favorite tracks, "Cadence," as the song says, "The closer I come to you / The closer I am to finding out your a miracle to me." Blueprints For The Black Market then closes with the infectious-yet-melodic, "Naive Orleans," serving as the perfect ending to the glorious debut of one of Christian rock's best new talents.

- Review date: 5/7/03, written by Matt Gray for Jesusfreakhideout.com