It's almost surreal how an artist could start out so mature in her music, vocals, and lyrics, and then still feel the need to change her sound later on. Nevertheless, that's exactly what a young artist by the name of Jaci Velasquez did.

While Jaci didn't pen these songs herself, the knowledge of that doesn't interfere with one's enjoyment of the record just because the lyrics themselves are just so moving. They'll swing from putting an arm around a friend to earnest worship to standing through the most grueling of trials - all within the first three tracks.

Musically, this is about as Latin as Jaci ever got. While her later works didn't deny her roots (the last track of her sophomore album was just the opener sung entirely in Spanish), this will definitely live on as Jaci's "Latin" album. That doesn't keep it from being instantly accessible, though.

For the duration of my childhood, these are the main albums I grew up on: Steven Curtis Chapman's Speechless, Jars of Clay's debut, the WOW releases, everything by MercyMe and Salvador, and Jaci's first two albums. Miss Velasquez was one of the most exciting debut artists in Christian music, and she only got better.

Review date: 10/13/07, written by G.B. Ilex for Jesusfreakhideout.com