This is the second outing for the for the crew of the USS Gloria and this time they have a new record label, Tooth & Nail, and have picked up a new crew member, Andrew Verdecchio, making this astro rock band a quartet. This is a much more personal album for brave Saint Saturn than their debut, So Far From Home. With songs like the angst-filled "Enamel" and angelic ballads like "Estrella," this album is arguably superior to the debut.

The Light of Things Hoped For starts off strong with the only actual lyrically upbeat song on the album. This song, deemed "The Sun Also Rises," has been on the internet for several months and has made the Saint Saturn fans beg for more. Up next is "Binary," which slows the pace down from the opener, and is an acoustic ballad of reflection on failed relationships. Towards the end, it breaks into a full blast of energy reminding you the musical genius of Reese Roper and the guys. "Enamel," yet another song about Roper's split with his fiance a couple years ago, where anger is the forefront emotion rather than sadness or healing factors you would usually hear. In fact some might be shocked by the pseudo-censored line, "When you hear this song I hope it hurts like ----." This song is pulled off well, but don't expect to hear it as a single anytime soon. The fourth track on the disc, "Anastasia," plays out a tale of yearning love for a young woman, with the main focus of this canticle being about Anastasia's beauty and the narrator's passionate love for her really makes you really think that the pain that was so present on the first disc has eased some this go around. The next anthem takes the route of Skillet and presents us with a computer/turntable almost-Linkin-Park-esque piece aptly named, "Titan" (not to be confused with the Five Iron tune, "Spartan"). Once again, we have another acoustic guitar driven ballad, "Estrella," that will surely remind you of the heart-wrenching "Under Bridges" with lines like, "The angels wings will cover you tonight, Hallelujah! Press your head against the breast of Christ, Hallelujah!" And "Isn't it just like me to mourn his passing death when he will not suffer anymore." Following up is one of the 2 songs sung originally on the LP by Dennis Culp. FIF and Saint Saturn fans always enjoy the songs by him and this should be no exception. "Heart Still Beats" is a track offering lyrics of life after major changes and living on through trials we may go through. "Babies Breath" starts off with sleigh bells jingling with Reese's vocals soon following. This would probably be my least favorite track on the album as it's a soothing tune, but is really the only song that doesn't stand out as being a past caliber effort. The keyboard-laced punk ditty "I Fell Away" is a personal highlight, as it shows these guys really know how to make a potentially lame song into a surely memorable one. The second track sung by Dennis, "Recall," focuses on past mistakes and how the singer is now dealing with them. At times it almost sounds like a hymn, vocally. The last song featuring vocals is next, "Daylight," which starts off slow with dreary lyrics and then the bridge half way through features sounds of the crew of the "USS Gloria" calling to mission control escalating into a very emotional prayer to Christ, "Jesus Christ, light of the world, You never did forget me / And when I pray in darkness, you held me, still held me..." This is, in my opinion, a much better album than the first brave Saint Saturn LP and hopefully the final disc will come out sooner than this one did, the period of time between the two CDs was three years.

- Review date: 3/21/03, written by Joshua Encinias