The sophomore release of Building 429 goes beyond the realm of typical Christian rock and offers songs that put us as Christians in our place. With in-your-face lyrics that let us know we all fall short of His glory, Rise challenges us to remember we are not perfect, yet God is there and He takes us back every time. Mixing the rock sound from their first album with slower tunes makes Rise a one-of-a-kind album.

Two of the hardest rock songs lead the off album. "Searching for a Savior" brings up hypothetical situations people feel before they accept Christ. It mentions the itching feeling of knowing there is something more out there and we have to get up and find the source of it because "no one else will do."

"I Belong to You," the first worship, and most emotion-filled song of the album, comes in at track four. The powerful lyrics explain that God created everything before us, "even knowing that [we] would be the one to break [His] heart." The unfathomable feeling of God buying us at a price we can't even imagine will help us to re-think our lazy walk with Christ and push us to do all that we are able to do to further His kingdom.

My favorite song from the album is sung from God's point of view. With a slight resemblance to the sound of "The Space In Between Us", "Because You Are Mine" encourages us to always know that He is there to love us, especially when no one else does. This song is full of so many powerful lines, including "So don't you ever doubt you are My precious child, my glory in the making. The years will bring you many trials, but I will never let you down. I'm here with my arms open just waiting?"

The title track of the album is another one of my favorites. The slower, melodic rock song, "Rise," tells us that there is something within all of us that only God can see, and it's up to us to live past the lies of the world and rise to our full potential. The one compelling lyric of the song sounds as if God is telling us "'It's wonderful to watch you rise."

The most blunt song on Rise comes in track nine, "Now That It's Over." It repeats the words that we are so used to saying in prayer, "I'm sorry now, now that it's over." This song helps us realize that Christians mess up time and time again, even when we don't want to admit it and after we promise it won't happen again.

A surprisingly good rendition of the Blessed Union of Souls single, "Love is the Answer," and a collaboration with Michael Tait in "Empty" strengthen the CD to new heights. They lead to a great conclusion to the album with the last track, "Alive." The piano introduction leads into a rock and roll song full of thanks for being allowed to live to glorify "the Maker of this life," cleverly wrapping up the album.

Rise is a powerful album with some of the most challenging lyrics I have ever listened to. Stating facts that most Christians shy away from, Building 429 does an incredible job at pointing out where we have all been, and where some of us are afraid to go. This rock album is definitely one that should be added to everyone's collection, if not for the band, then for the lyrics that we all need to hear every once in a while.