- The Flame in All of Us
- Falls Apart
- New Drug
- What Do We Know?
- Favorite Disease
- My Home
- My Own Enemy
- Learn to Breathe
- Inhuman
- Broken Wing
- The Safest Place
- Wish You Well
Thanks to studio magic (i.e. ProTools), even the most average of rock bands can (almost) sound like U2 on an album. But then there's nothing more disappointing for fans than hearing what the band really sounds like live in concert.
For Thousand Foot Krutch, the opposite has been true. Anyone who's thrown up a rawkfist at a TFK live show knows what a seriously energetic rock 'n' roll experience it is. Sadly, the band's albums haven't done them justice. 2005's The Art of Breaking did at least manage to transition the trio from dated nü-metal waters, but the instrumentation of the songs lacked panache—good stuff, but not the best out there.
It turns out that album was merely the set-up for another big step forward with The Flame In All of Us. Instead of predictable arrangements, rockers like "Falls Apart" and "New Drug" have the amped-up sensibility fans have come to expect from the live setting. And unlike most discs with the requisite slow songs thrown in for guaranteed airplay on Christian Hit Radio, The Flame feels more consistent from beginning to end, regardless of tempo.
Frontman Trevor McNevan also invests more personally in his lyrics. From the stirring title track to the standout "My Favorite Disease," McNevan doesn't rely on feel-good faith platitudes to make your eyes roll. Some of the world weariness he's feeling about his place in the world and the complexities of life as a Christian truly shine through this album, making the songs all the more relatable. With "My Own Enemy," the battle against selfishness has never been more poignantly addressed, and "Learn to Breathe" is a refreshingly counter-culture perspective on our calling as believers.
Ultimately, The Flame would've been a tighter collection with 10 tracks—neither "The Safest Place" nor "Wish You Well" add much overall. That's a minor point for the album when taken as a whole. This Flame burns bright, and as such, so does the future of Thousand Foot Krutch.