One of the hardest things for an artist to do is to follow his or her own success.

Jaci's new self-titled album is not bad. But compared to her first album, Heavenly Place, it is just not as good as I had expected. Jaci's first album showed so much promise. While she only wrote one of the songs, you could hear in her powerful singing that she believed every word of all of the songs. Her singing seemed to convey an infectious "pinch-me, this can't be real" feeling that Jaci must have had when her album first came out.

While her new album is very professionally produced, and Jaci still has her powerful voice, I just don't hear that same kind of passion this time around. Some of the songs seem to be "formula songs" designed to appeal to your typical CCM listener.

I also had hoped for a greater level of creativity on this album from Jaci herself. On her first album, I really enjoyed the song she wrote herself. While it wasn't phenomenal, I knew it came from her heart. But while there are several good songs on this album, they don't show Jaci's creativity, only her ability to sing someone else's songs.

Yet for all my criticism, there are several high points on the album. The album begins with the powerful message of "God So Loved," a wonderful articulation of the gospel message in song. The second song, "Show You Love," is also very strong lyrically, with a wonderful message about what evangelism is all about. This song also has a good guitar part, coupled with some interesting drums by Dan Needham that set a good fast rhythm that is edgier than her last album.

The song "You" has a very refreshing tenderness that doesn't sound staged. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the passion of the song "On My Knees" from her first album. "Child of Mine" has more of an edge that reminds me in a strange way of the band Chicago in the 80's. It features heavier guitars and some interesting horn-like sounds from the keyboards.

"Made My World" is a faster pop song that really spotlights Jaci's vocal gift. If you listen closely to this one, you can hear Jaci enunciate every syllable perfectly, even in the fast and furious sections. She is also able to control her pitch well as she jumps from high to low almost instantaneously. This song was spoiled, though, by a very poor ending. It would have been better to use the ubiquitous "Nashville fade" instead of just dying the way it did.

A definite high point in the album has to be Jaci's band. The main guitar players Jerry McPherson and George Cocchini, along with Needham on percussion, are very good. In the fast songs, I can't help but be reminded of Burlap to Cashmere, with their Latin influences and their flawless execution. I would be very interested to know if they play this well in person, because they sound so perfect on the album.

Overall, I think Jaci has been blessed by God with an incredible voice, and I think she has a desire to really touch people with that gift. However that gift gets lost in the overproduction and hype of the Christian music industry, as evidenced by this sophomore effort.

One last thought: doing a song in Spanish is a wonderful idea. However, translating "God So Loved" was a bad idea. No matter how good a translator you are, it is incredibly difficult to write a translation that flows well. Jaci's dad should have written her a completely new song, or he should have done a freer translation with a better rhythm. The verses come out pretty well, but the chorus just sounds weird. An original Spanish song accompanied by music of a Latin style would have been a better choice.

On another note, I would love to see Jaci put out an album entirely in Spanish, written by members of her family, and with a band composed of members of her family. Of course that's too creative for the CCM world, so I won't hold my breath.