My Review System:

++  Patently Christian

+  Conforms to Christian morals and value

M Mature content

X Mild objectionable content

XX Objectionable content

XXX Offensive content

Taylor Hicks / Under The Radar / M

Taylor Hicks keeps the streak alive as the gray haired blues singer who won the fifth season of American Idol hit #1 on the Billboard charts with his single, “Do I Make You Proud”.   While I have my misgivings about American Idol the TV show, there is no doubt that it produces winners who are squeaky clean.  There is nothing to fear from this down home, down-to-earth, blues singer.  Of course, I think his music is downright pedestrian, and the only reason he is a star is the American Idol publicity machine (Sorry if I’m offending you.  If you are a Hicks fan, more power to you!).  The moral of the story is that quite often the clean stuff isn’t the good stuff.  Oh well.

Gnarls Barkley / St. Elsewhere / M

Gnarls is a collaboration of  British experimental alternative pop producer, Danger Mouse, and soulful singer, Cee-Lo.  The music is as bizarre as that sentence.  It’s also as cool as it is bizarre, and clean as it is cool.  The lyrics are so way oversimplified it’s as if the duo is saying, “The content of the words means nothing, it’s just a platform for notes and beats.”  So don’t expect wordsmithing above the 4^th grade, but it’s about as innocent  as Quarton Elementary as well.  Totally safe.

Rascal Flatts / Life is a Highway (from the “Cars” Soundtrack) / M

Country seems to be the last bastion of good clean fun in music.  Although that may be slowly changing, you’ll find Rascal Flatts fighting it all the way.   The song itself has been remade more times that a hotel bed, and this is hardly my favorite version, but if your kid wants to download it onto their iPod, there isn’t going to be any problem. 

Christina Aguilera / Ain’t No Other man (from Back to Basics) / X

I would love to pan Aquilera like I have in the past.  I was all prepared to slaughter her for pushing the sexualized envelope like she has in the past.  I’ll have to settle for one X.  Only this single from her upcoming CD was available at the time this column was written, so I don’t know what is coming.  Based on this single alone, I’d say Christina is showing quite a bit of restraint.  There are no bad words.  The video is sexy and her dress is low cut, but hardly the kind of skimpy outfits we’ve (unfortunately) seen in the past.  The video seems to concentrate more on quality dancing and stylized production value than on steamy over-sexualization.  While parents need to take her overall image into account, this single and accompanying video is a welcome retreat from the edge. 

Paris Hilton / Stars Are Blind / X

Here’s another one I’d like to pan more severely, but I can’t find an excuse to.  Ok, here’s my best shot:  The music is boring, the lyrics are ridiculous but clean, and the video is Paris frolicking on the beach in a leopard skin bikini being very affectionate to a hunk of cute boy.  How can this stuff be popular?  I wish this sex symbol would just go away. 

AFI / December Underground / XX

Bands like AFI trouble me.  They make good music and they sing about subjects and emotions that are very relatable to teens.  They don’t push any envelopes.  For most teens I think AFI is harmless.   Teens who find too close an identity to lyrics about depression, angst and emotional overload might be finding encouragement in the band’s music.  AFI is a reason to keep close tabs on what your kids are listening to because the appearance of AFI on an iPod might be a sign of deeper problems.  Then again, it might not.  That’s what troubles me. 

KT Tunstall / Eye To The Telescope / M

This will be Tunstall’s breakthrough disc.  It’s great folk flavored British pop seasoned with deep clever lyrics.  No need to push the envelop here, since her talent does all the talking.   Good stuff. 

Dixie Chicks / Taking the Long Way / X

Good Sports Gone Bad / X
This isn't the title of a band or a song. I'm talking about the way our community approaches high school sports. Read this story -

On a dreary, rainy day, I woke up coughing. Oh Great! I thought, Today is the day of the conference championship, and I'm sick!
Our golf team was one of the best in the state and favored to win. After the first few holes, I was playing well, although my energy was beginning to sputter. By the ninth hole, my physical and mental edge had disappeared. As I reported my score at the turn, I broke down and cried.
The rival team's coach knew I was upset. He hugged me cracked some jokes and comforted me. He encouraged me to persevere, to keep going. Two and a half hours rolled by. I had stuck it out and finished the tournament. It definitely wasn't my best performance, but my team had managed to win.
The rival team's coach had knowingly given up his team's chance to pull an upset by deciding to help me. He forfeited an early advantage in order to be a coach - even to a player on the opposing team. Through his actions, this unexpected mentor taught me what is really important - not winning or losing a game, but showing Christ's love on earth. - Katie Taylor, 18, Talbott, Tennessee

Quite often I hear parents complain that the coaches their kids spend hours with every day (more than they sometimes spend with their parents!) are poor role models and sometimes not even decent human beings. I have to wonder if the purpose of high school sports should really be winning. Should it even be 'to have a good time'? Shouldn't it be first and foremost an opportunity for us to rightly raise the next generation?