(1) Words (2) Angel's Scared To Fly (3) Finding My Way (4) It's My Life (5) When Love Finds A Fool (6) Wake Into Daylight (7) How Does It Feel (8) The Voice Of Freedom (9) I'll Fight For You (10) Don't Look Back

the Grade: B+ ... So you miss the days of female vocalists who don't sound like teenagers or sound like they're about to convulse into a mound of melted gue ... well, get over it, cause Challenge is here with there back-to-basics approach to rock-n-roll. Blending classic rock qualities into a modern (mostly) acoustic sound, Allison Lindsay, a teacher at the Sabine Institute for Vocal Strengthening & Development, and Arno Verstappen, a graduate from Los Angeles, California's Guitar Institute of Technology, are the two formidable bodies that comprise Challenge.

Lindsay is fantastic; an absolutely beautiful and trained voice, reminiscent of Heart years ago, that deserves to be at the forefront of the '90s female vocal revolution. Then factor in Verstappen's songwriting and tamed guitar and the organ sounds of guest musician Wayne Cook, and you have a touching lite-rock album that should be on the playlists of contemporary and modern pop/rock radio stations.

Oh yeah, lets not forget the lyrics. This is an album about life, everybody's life, and the world we live in each day, today: "Words," a song announcing, "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can hurt a lot more," says Lindsay; "Angel's Scared To Fly," the traditional topic of a broken heart and a "story everyone can identify with," says Verstappen; a women's revenge in "How Does It Feel;" and the complimentary "love gone bad" and "figuring out life" topics. Are the lyrics original? Not really, but they are still smart, and easy for the average listener to relate to, one of the band's initial intentions.

This is an upbeat acoustic album carrying many rock and blues overtones. Need something on the lite side for your collection? Take the Challenge.