Superchick released their major label debut KARAOKE
SUPERSTARS in 2001. It included the
songs ‘Barlow Girls’, ‘Karaoke Superstars’, and ‘One Girl Revolution’. In 2005 they released their fourth album,
BEAUTY FROM PAIN. The next year they
revamped it and released it to the mainstream market as BEAUTY FROM PAIN 1.1
(Columbia/Inpop). One of the changes is
that this version does not include the song ‘Stories (Down to the Bottom)’
featuring TobyMac. Tricia Brock is the
main lead vocalist on the album, with sister Melissa Brock singing lead on
three tracks. The latter also plays
guitar. Other group members are: Dave
Ghazarian (lead guitar, vocals), Max Hsu (Keyboards/DJ), Brandon Estelle (drums,
vocals), and Matt Dally (bass, vocals).
A press release at the time said: “Superchick recently returned from a
European tour which included performances in Finland and Germany to audiences
numbering more than 20,000 fans”. In the
album’s liner notes, Tricia writes: “Thank you everyone who lives life with me,
the good, and the painfully hard times.
It’s easy to share joy, but takes really loving someone to willingly
share their pain”.
Starting things off is ‘Anthem’, a rock rally cry for girls
worldwide: “Here’s to the ones who don’t give up (3X)/This is your anthem/Get
your hands up/We are fire inside/We are lipstick and cleats/We are not going
home and we are playing for keeps/We are girls with skinned knees/We are
concrete and grace/We are not what you think/Can’t keep us in our place”. ‘Pure’ is a catchy pop song full of hope:
“This is my brand new day starting now/Letting go of the ways that I fall
down/The old can be made new, the lost can be found/The lost will be found/I
bring the pure flow like water around/The rocks of life won’t pull me down/I
bring the pure flow drink so deep/The river of life my soul at ease”. ‘Bowling Ball’ encourages girls not to stay
with guys who treat them poorly: “You need that boy like a bowling ball dropped
on your head/Which means not at all/You have too much to give to live to waste
your time on him”.
‘We Live’ was used by the TV show ‘Brothers and
Sisters’. This light pop song reflects
on our mortality: “There’s a cross on the side of the road/Where a mother lost
a son/How could she know that the morning he left/Would be their last time
she’d trade with him for a little more time?/So she could say she loved him one
last time/And hold him tight/But with life we never know”. ‘One Girl Revolution’ first appeared on the
band’s debut album. Here, we have a Battle
Mix of it. It’s another rock rally cry
for girls: “I wear a disguise, I’m just your average Jane/The super doesn’t
stand for model, but that doesn’t mean I’m plain/If all you see is how I look,
you miss the superchick within.../I’ll be everything that I want to be/I am
confidence in insecurity/I am a voice yet waiting to be heard/I’ll shoot the
shot, BANG, that you hear round the world/I’m a one girl revolution”.
‘Wishes’ is a song many teen girls will relate to: “I wish
we could have worked it out/I wish I didn’t have these doubts/I wish I didn’t
have to wonder just what you are doing now/I wish I didn’t know inside/That it
won’t work out for you and I/I wish that I could stop this wishing/And just say
my last goodbye”. ‘Stand in the Rain’ was
not on the original BEAUTY FROM PAIN. The song hit #1 on the R&R Christian Hit
Radio (CHR) chart. It’s a rock ballad,
featuring Claire Indie on cello and Caitlin Evanson on violin, and encourages
perseverance: “She wants to be found/The only way out is through everything
she’s running from/Wants to give up and lie down/So stand in the rain/Stand
your ground/Stand up when it’s all crashing down/Stand through the pain/You
won’t drown/And one day what’s lost can be found/You stand in the rain”.
Melissa Brock sings lead on ‘Courage’, a tender song about
eating disorders: “I don’t know the first time I felt unbeautiful/The day I
chose not to eat/What I do know is how it changed my life forever/I know I
should know better/There are days when I’m ok/And for a moment/For a moment I
find hope/But there are days when I’m not ok/And I need your help, so I’m
letting go/Some days I’m still fighting to walk towards the light...” ‘It’s On’ is a rock song encouraging
perseverance: “And the view will never change/Unless you decide to change
it/Don’t feel like it today/Just show up anyway/And though life will take you
down/It only matters if you let it/Get up, go through, press on/Today’s your
day”.
‘Suddenly’ encourages those going through rough waters: “And
suddenly it isn’t what it used to be/And after all this time it worked out just
fine/And suddenly I am where I’m supposed to be/And after all the tears I was
supposed to be here.../Skies will clear and the light will find her where she’s
always been”. Last up is the title
track, a ballad which looks ahead to better times courtesy of God: “I forgot
how to hope/The night’s been so long/I cling to Your promise there will be a
dawn/After all this has passed/I still will remain/After I’ve cried my
last/There’ll be beauty from pain/Though it won’t be today/Someday I’ll hope
again/And there’ll be beauty from pain/You will bring beauty from my pain”.
BEAUTY FROM PAIN 1.1 clearly is an album aimed at teenage
girls. Those who fall into that category
are under a tremendous amount of pressure in today’s society. Physically, girls feel the pressure of having
to look like the airbrushed models in men’s and women’s magazines on the
newsstands. Physical perfection is the
goal and many girls will fall into patterns of bulimia and anorexia to try to
achieve it, and many suffer silently.
Then, there are the pressures of doing what their boyfriends want them
to do, even if they are uncomfortable with it.
Overall, musically this is a fun rock record with elements of pop music
here and there. The lyrics offer hope to
teen girls when hope seems to feel so far away.
Unfortunately, the lyrics are pretty simplistic and the main topic of
perseverance and overcoming is repeated over and over. Though this is not as strong a record as
Superchick’s earlier ones, I’m still giving it 85%. For more info visit: www.inpop.com and www.facebook.com/superchick.