Its few bright spots include a prayer to escape hell and experience heavenly love (Full Blown Rose’s “In the Light”). Megan McCauley is rescued from negativity by a good friend on “Wonder.” Other cuts long to rekindle a lagging faith in God (“Sooner or Later” by Switchfoot) or urge perseverance amid trials (“Photograph” by 12 Stones).
Jet’s fatalistic “Hey Kids!” decries social problems but crows, “You’ll never change the world.” Although Finger Eleven wants a strained romance to bounce back, the band thinks one more night of intimacy is the cure on “Thousand Mile Wish.” A similar theme runs through Hawthorne Heights’ “Angels With Even Filthier Souls” (“Just stay the night and we’ll see that things can work out”). Hurt by rejection from a wild lover, a bitter man repeatedly says, “Hey lush, have fun/It’s the weekend” (“Your Own Disaster” by Taking Back Sunday). References to alcohol also appear on The Donnas’ “Everyone Is Wrong.” Dreary introspection dominates “Breathe No More” (Evanescence), “Save Me” (Alter Bridge) and “Hollow” (Submersed). Other songs convey romantic angst without much hope of healing.
With a few exceptions, this diverse compilation of rock songs peddles despair. Teens are better off without the disc and the violent, spiritually muddled Jennifer Garner action flick that inspired it.
