On the way home from my 1st grade daughter's open house at her elementary school tonight, I had the classic rock station on. Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on and I screamed out the words, hitting all the cymbal catches and the staccato piano notes. To date myself, Queen's Greatest Hits came out when I was in grade school and I loved the band. I listened to Queen every chance I got, rotating it with my Xanadu soundtrack (yes, with Olivia Newton-John and the Tubes). It was a great album and I never got tired of hearing the songs. I wore out my cassette because the music was amazingly personal to me. I felt the pulsating anguish as I heard the youth character's pleas of "I'm just a poor boy from a poor family."

Let me be clear: Count the Stars' Never Be Taken Alive sounds nothing like Queen. The band is a quartet of punk-ish rock that has lived in my CD player for the better part of 2003. I dare say that this is the CD of the year. The emotions of guitarist/vocalist Chris Kasarjian, who is credited as sole songwriter on each of these thirteen songs, are evident on each track. "Brand New Skin" kicks the CD off on an energetic note and the band never looks back.

There is not a bad track on this release. Each track has something, whether it's Kasajian's vocals, a guitar riff, the melodic basslines of Clarke Foley, the pounding beats of drummer David Shapiro, the leads and backing vocals of lead guitarist Adam Manning, or the lyrics. There is something magical about this release.

Consider "First Time." Kasarjian sings "It feels like, the first time, that I am standing on my own, and I'm not wasted tonight, not wasted tonight." Shapiro's snare is tuned to a sharp crack and the music allows Kasarjian's vocal lines to breathe. "On the Way Home" confronts a relationship on the skids as Kasarjian sings "On the way home, something's go to give in, it's so useless/ to drag it out this long, take your position baby/ the opposition of me, because there's no way I will change . . . could we get past this . . . this is the part where I give in . . . but it's fine because it's all I've ever known in this life."

The band showcases its ability to get mellow in "Pictures," a departure from the frantic rock that makes up the majority of the band's material. Kasarjian weaves his vocals through a dreary, sorrowful guitar tone as he sings, "And this head, this heart, was breaking apart by the start, so long, I'm gone." Towards the end of the song, Kasarjian confronts his loved one with these words, "Did you know when you go, there is nothing here left of me/ Did you know when you go, you take everything."

The band saves their best track -- and remember, none of these songs suck -- for the last song. "All Good Things" can best be described as the band's version of Green Day's "Time of My Life." The song basks in the glow of a good time ending. "I can't explain, what made me stay, I fall into the same mistakes, like all good things, they never last, the past is past."

I missed my chance to see this band live. By pure coincidence, I checked the concert calendar of a local club the day after the band went through my area. Now, the band's tour plans are on hold, after Kasarjian and his bandmates were in a serious van accident. Kasarjian had a collapsed lung as a result, according to a release from the band's label. All I can say is that if this band comes around again, I will be there, holding my lighter (I don't smoke death sticks), and screaming the words with Kasarjian and his bandmates.

This is a stellar release, definitely within the top three of my picks for 2003. Congratulations, Count the Stars. You made me remember why I got into music.

Rating: A

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