There are times in life when ambition alone is enough to carry you through, when you can try really hard and still be able to coast by and manage to get along just fine. But as those of us who have coasted through high school only to be slapped with a rude awakening in college know, ambition can only take you so far. In order to push yourself ahead of the pack and really make a difference in whatever it is you are trying to do, you have to mix in a good dose of innovation and forward thinking. And sometimes, like it or not, you have to try something so out there that you fall flat on your face in failure. Sure, this failure hurts like hell, but taking these kinds of chances is how you push yourself to succeed. Most of us know these lessons all too well, but it seems that The Afters missed out on them before they headed into the studio to record their major label debut.

This Dallas foursome came together during stints at a local Starbucks and soon began performing on the area's Christian church conference circuit. They gained a decent following and managed to attract the attention of Epic Records shortly after recording this disc. The recent mega-success of bands like Evanescence and Switchfoot has changed the majors’ tunes when it comes to signing Christian bands, as they realize most of these bands already have a decent and fiercely loyal fanbase. Trouble is, with an album this formulaic and mediocre, The Afters aren’t likely to crash through that glass ceiling and become the next Creed. I Wish We All Could Win is straightforward alt-rock that sounds like it came right out of the late nineties, sharing airspace with bands like Collective Soul and the Nixons. It becomes clear by the halfway point that the band is following a standard formula for every tune, hushed vocals and quietly strummed acoustic melodies build into loud, guitar-laden choruses before the pattern is repeated with a string section for added “feeling.” All of this leads up to an epic ending, with huge crescendos and crashing reverb.

The band’s only nod to music made within in the last five years is found on the album’s most solid track, the heavily Coldplay influenced “Love Will Make You Beautiful.” It may sound lazy for Coldplay comparisons in 2005, but lead singer Josh Havens should be sending Chris Martin royalty checks for the awkward falsetto crooning on that piano coda. Lyrically this album also falls apart in the second half as it becomes a more blatant Christian rock album, proclaiming “Jesus, I’ll love you with all that I am.” A band shouldn’t be dismissed solely for its religious beliefs or target audience, but cranking out the same tired sentiments heard time and time again is just cause for dismissal. When the album is over you are left with a batch of songs that you swear you’ve heard somewhere before, but that you also remember not caring much for the first time around either.

In the end, it’s somewhat of a shame to hear this band travel down the same beaten path, as Havens’ is a decent singer when not relying on annoying vocal tics (check the purposeful cracking on first single “Beautiful Love”) or aping other singers. And both bassist Brad Wigg and drummer Marc Dodd show brief flashes of inspiration where they elevate themselves above the mediocrity surrounding them. Unfortunately, The Afters’ ambition is all directed towards becoming the next big Christian rock band to crack the mainstream market, and each song is formula-driven towards that end. Sure, the band could have fallen on their faces or risked alienating a portion of their loyal fanbase by branching out and letting their talents take them somewhere new, but even failure would have made for a more entertaining listen than this by-the-numbers release.

~ Jonathon Lundeen