Wake The Light’s vocalist T-Jay Tipps has been around the music block so to speak. He was picked to compete for the vocalist position for Fuel and was a top one hundred finalist in the Rockstar: INXS show, but even with those things going for him he decided to stick it out with his existing band Wake The Light. T-Jay along with band mates Steve Augustyn, Eli Phipps, Matt Sharon and Ryan Hughes went to work on their debut album. Produced by Greg Archilla(Matchbox 20) and Travis Wyrick (10 Years) and then mixed by Joe Marlett(Foo Fighters) this album is a shining example of studio work done right.Along with being a finalist for artist of the year on MTVU’s best music on campus their song ‘Story’ was chosen for the Adidas “Impossible is nothing” campaign.The debut album from Wake The Light ‘Leave It All Behind’ is a journey into melodic rock that fits snuggly into today’s rock formula. While most of the songs are of the ‘heart on sleeve’ variety there are a few tunes on this CD that rock your socks off. The first track ‘Best Of Me’ is one such song.Following along the lines of harder Nickelback or Theory of a Deadman this song packs a punch, allowing for a rougher side of Wake The Light to balance out the more melodic softer side of the band. ‘Broken Wings’ and ‘Misplaced Hero’ are two other songs on this CD that show Wake The Light can rock out while maintaining their melodic rock roots.The songs are smartly written allowing for great versatility from this band. The songs are emotionally charged and revolve mostly around love, love lost, break ups, etc., but are written so as not to lump Wake The light in with other emo style rock bands. This formula for creating songs sets them apart from many of the other artists on rock radio today, but not so far as to alienate fans of this genre.The title track ‘Leave It All Behind’ is an ultra radio friendly song that shows the diversity of this band and it screams top 40, begging heavy rotation on Top 40, rock, and alternative rock stations alike. Even though the title track is destined for much radio play the first single from this CD should be ‘Give Into You’ and would probably rival anything Daughtry has on the radio right now.At times the songs have an understandably Matchbox 20 feel to them but there is a depth and style to the music that is definitely their own. This band and this CD has substance to it and is not just full of filler material so check it out when it’s released nationally on January 11th. If you like any of the above mentioned bands then chances are this will be a CD that belongs in your collection or on your IPOD.