Anne Wilson may not have had as long of a career as her peers and contemporaries, but she's certainly made good use of that short career span thanks to her previous hit, "My Jesus." I wondered how she was going to wait to follow up her debut album, and if she was going to continue to straddle the line between Christian music and Country music, or stick to one lane. Thankfully, she continued to find a way to balance both on REBEL, an album that's as heartfelt as it us entertaining.

The album begins with the title track, which lets its listeners know that, for anyone who thinks that she sounds too Christian for Country music or too Country for Christian music, she'll always be both and a rebel. What follows is her mainstream Country single, "Rain in the Rearview," which reminds us to focus on the good in our lives and leave the bad stuff in the past. It's the best Country-sounding song on the album and a highlight. That is followed by her Christian radio single, "Strong," which asks God to be strong for us when we don't think we can be for ourselves, with lyrics like "I hit my knees with my hands held high/Saying, 'Dear Lord, Jesus, you know I/can't do this on my own/I can't do this on my own.'" It's another standout track in my opinion, and it's a chorus that I just can't stop singing.

What follows is "God and Country," a song that you could easily hear on both Christian radio and Country radio. She basically claims that she owes her career to making both Christian and Country music. After that, we get to the first of three collaborations on the album with "Praying Woman" featuring Country singer Lainey Wilson (no relation), who's arguably the biggest name in Country music right now. I've always felt that Anne was the Christian version of Lainey so I wasn't surprised to see them team up. Next we get "Songs About Whiskey," which despite its name, is not an actual song about whiskey. Instead, it's a Country song about wanting to sing about Jesus instead of the vices and sins that tempt us that you'd find in a typical Country song.

After that, we're treated to "Sinner's Prayer," a song that reminds us that we're all sinners, and despite that, God still listens to our prayers, with lyrics like "Can broken still be holy?/I'm tryin' to get a message to the man upstairs/Every saint started with a sinner's prayer/Every saint started with a sinner's prayer." From there, we reach the halfway point with the second collaboration, "The Cross," featuring CCM artist Chris Tomlin. Their voices mesh so well together, creating another standout track.

The back half of REBEL kicks things off with "My Father's Daughter," which is a beautiful homage to her father. Anyone with a father can relate to the lyrics no matter how close they are to their own father. Next up is "Red Flag," a Country song about not settling for just any man and ignoring the red flags we all have. While not the best song on the album, it's by no means a bad one. From there, we reach our final collaboration, "Country Gold," featuring Jordan Davis, which is a song about how home is where your heart is and sometimes that is worth more than gold. "Southern Gospel" follows, which has a similar feel to "Country Gold" in its lyrics, referring to small-town Country life, albeit not quite as good in my opinion. "Dirt Roads in Heaven" is a song about knowing that we can still enjoy the things we did on Earth when we get to heaven.

As we get towards the end of the album, we're treated to "3:16," a song directly inspired by arguably the most quoted bible verse, John 3:16, which states that "For God so loved the world that he gave us his only son." That's followed by "Milestones," a song that reminds us that even when we're famous we need to remember all the important events in our lives and not let them pass by. The album closes with "Out of the Bluegrass," a song that tells us that God has a plan for all of us even if we can't see it yet.

All in all, this listener enjoyed Anne Wilson's REBEL, despite the fact that one or two songs could have been cut to trim down the album some, and I look forward to hearing what she comes up with next.

JFH Reader Review: written by Matt Spiker, 4/24/24, for Jesusfreakhideout.com