Derek Webb's She Must and Shall Go Free is more than an album: it's a visionary, unapologetic challenge pointed at the church. The message is this: accept the Gospel alone as our source of spiritual fulfillment and stop seeking after earthly substitutes for truth.

These words, from "Wedding Dress," perfectly sum up the album's message: "...I am so easily satisfied / By the call of lovers so less wild / That I would take a little cash / Over Your very flesh and blood". Other songs touch on similar themes: the dichotomy between the good that God's grace places within us and the wretchedness that is born in our hearts ("Nothing (Without You)" with its killer blues groove, the folkabilly "Saint and Sinner," the rollicking "Crooked Deep Down"); Christ's command to take His message to all the world, which we often fall short of in our daily lives (the great "Take To the World," which features a guest spot by Dan Haseltine); and all the ways in which the church loses itself in false pursuits ("Awake My Soul," the beautiful "Beloved," the title track). Fittingly, he begins the album by declaring himself a "dangerous crusader" who's not backing down no matter how anyone else feels (the clever "Nobody Loves Me"), and ends by poignantly reminding us that we can't truly love God with our whole hearts if we don't love the church, too ("The Church").

Musically, if you've heard Caedmon's Call, you'll know what to expect here. However, Webb leans more toward the bluesy side of folk music, distancing himself from Caedmon's more pop-reliant folk. Listening to these songs, it's easy to hear and remember his influence on earlier Caedmon's Call albums, because it's all in plain sight.