Conceived by Eddie DeGarmo (from DeGarmo & Key, of course) and co-written with songmeister Bob Farrell, !Hero is a retelling of the life story of Jesus, but with a twist: like Godspell or the film The Judas Project before it, !Hero sets the story of Jesus' coming in modern times. Re-imagining history, !Hero speculates what life on earth would be like with a single government ruling all the world, in a world that's still waiting for the Messiah to appear.

Michael Tait fills Hero's shoes with style and pizzazz (and all that jazz), while Mark Stuart (of Audio Adrenaline) creaks out the role of Petrov (Peter) and Rebecca St. James is Maggie (Mary Magdelene). The supporting cast in the musical includes a number of familiar names (though most of them will not tour with the production).

Hero works hard to tell the entire Gospel story entirely through song, with only bare minimum of spoken word mingled in. The music itself is, on the whole, fresh and intriguing. A healthy blend of hip-hop, rock & roll, and pop/r&b gets the full-scale treatment with a diverse lexicon of musical styles employed. It ranges from fully orchestrated ballads to big rock numbers to Carribean-flavored celebrations to Middle-Eastern back-alley dealings. Pete Stewart's production is full of ingenuity; musically, the album does not disappoint, succeeding in its mission to translate the Gospel into the musical landscape of today. The creativity displayed in conveying each song in a unique way is remarkably good.

Will it be quickly forgotten, or is it a new classic? Only time can answer that question. But regardless of the shiny new package, it's still the most important story ever told, and it's still compelling 2,000 years later.