Love, heartbreak, and the challenges of the spirit are what the songs in Martin X. Petz’s album, “Chained” are about.

Martin X. Petz has been a singer and songwriter for his entire life. His songs reflect his own personal perspectives involving challenges of faith, family, life, and experiences in others’ lives. He has full faith in God and uses his God-given talents to spread joy to others. He was born in the Detroit area along the shores of Lake St. Clair in Michigan.

This album represents a small sample of his work. The album is his second and its genre is alternative country. While it does have some songs that directly reference God, the rest are full of lyrics of love and heartbreak.

The first song that tops the album is “Chained” which is also the title of the album. It is about love and being held back by heartbreak. The song remembers a past lover and talks about how the ability to move on is harder because you don’t stop loving someone overnight.

The second song is “They Say (You’ll Know)” and it’s probably the most country song on the entire album. This song is also about love and how the person of his affection will soon realize that they love him and come back.

“It’s Hard” talks about how it’s hard to find yourself when you can’t let go of someone. It references how moving on from someone you love is hard. The song has a faster beat than a few of the other songs and its lyrics are just as easy to follow as the first two songs.

It’s followed by “Kinship” which has one of the slowest beats of the album and it asks people if they have asked themselves what their place in the world is. The song asks if they were to put on the earth to “just live to die.” It directly makes people question their existence not as an individual but as a whole society.

The fifth song on the album is “All That I Am,” which talks about how when you love someone you do everything for them including becoming someone worthy of them whether that be for better or worse.

“Jesus Loves Us So” is the sixth song off the album and the first that references directly Jesus and God. It’s a lot faster than the previous songs on the album. The song’s lyrics talk about how no matter what happens, Jesus will always love you and never turn His back on you.

The seventh song, “Run Ride Leave,” talks about the one that got away and remembering how things could have been done differently in order to not have lost them. The song discusses the flaws that caused their loved one to leave.

“The Way” is the second song that talks about Jesus, and the eighth song on the album. Martin sings about how he lost his path and needs Jesus’ help return him to His good graces. Its beat is the slowest of the album. The song sounds full of regret and wants to do what is good to return to Jesus.

The ninth song, “This Love” talks about how everybody has to search for that one love that makes us discover who we are. It talks about how everybody deserves a love that makes them a better person. It’s another song that has a faster beat than most of the album.

The final song of the album is “Jesus Can You Hear Us” which is the third song on the album that talks about Jesus. Its lyrics come out as if a prayer is being said asking for help and to be saved. It begs Jesus to hear their sorrows to make them feel better.

The album surprised me for the following reasons:
1) When I heard the name Martin X. Petz, I assumed the album would be a sort of rap album. (Let’s face it, you thought it too.)
2) After reading the albums description I assumed most of the album would be about Jesus. I was wrong in this sense because only three songs out of the ten are about Him.
3) I didn’t expect to like this album because I saw that it was alternative country. I was pleasantly surprised.

This album reinforced an idea that everybody hears as they grow up, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” On Martin X. Petz’s website it states that “you’ll want to sing along even though you don’t know the words.” I found this to be true when I found myself trying to sing along to a few songs. Listening to songs about heartbreak and love is something everyone does and “Chained” has lyrics that truly showcase how someone feels after heartbreak.

Grade: A
Favorite Tracks: “It’s Hard”, “Kinship”, “Run Ride Leave”

Check the album out on iTunes, listen to it below, and check out Martin X. Petz on Facebook.

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