This band from Lansing, MI has changed their name more times than Sarah Jessica what's-her-name changed outfits at last year's Video Music Awards, but their music has always been borne from the same deep, spiritual place.

Which makes the 11 tracks on Eternity all the more remarkable. The band trancends its influences, and the result is a near-masterwork that is at once familiar and strikingly original. I still hear moments on this disc that remind me of other artists--U2, the Beatles, the Stones, Nine Inch Nails, Joe Walsh, Love and Rockets, Pink Floyd, TRex, Beck, Smashing Pumpkins, Supertramp--but Rosetta has taken what they've heard and crafted a new, shining, beautiful sonic world.

In the postmodern rock world, being original means blending existing elements from the canon of rock and pop in a new way. Any artist trying to carve a niche for themselves struggles to say something fresh, and by that standard, Rosetta has achieved originality in spades here.

Eternity is a concept album of sorts, revisiting the themes of love, happiness, spirituality, and faith throughout. Inside the CD sleeve, the lyrics from all the songs are printed together, in a seamless stream of thoughts beginning and ending with the word eternity. You almost have to go back to the Beatles to find a record that's filled with such positive messages--it's obvious LeRoy's faith is strong, he loves his wife, and loves the fact that their relationship will last for an eternity. And with so much popular music preoccupied with cynicism, self-absorption and self-destruction, maybe love sweet love is just what the world needs now.

Guitarist LeRoy, bassist Jeremy Whitwam, and drummer Jesse Draper build powerful sonic landscapes in which to explore these themes. The results are sophisticated pop songs that run to extremes of emotional and textural possibility, from polished, accomplished rockers like "Kozmonico", "Ansurilikov" and "Monofuze"; to the tranquil, quiet dreamscapes of "Eternity I" and "Blue". The songs flow into one another in the same seamless way as the lyrics on the jacket. And Rosetta has achieved the unlikely balance of creating ear candy that's also challenging and thought-provoking.

I've got some minor quibbles with Eternity. I would like to have heard the band rock on one or two more tracks, since they rock so well. There's about one too many backward vocal snippets, and while LeRoy's vocal sounds are lush and beautiful, there are moments that would have benefitted from his singing more forcefully. There's not much else to criticize.

I heard tell that CMJ recently named Rosetta one of the 50 best unsigned bands in America. On the strength of this disc, I'd say that's only the beginning. - JOHN KENISTON