Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

On receiving this for review, and noticing the title, I was expecting roots and dub riddims coupled to incisive lyrics challenging my cultural musical mind-set. If that was what I was expecting, what I got was something completely different. Instead of toastin' in Christafari/Temple Yard style, what I heard was praise and worship songs set to a computer-generated reggae beat; not my idea of "gospel reggae for the radical". Some of the material on offer is pretty ancient, for example, there's "I Worship You Almighty God", "I Lift My Hands (I Will Serve No Foreign God)" and "More Precious Than Silver", none of which is any younger than 1986; these, and what I assume to be the original songs on the album (the sleeve notes give no clue) are all given a similar treatment, with plodding arrangements and the occasional guitar stab, and the BPM count doesn't vary much either way. The only ones that caught my ear were "John 3:16", and one of the antiques, "I'm Accepted, I'm Forgiven". Thanks to some lyrical chatting by David that at least gave some variety. Very disappointing.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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