Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Admiral Cummings and I recently agreed that we Brits are the world’s best for producing exciting Christian dance/pop. Nobody does it better and here’s another example! Dance/techno/rock/rave/pop (just covering all bases here!) trio As If… have followed up their excellent debut with this huge step in a dancey direction. All the best elements of the band are highlighted here – strong rhythm tracks, memorable hooky songwriting, a bit of powerful guitar her and there and there’s even Phil Goss’s metal detector playing in the key of F, his poor old cat sampled and mutilated (the sample that is, not the cat! See if you can spot it!). Any minute now I almost expect drummer Phil Heard to leap out of the speakers and start knocking out a rhythm on the top of my computer or my filing cabinet! Packed with top tunes, I’ll simply rave about by faves! I love “Outside In” driven as it is by Steve Rothwell’s bass and “Heaven” would be an obvious contender for a single release with one of those punchy pulsating driving beats that Phil Goss delights in creating. At the other extreme “Heaven” is followed on the CD by “Area 51”, a rather poignant song about Hell. Not a popular topic for CCM artists to write about and therefore to be commended! “It’s Alright By Me” is moody and catchy and I love the atmosphere and vulnerability of the plaintive “How I Feel”. So much to enjoy here yet As If… remain largely unknown and unjustly underrated. This album deserves to do the business, it’s crackin’!

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