Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Back in the '80s, Armstrong was part of a pop ministry taking the gospel into schools a decade before The Tribe existed. New Beginnings recorded a couple of albums for Kingsway and though he's been quiet for a while, Bernie's still making music and writing worship songs in a soft rock style. Multi-talented producer Jonn Savannah has done a great job creating arrangements and adding a little edge through some great guitar work. Armstrong's songs are packed with catchy melodies and lyrics drawn from the Scriptures so that not only do you get worship songs but you also get plenty of Bible along the way as well! He's a skilled writer and vocally and musically Armstrong reminds me a little of Simon Goodall with songs that are full of melody and feature great vocal arrangements. One highlight is the gentle groove of "Gethsemane" complete with sound effects and excellent fretless bass. "Light Of The World" sounds like a congregational hit whilst the twin guitars of "I Will Repay You" make their impact. As a bonus disc, Armstrong has provided more intimate, chilled out arrangements of the songs to make them more suitable for personal devotional times. It's a nice idea! Overall, musically this isn't anything new and yet the whole project is excellently executed and these songs deserve to be more widely heard if only because they bring the Scriptures to life in such a powerful way.

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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