Reviewed by Doug Holland

One of the undoubted strengths of any of the Bill & Gloria Gaither Homecoming Friends albums is that you know in advance what you are going to get. While in theory this strength could easily become a weakness, with them it never seems to. So what we have here is another top-notch collection of Southern gospel praise, worship and testimony songs (20 tracks and 77 minutes in total) played, delivered and recorded expertly and conveying marvellously effectively the intimacy, spontaneity and fellowship of the celebrations the Gaithers put on. This particular event took place at the Billy Graham Library in North Carolina; the staging was designed to recapture the spirit and flavour of the tent revivals of the 1950s and '60s, and the perfect balance struck on the recording between performer and congregation contribution certainly seems to accomplish this. The particular veteran Friends demonstrating their talents here are the Gatlin Brothers, Rambo/McGuire, Russ Taff, Ben Speer and heaps more while the younger acts like The Martins also hold their own. Excellent stuff - uplifting, infectious and hugely feel-good.

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This Homecoming musical event honours the spirit and music of the old-fashioned tent revivals of the 1950s and 1960s.

In The Old Rugged Cross, more than 140 of gospel music’s most beloved artists recapture this time-honoured tradition that has impacted countless lives for eternity.