Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

In the '50s, gospel singers sold out and we got the birth of soul music followed swiftly by its poppy cousin Motown. Gospel music has influenced soul music ever since so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by this interpretation of kids songs in Motown style. What goes around comes around! Creating a pastiche of Motown sounds, the youthful vocals of Robin Batey, Brandon Conger and Darwin Mason recreate the vocals of early Michael Jackson and those '60s girlie groups. You can even play a game to see which Motown hits have influenced which song! For example, "Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho" is "Standing In The Shadow Of Love". "Creature Praise" is "Automatically Sunshine" and "He Is Lord" is "My Girl", etc, etc. Actually, this is a fun album and a must for kids because it's wonderful for sing alongs and you can even witness your mum and dad join in with the oohs and aahs as they reminisce about dancing round their handbags down the disco. This is fab and fun and though it's not a new idea (Soul Mission recreated the sound of Stax a lew years back) you'll love the dollops of raspy sax. Where so many albums for kids are an embarrassment musically, this is groovy! It's worth it just to check out the vocals of Robin Batey who should go on Stars In Their Eyes because...tonight...Robin Batey is...a young Michael Jackson! Spooky, eh?

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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