Reviewed by Greg Sammons

To quote the album sleevenotes: "Liberty N' Justice is Justin Murr with a little help from his friends." Which probably means nothing to anyone but the aforementioned friends, until you realise whom these "friends" are! Every track features a special guest, the list of contributors runs like a who's who of Christian rock of the '80s and '90s. Members of bands including Petra, Stryper, Whitecross, Bride and (er) Black Sabbath! No, you read right, Jeff Fenholt formerly of Black Sabbath is the guest on the album's final track! These illustrious musos may have been a little easier to acquire when your label manager is Jamie Rowe, of Guardian and now London Calling, who of course also features on the album. However once you get listening to the tracks on the CD, you realise (with one or two moderate exceptions) first of all how big the influence of the guest vocalist/musician is on each track and secondly/sadly how dated they now sound! Almost all the tracks sound like they were written and recorded 10 or more years ago - most artists are sticking to what they know best. They are producing fresh trash tracks but a stale sound. In essence this album is a great CD for people who hark back to the good old days of Christian rock. Whilst being spiritually challenging and uplifting at times, the songs end up sounding cheesy and out of touch to most contemporary rock fans . even fans of the ever cheesy Darkness I feel! A major disappointment.

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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