Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

In years gone by, four men wanting to sing gospel would have formed a quartet and hit those gospel harmonies. These days the sound is strictly R&B but the message and the heart is the same. A wash of vocals and some R&B grooves or sweet sounds is the order of the day here. You get some edgier sounds on the opener “Nothing Like Heaven”, but this album quickly settles down into soulfulness on tracks like “Lord You’re Everything” and “Coming Home”, where the guys demonstrate that they have the vocal chops to do the business. For me though, I long for them to cut loose a little, so tracks like “Victory’s Coming” and “Feels Like Rain” do it for me when the tempo ups a little. Dropping into an easy groove, the highlight of the album has to be “My Love For You Will Go On”, one of two tracks produced by Fred Hammond. No doubting the talent, Men Of Standard deliver an album that may not knock you over but deserves investigation.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.