Reviewed by Brian Edgeley

This recording is a re-release of the 1998 album previously reviewed in CR48. We have experienced a revival in cultural music over the last decade and Card again brings us his interpretation of many old hymns. There is only one Card original on this album - "Starkindler", which Card wrote for his wife after purchasing a Celtic harp. The words to the song are poetry set to music and is the best offering on the album. Other songs include Celtic versions of "Be Thou My Vision", "The King Of Love My Shephard Is" and "I Heard The Voice Of Jesus Say". Recorded in Tennessee, Card shows off his 25 years experience in the music industry by playing various instruments in various styles from ballads to Irish jigs. Card's ancestry is Welsh and the ballad "Jesus, Lover Of My Soul", that great 18th century Welsh hymn with lyrics by Charles Wesley, rings of a walk down the Brecon Beacons to the valleys below as they stretch down to the coastal plains. For me this was an album to flip through as I really didn't like the re-plays of old hymns that I didn't like the first time I heard them, however, that said, Michael Card is a favourite among many and this will be a pleasure for older folk to listen to.

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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