Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Owen Uriah is a Birmingham, UK-based artist who uses a mixture of reggae styles to sing songs that reflect his faith. He presents songs that have straight ahead powerful messages that are designed to minister to the listener. There are two versions of one of the highlights that is "We're Not Ordinary People", a song reminding us what the Bible says we are as Christians. One weakness is the way in which he uses backing tracks for other songs and then writes his own song on top. For example, versions of the hymns "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and "I Surrender All" are sung to the backing of Bob Marley's "Waiting In Vain" which is both strange and creative! Throughout, the backing tracks do sometimes sound like they were taken from a karaoke CD however there are a few things that make this album stand out. Firstly there is the quality of the vocal performances and the tightness of the backing vocals. Owen himself sings well and then guest vocals from Annette B and Tanesha Banton are both great. Preacha G shows up for the excellent "For All Mankind". The other great thing about Uriah's work is that the songs really are designed to encourage the listener so this is unashamedly Christian reggae.

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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