Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Maidstone-based Shayne is a man with a troubled past that the Lord has helped him overcome and he now ministers to others. This CD is aimed at communicating a powerful Christian message to non-believers. Although the CD cover depicts Shayne in an acoustic guitar pose, this is slightly misleading as Shayne is most definitely not an acoustic lone ranger. He is accompanied by a full band of session musicians and the primary style is guitar-based rocky pop. The style reminded me a little of Deacon Blue and Shayne's voice at times made me think of a couple of old Paul Field records I have. Shayne demonstrates a good diversity of style in his writing; the opening "A Worshipping Man" is a good energetic starter and has some amusing vocal gymnastics, the self-explanatory "All You've Got To Do Is Pray" and "Memories" provide more reflective moments, "Glory" is an exhortation to worship God and could be a congregational worship song, and the couple of tracks that blend rock and reggae elements are interesting. The song and music writing is good, but what really spoilt the album for me is the numerous moments where the musicians aren't playing in time. A more minor point is that regular "virtuoso solos" by the session players are fine in a live scenario but on CD come across as session player ego massage. In summary, a reasonable start but better production needed to take Shayne up a notch.

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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