Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

After noting on the sleeve this project featured some excellent singers such as Cathy Burton and Nicki Rogers coupled with a well thought out and sensitive collection of hymns and songs, I had high hopes. The reality was a rather patchy album. Highlights were "To Him Enthroned Above Every King", a lovely song of self-sacrifice, and "The Cross Still Stands", a gentle celebration of the cross, and a beautiful instrumental, "Me". The low points were two of the traditional hymns, which, although great hymns, just don't fit into this overall picture. It is hard to write effective new arrangements of many older hymn tunes and they stand out against the rest of the CD. I feel it would have been better to write completely new music for them. Some of the music has a real flowing, organic feel about it, especially in the guitar parts, but some of the sequenced parts don't groove so well, particularly parts of the looped percussion which sometimes sound rigidly repetitive. The concept is good and there are some excellent moments. But, as I said, rather patchy.

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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