Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

As per its title, this 12 track compilation from London-based record label The Lion's Den claims to contain the crème de la crème of British gospel which, given the relative anonymity of the selected artists, is a very steep assertion indeed. Add to that the fact that the overriding style here is one of hip-hop and not gospel music, the term "UK" appearing to only relate to London-centric acts plus the overall lacklustre quality of the material found within and this album's titular statement is very much an erroneous one. Having said that, this collection's songs do have God as their focus with the opener "Fallen" (Raynelah Osborne) and "Scars" (Freeda) communicating something of God's grace despite our failings and human frailty. The likes of "One True Guide" - a catchy piece of pop courtesy of Veronica Marie and Andrae P'reach's alternate song of worship "Cheers" work well enough without being remarkable but repetitive dance tracks like Nataylia Roni's "God's Love" and the strangely muffled and under-produced "Soldiers For Christ" by Sarah Faith simply fail to hit the mark. Elsewhere, the aforementioned Osborne's "Once Upon A Time" - a lyrically clunky song about man spoiling the earth - continues in a similar vein whilst J Walker's "Go Girl" and "Dancing With The Devil" contain some awkward and substandard rapping set against a mismatching musical backdrop that further rubbishes the claim found in this release's title.

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