Reviewed by Tony Cummings

I'm a little bemused by this one. If I was Benson and had signed Joseph Simmons, aka Rev Run, I'd want him to come in with his own album or at least something with a little more of the streets flavour of pioneering rappers Run DMC. Instead, Rev Run produces three unknowns, Bobby Walker And The Zoe Brothers, Sin Assassins and Soul Tempo. The latter are the most surprising, Soul Tempo doing acappella doowop, beautifully (a cover version of the ancient hit "When We Are Made As One" and the old Soul Stirrers oldie "Touch The Hem Of His Garment") reminding us that in the '50s it was cool harmonies and songs of innocence, not gangsta rap, that was the sound of the streets. Then we've got some hip hop flavoured R&B "Sanctified" by Bobby Walker And The Zoe Brothers already being known to listeners of Cross Rhythms Experience (I'd love to know who's the uncredited sister shrieking that striking hook) and Sin assassins who rap up Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" and Thomas Dorsey's "Precious Lord". A peculiarly unfocussed hotchpotch and short on playing time too. Despite it's good moments an album difficult to recommend.

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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