Reviewed by Chris Tozer

And now for something quite unique. Even the veteren Larry Norman, notorious for ever releasing old songs in "new" wine skins, cannot lay claim to have released a double CD featuring TWO different recordings of the same album. That honour has fallen to his British contemporaries, the legendary, unplugged and much lamented Water Into Wine Band. Being one of a mere handful of vinyl recordings of early Jesus Music to resurface on CD is of itself an indicator of something pretty special. Indeed, the 1973 version is a joy to listen to. The three lads on guitars and vocals, abetted by violinist Bill Thorpe, ably ran through their gig list of self-penned humourous melancholy - from the classic "Stranger In The World" to the typesetter's nightmare of "I Used To Be Blind (But Now I'm Short-Sighted)". The album pleased their many fans, but not their accountants. Then fame beckoned the lads to tour America but first they had to placate Word UK's parent company. The bigwigs in Texas were less than happy with the album's production and in 1974 John Pantry was hired to produce a "sharper" recording. Having compared the pair I reckon he came up with the goods. The delightfully rambling clutter of the original metamorphosed into something far more FM radio friendly, though, wisely, the band's original arrangements were retained. Ironically, substantive rumours in recent years spoke of both versions changing hands for tidy sums across the Atlantic. Don't view this double CD release as simply a case study for student producers. Here, twice over, is timeless proof that the dawn of CCM was nothing less than brilliant.

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