Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Berto, otherwise known as Ian Cooper, is a qualified computer teacher who lives in Kent. He spends his time creating teaching aids and worship music. In early 2009 Ian released this CD of 12 of his instrumental compositions. The sub-head on the album promises "12 Rocking Instrumentals!!" but sadly turns out to be an extreme misnomer. The entire CD sounds as if it has been constructed using a child's home keyboard with a standard general MIDI sound set. Each song sounds pretty similar, having just two or three parts playing throughout plus the wooden drum patterns, and most of the songs use exactly the same sounds, particularly the bass. The MIDI cowbell, panpipes, clavichord and playground whistle as on "His Righteousness Remixed", "Peace On Earth" and "Thank You Lord", sound like something from a 1983 school classroom. I'm sure Ian's heart is in the right place but in truth this amateurish firago makes the listener want to press the "Eject to outer space" button.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.