Reviewed by Dave Brassington

This 17-track compilation offers cuts from a batch of recent Gaither releases. It gets off to a lively start with a rousing version of "Singing With The Saints" by the Gaither Vocal Band and then proceeds to musically explore the theme of celebration in some style. "Jesus Saves", a duet between Candy Christmas and David Phelps, is particularly effective. I found the medley behind the strong piano playing of the late Anthony Burger on "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and "How Great Thou Art" very moving as a tribute to the late and greatly missed piano maestro. "What A Wonderful World" by the late Bob Cain is also very moving, as I think it was recorded when he was unsuccessfully battling terminal cancer. I really enjoyed the musical storm that the [late] Happy Goodmans generated on a medley of "I Hold A Clear Title To A Mansion", "God Walks The Dark Hills" and "I Believe He's Coming Back". The Gaither Vocal Band are very strong on some of the closing tracks, "Loving God, Loving Each Other" and "The King Is Coming". Whilst I am not the greatest fan of compilation albums, this one works very well, a theme has been chosen, and the tracks selected are all good and fully complement the theme.

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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