Reviewed by Philip Crawley

There is a huge US market for this kind of "old time gospel" and as such must speak to lots of people - but I don't get it. What we have here is an 18 track col­lection of gospel standards and new compositions that sound as if they could have been recorded any time in the last 25 years (though judging by the key­board sounds the most likely year is 1979!). It's all very competently done with both choir and lead singers sounding in fine voice. The songs are all country-tinged Southern gospel and even those numbers that lean more towards hymnody are delivered with honky-tonk piano and pedal-steel guitar. Ail of the lead singers are encouraged by the rest of the choir and congregation in the most lacklustre of fashions which make those songs that have truly majestic words sounds almost comical. Lyrically we've got some good stuff - "Walkin' With The King" and "Workin' On A Building" (both traditional gospel numbers) alongside some truly cringeworthy pieces - "Antioch Church House Choir" has got to be heard to be believed.

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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