Reviewed by Tony Cummings

The technological revolution which has brought cheap computers and keyboards into millions of homes is a boom and a blessing to musicians. Where once they would have to gig for years before they had any hope of attracting an A&R man and "getting signed", now amateur and semi-pro musos can make recordings and, if they purchase a CD burner, "release" them as well. The flood of independent albums has brought much great music to the public and if any discerning music lover is prepared to search on the internet and through the pages of Cross Rhythms, they will come across dozens of truly brilliant independent recordings. But such adventurous music fans will also find albums like this one.albums that aren't really albums at all. Seemingly "demo" has become an anachronistic concept. Instead, amateur musos are using their bedroom studios and CD burners to "release" music which they then misguidedly send to radio stations and magazines. Consequently, comments that would best be made in a private letter from a record company, gig organiser or music publisher have to be made in public. So to vocalist/producer Bob Fordham and lyricist Stephen Gardner I must now address the rest of this review, with a certain sadness and assuring them of my Christian love. Bob's performances of these songs are very poor with cheesy, unimaginitive and cheap sounding synth pop arrangements and dreary vocals. Similarly, the songs themselves are far too cliched, full of obvious melodies. Lastly, Stephen Gardner's lyrics too often descend into little more than "Jesus died for me at Calvary and set me free" cliché. Now I understand from Steve that the way he works is that he receives these lyrics prophetically and then passes them over to Bob who puts them ot music, sings, arranges and produces them in his home studio. To Bob I can only suggest that you need more recording gear and a less obvious approach to programming as well as drafting in a vocalist who can do more than sustain a simple melody. To Steve I would suggest that it's not quantity of songs that makes a good lyricist (Steve reckons he's penned 1,100 lyrics) and that even the most prophetically anointed songwriters recognise that good songs are "10 per cent inspiration, 90 per cent perspiration."

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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