Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

The journey of Clay Crosse from Fed Ex delivery man to Christian music acclaim is fairly well documented.  There's no doubting that he has one of the most recognisable voices in Christian music and a pile of talent stored up in his vocal chords which have remained uncharacteristically quiet in recent times as he's been renegotiating his record deal. "I Surrender All" is a best of package to keep fans quiet while waiting for new material. (The cynic in me wonders whether it's also contractual obligation before Crosse moves on but we'll wait and see!) What you get is a spread of inspirational pop hits culled from his albums and I have to confess to having a soft spot for some of this stuff. In spite of this, pop doesn't come classier than "Time To Believe", the Dan Mukala penned "He Walked A Mile" and the title cut. There are even moments when old Clay (or Walter as his mother knows him) chooses to "rock out" a little and "Saving The World" is a supreme piece of soulful swampy stuff but mainly Clay has played it safe which isn't to say it's bad, just safe! A new song "I Will Follow Christ" teams our man with two other amazing voices - Bebe Winans and Bob Carlisle - for a trio performance which makes me wonder if a three tenors style collaboration wouldn't be rather an interesting project, but then I digress! If you only own one Clay Crosse album then invest in this because it's packed with goodies but me, I'm intrigued to see what will happen next.

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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