Reviewed by Chris Tozer

Following in the musical tradition of Matthew Ward and Russ Taff comes another high powered blue-eyed soul gospel man called David Phelps. On track three - the self-penned song "Love Goes On" - Phelps comes up with a line that sadly says something about this album as a whole. He writes, "Tunes are soon forgotten, singers lose their song but love goes on.". Therein lies nub of the problem with this collection of earnest songs about the love of God. Not a single song is any match for those that are currently chart bound. There are no catchy hooks or original sounding lyrics. Instead we are presented with lines full of clichés and hackneyed phrases such as "I surrender all", "Life is a symphony", "Take all of me" and "When all is said and done". The themes of the songs are equally adept at treading where all too many CCM saints have gone before. Songs like "Break Free", "God Will Take Care Of You" and "Arms Open Wide" are all super sentiments in themselves, but are delivered with such suave cool that they are stripped of any intentional passion and thereby lose the power to grab the listener's attention. The problem lies not with Phelps for he is indeed a fine singer as his years with the Gaither Vocal Band have proven. Rather the problem is the expectations of American Christian radio which has set such limits on the kind of songs they are prepared to play. Mainstream pop thrives on the inventive and the original - so why not CCM? It would be great if an incisive Christian songwriter of the calibre of Pierce Pettis or Paul Field was able to provide some great story songs. That way David Phelps would have the platform that his expressive voice deserves. Meanwhile all is not quite lost - with the better songs including the rather different "Virtuoso" and the catchy Latin flavoured "Pardon Me God". Would there were more songs of that quality in this collection.

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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