Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Fresh Claim were formed in 1986 and since then the line-up has changed a bit - the current trio of Simon Law, Steve Gale and Matt Wallace have been together since 1996 but this is the first album they have released together. Due to work and family commitments they don't gig very often these days so they decided to release an album of the songs you would most likely hear at one of their gigs. The songs on the first half of CD 1 are very much about the difficult experiences of the Christian life (brokenness, grieving, lack of direction) and the second half deals more with our glorious hope and our reliance upon Jesus. The majority of these recordings were made in 2006 but some as far back as 1995 and it is clear that the strength behind the music is definitely the fiery guitar playing of Simon Law. But I have to say that overall I didn't find the collection very inspiring. There is a considerable amount of very loose timing, to say the least, between all instruments (maybe this is due to the fact that they can't gig together much any more), and vocal pitch is not always stable or precise. There doesn't seem to be any passion or expression in the vocals, showing exactly the same intensity and tone throughout. The limited edition second CD is 'Songs From The Rock Communion', an album from 1997 that was only previously available on cassette. This is an alternative rendition of the traditional Anglican Communion Service and there are some nice ideas in here but the same underlying issues are a problem. A release for loyal fans of the Plankton Records pioneers only, methinks.

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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