Reviewed by Tony Cummings

For my money Jennifer Knapp is a Christian music treasure, able to convey the bite and edge of an Alanis Morrisette without the self-obsession and the ruthless honesty of a Tori Amos without the bitterness and carnality. This compilation shows what can be done when the artist being compiled has a limited number of albums (Jennifer’s Gotee releases up to now are ‘Kansas’, 1997; ‘Lay It Down’, 2000 and ‘The Way I Am’, 2001). The twist here on Disc 1 of this compilation is that they’ve got fans of Knapp to write about why such-and-such a song is a personal favourite. It certainly adds a fascinating new dimension to Jennifer’s bitter sweet music and most of the cuts are the ones I’d have chosen. Disc 2 here is very much a collector’s item and is not without interest. Pride of place is “Say Won’t You Say”, a version of Jennifer’s aching love song recorded for a movie that never got made and featuring Michael Tait on lead vocals while there are tracks from the City On A Hill series, the Grits album and some demos. It’s a shame that we couldn’t have had the whole of Jennifer’s ‘Wishing Well’ independent release featured on a third disc. The “Nothing Is Impossible” from it here makes you hungry for more. All in all a fascinating and satisfying package.

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