Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Livets Ord is a church and also a centre for missions and education in Sweden. This live album reflects the musical talents of the youth group but this is not some cheesy set of dirges recorded in a church hall but a professionally put together live concert featuring different groups of musicians and singers. BP are more of a pop rock outfit and their energetic self-penned "Are You Ready" propels proceedings along with much vigour! It's a groovy tune and no mistake! Sadly it's their only appearance in the concert. The choir n:joy present a bit of a mixed bag from the pretty dated "Great Is He" which sadly sounds more like The Continental Singers but then "He'll Be There" has a bit more life in it. The cover of Amy Grant's "Where Do I Go" is pretty standard pop and then what can we say about the cover of "The Happy Song" err_it's so happy? Junction are an acapella group and do an original song, "My Lord Is Real" which is passable. The group UV contribute another original number, "Going Home", which is atmospheric '80s-style stadium rock. Other covers include a rather curious solo version of the Justin Thomas track "Thank You For The Rain" which sounds rather strange when you swap Justin's Leeds accent for a Scandinavian one! There's an obvious version of "Jesus, Lover Of My Soul" and the end result is that this album is a little patchy quality wise, It's something that the youth group should be proud to have achieved and a momenta of a great evening but for a wider audience? I'm not convinced.

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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