Reviewed by Allan Clare

Recorded in 2000 with the Turnpoint Sanctuary Choir at the Turnpoint Apostolic Church in Columbus, Ohio, this is an excellent introduction to mainstream gospel - leaving out, as it does, some of the histrionics that can be found within the genre. The set opens, rather obviously, with some upbeat praise numbers - "All Of Our Praise" is followed by the title track and both are ridiculously catchy pop songs - fully gospel-fied with the superb choir. Condon does a great job; he wrote all of the tracks and vocally at times sounds a bit like Tom Jones - and that's no bad thing! Mark alone belts out the numbers, with the choir echoing him in best call-and-response tradition. Every trick in the gospel canon is used, but they're pretty good tricks: the choir comes in to boost the chorus, they often split up into soprano, alto, bass to sing the chorus, key changes abound, etc. The rhythm and brass were laid down in the studio after the event, and because of this, and the fact that no soloists are permitted to stretch their own lungs, there IS a sort of sameness to the whole album. Still, it definitely has its moments.

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