Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Another CD in the Urban Praise series, which profiles some of the best worship music prevalent in white churches across the world and places it in an urban gospel setting. Thus Detroit's Motor City Mass Choir bring you songs from the likes of David Baroni, Darrell Evans, Paul Wilbur, Don Harris, Paul Baloche and Lynn OeShazo but dress them up in a Fred Hammond produced urban feel. Obviously thematically the album is filled with songs with a revival theme and sometimes it works - the funky "God Has Given Us The City", "It Is Good", sometimes it doesn't - a very tame "But For Grace" is one of the blandest things ever recorded in this series. Two songs which took me aback were the slowed down versions of the Ron Kenoly oldie "Jesus Is Alive" and the Hills classic "I Believe The Promise". Both of them lose something of their original energy in this context. There have been a couple of fine offerings in this series but this latest release seems a little pedestrian.

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