Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Freed from his contract with Larry Norman's Solid Rock imprint and newly signed to Myrrh Records, Stonehill embarked on his '80s output with this workmanlike affair which lacked the spark of his previous releases produced by Larry Norman but held signs that the '80s would be a fruitful time. Whilst the album contains a lot of good songs, there isn't much here that you'd call classics. The title is a big jangling cosmic opening quickly forgotten in the new wave sarcastic rush of the very unStonehill "Die Young" where he's backed by Daniel Amos. "Fifth Ave Breakdown" and "Giving It Up For Love" are both turgid rockers whilst "Grandfather's Song" pushes over the edge into too much sentimentality. Other songs like "Find Your Way To Me" and the vaguely psychedelic "Rainbow" fail to really ignite. "Letter To My Family" was a leftover ballad from 'The Sky Is Falling' but it's a sign of the weakness of this album that it sounds like one of the strongest songs here. "Christine" is an interesting one where Stonehill plays the slightly disturbed and sad character of a man in love with a news reader! Hmmm. personal stalker anyone? "Farther One" finishes off things in similar fashion to the title track opener with a song that takes us out into broader, more cosmic visions of our spiritual journeys. This is a good album and at the time it really failed to totally engage me and I can still taste the disappointment listening to these songs. However the '80s would soon see Stonehill hitting his stride again.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.