Reviewed by Philip Child

A new to the scene British Gospel man who sings the in-your-face gospel lyrics with passion conviction. There is obviously a genuine intention to worship and convey spiritual truths. While this has to be the ultimate goal of any Christian, much more is required of our music. To be able to endure scrutiny of the secular world, material must be able to stand up as a piece of art. This, sadly, cannot be said of 'Open The Scroll'. There is little question that Sam can sing, but at the end of the day it cannot compete with other recordings. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, budget: real production talent is far too sparse. For example, the opening track has various crowd noises but they are applied in much the same way as canned laughter edited into lame sit-coms. Even if they are genuine they seem stripped of life. Secondly, perhaps due to the lack of funds, the music would have seemed more contemporary 15 years ago, the keyboard/synth just a little too prevalent. Therefore, I would suggest seeing Sam live as opposed to purchasing this recording, as I am sure that by comparison it can only disappoint.

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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