Reviewed by Andrew Rolfe

The English-speaking department of retail Christendom is bursting with child-centric multimedia. I don't know what it's like in, say, Outer Mongolia, but I reckon it's a safe bet to say if Christian bookshops exist all the books would be paperback. Integrity want to help us experience the manifest presence of God. I don't think this DVD will do that but it will definitely keep the little nippers entertained. Simply put: it's very enjoyable. The lyrics teleport on-screen in a variety of wobbles and crazy fonts, manifesting themselves in time with the music. They gyrate, cartoonesque, against a backdrop of video and moving-still-images (to coin an oxymoron) which major on nature (voluptuous mountains, rolling cumulus clouds, crashing-not-too-playful-looking sea) and kids (playing, laughing, Frisbee-throwing, leaping-around). It's feel-good stuff and I'm guessing North-American due to iconic city scenes and a few youngsters thinly-challenged in a way not common outside the birthplace of fast food. Songs include title tune "I Am Free" by Jon Egan (Desperation Band) which might even prove a geriatric foot tapper; "Majestic" from Lincoln Brewster (check out his latest album 'Today Is The Day') and "I Will Boast" from Paul Baloche (respected songwriter par excellence). Negatives: The Shout Praise logo is shamelessly and permanently on at the bottom right of the screen: it's unnecessary branding; on large screen sizes the photos tend to pixelate (whereas the video is of a much higher definition) unforgivable in an age of cheap 10 mega pixel cameras. Nonetheless, the extremely optimized editing (so tight it makes Scrooge look like Bill Gates) keeps the whole thing flowing fluently and interest is maintained by a wide variety of animated text and pictorial theme. The sound is based on a standard 6-strings of overdrive (which seems to be a trademark in the kid-praise market) interspersed with more reflective moments. There are lots of young backing vocals with adults mostly leading the way but now and then roles are reversed. All in all artistic lead Steve Merkel has come up with a Christ-er-tainment praise jet-pack with just about enough energy to soar with the eagles: a good 12-song pre-teen resource with a 21st century look and feel.

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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