Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Live worship (kind of) from the 2006 Soul Survivor. Ben Cantelon has, I believe, been taken under the wing of Tim Hughes and judging from the excellence of the throbbing, anthemic opener "Celebrate" it is a good investment of Mr Hughes' time. Lex Buckley's "Join With The Angels" and Tim Hughes' "Happy Day" are also memorable, powerfully arranged and will no doubt have mileage in many a fellowship. Though some might suggest that the striving for studio-quality sonics means that much of this project sounds almost like a studio album with little or no 'live' atmosphere/crowd sounds, the main purpose of this album is skilfully achieved. And what is that purpose? I'd suggest it's to present a mass audience to joyful, celebratory worship played in a stylistic template which would do credit to Oasis or Razorlight therefore making musical sense to a generation for whom Wesley, Montgomery or Crosby are little more than dusty anachronisms. For me the really innovative track is the Tim Hughes composition "Saviour" where Tim is joined by hip-hop crew The 29th Chapter. I thought 2005's "Shackles" was pretty naff (never cover an existing classic) but this is in another league and demonstrates that rap CAN be integrated into contemporary worship. Some of our Calvinistic brothers will no doubt decry this album for the lack of theological depth of some of the songs here and personally I found Lex's voice rather thin-sounding. But for me 'Love Came Down' generated a true experience of worship. And it that wasn't enough you get a bonus DVD - a snapshot documentary of Soul Survivor '06.

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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