Reviewed by Nigel Harris

The 500 series is an arrangement of 10 triple box sets containing specially recorded versions of the top 500 songs, as recorded on CCLI (the church copyright licence scheme) returns. What a wonderful concept, to put out a CD set of the 500 most-sung worship songs of the new millennium. So why not record them live at the very churches that are singing them and capture the spirit of worship? Or, since Kingsway released many of the original recordings, why not bring out a compilation of those first definitive versions? Instead they opted to give the project to a bunch of competent studio musicians and producer Chris Norton and told them to churn out new versions of worship standards such as "Shine Jesus Shine", "My Jesus My Saviour", "When The Music Fades" and "Jesus We Celebrate". Most recorded their contribution in their own studios, suggesting that the tracks were put together piecemeal in a sort of musical pass the parcel. That may explain the lifeless, sterile feel of the final product. The CD case describes this as "a uniquely useful set", which just about sums it up - useful, if you need to check out the odd tune, but certainly not inspiring or uplifting. A real disappointment.

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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