Reviewed by David Street

I consider myself to be a pretty generous chap but I have to say I've really struggled to "look on the bright side" of this one. Why, Kingsway, why? The principle is a simple one, collect together 50 songs sung quite a bit in the UK's churches and put them into a triple box set. Eight volumes later and the "top tunes" are getting a little more difficult to find. There are the occasional more colourful arrangements, Ron Kenoly's "Mourning Into Dancing" adds a bit of sparkle but it's an oasis of creativity amongst a dry and rather bland selection of songs. Even Martin Smith's "History Maker" has had the life and energy sapped and some basic patches and limited instrumentation applied. Pull the songs together by all means Kingsway, but give us the originals, not black and white studio versions of Technicolor classics. '50 Songs The UK Churches Are Singing' is the subtitle of this collection, so perhaps the intention is to reproduce the songs in a simple format that's easier to create in a typical church setting. A studio album will always struggle to move us on past singing songs to a place where we find ourselves captivated and lost in praise and worship of the living God and Vol 9 of the 500 series will never be able to deliver a means to that end. On the other hand, (I told you I was a generous chap), you could use this box set as a resource for background music in church or to familiarise older congregations with some slightly more modern music. To that end I'm sure there's a slot in the church library for this one and I'm told sales of the previous volumes have been good so plenty of church goers disagree and will be glad to add number nine to the series.

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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