Reviewed by Doug Holland

Ira D Sankey (1840-1908) was an American baritone gospel singer, composer and evangelist who came to be known as 'The sweet singer of Methodism'. Together with fellow evangelist Dwight L Moody he made several visits to the UK and was the content of this collection of hymns (led by The Sheffield Celebration Choir and supported by The Salvation Army Citadel Band of Sheffield) does not include any penned by Sankey himself but rather is taken from the resource of 1,200 Sankey's Sacred Songs And Solos, that he put together for his concerts and revival meetings. There is an unremitting and indelibly contagious sense of joy in the love of Jesus across the two CDs on offer here (28 tracks; 93 minutes) and the whole listening experience has a huge feel good factor; this is the result both of the quality of the compositions (giving traditional hymns a good name!) and the performances of the choir and band. A delight in every respect.

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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