STYLE: Hymnody RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 40979-13908 LABEL: Authentic 8204672 FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 4 RELEASE DATE: 2008-03-31 RRP: £13.00
Reviewed by Andrew Rolfe
Swimming in hymns. Swhymning. Four CDs jam-packed with a choir singing hymns. If you like old songs sung by a traditional choir, led by an organ, with the odd soloist thrown in at the deep end for good measure, then you'll love this: 60 songs wrapped up in a rippling, sea-blue-coloured box. At times, you might think Authentic Media had hired a group of angels to perform because some of the songs (but by no means all) leave you basking in sunshine, on a beach of white sand, near a gently ebbing sea. Peaceful. Calming. An old-world feel with its yesteryear slow pace. But not all the hymns have wrinkles. For example, Graham Kendrick's "Meekness And Majesty" gets an airing and it's only 22 this year. But it is mainly the granddads of rock (for "rock" read "hymn") that headline this hymnal gig. So who's in the geriatric lineup? "And Can It Be", "When I Survey", "Amazing Grace", "Be Thou My Vision", "Onward Christian Soldiers", "The Lord's My Shepherd" and "Lord Of All Hopefulness". And how does it sound? There is nothing super-special about the musical arrangements. The organist is solid and doesn't botch the fiddly bits but if you're looking for ground breaking renditions you'll be disappointed. The singers are simply a mic-ed-up choir doing simple stuff and a not-so-mic-ed-up-but-audible-nonetheless congregation singing like a congregation. But these are actually selling points. You get your very own personal Songs Of Praise (British religious TV show aimed at the grey-haired) that you can easily sing along to.
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