Reviewed by Terry Bateman

This collection "does what it says on the tin" - the hymns here are genuinely timeless and represent some of the best of traditional hymnody. The arrangements too are more traditional than contemporary, which is where I personally began to lose interest. I genuinely love and respect many of these fine old songs - but I wouldn't play it in the car or for personal listening pleasure. The appeal of this collection will probably not be to younger people, nor to those raised on Soul Survivor type output. My kids liked the hymns but found 60 together in one place a bit disconcerting - and a bit boring. Apart from a couple of Timothy Dudley-Smith compositions almost the entire collection is made up of hymns more than 100 years old. This is a 3 CD set which comes with the complete words to all 60 songs, which is for me the most valuable part of the collection. If you like old hymns the old way then this is for you and you will be blessed by it. If you are a fan of something more contemporary you will probably not be inspired to listen to all 60 songs. All in all a good collection of hymns that will have a particular appeal to the more traditionally minded.

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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