Reviewed by Tony Cummings

A clumsy title for a rather unimaginative repackaging of some old recordings. Back in the '80s producer Billy Ray Hearn twice went into the studio with the London National Philharmonic Orchestra and a choir to record orchestral versions of well known hymns and the resulting project was released as 'Hymns Triumphant Vol 1' in 1980 and 'Hymns Triumphant Vol 2' in 1984. In 1999 Billy Ray Hearn and renowned MOR man Ronn Huff went back to the studio this time with the London Festival Orchestra and another huge choir to record a project '32 Great Hymns Of The Faith'. Finally, in the '80s and '90s producer and arranger Tom Fettke recorded two albums released as 'The Majesty And Glory: 46 Favorite Hymns And Spiritual Songs' (1988) and 'The Majesty And Glory Of The Resurrection: 28 Traditional Hymns And Sacred Songs' (1991). Now tracks from this reservoir of recordings have been cobbled together for a two CD compilation. Arrangements are sometimes too bombastic for traditional tastes but no doubt there will be others who find these reverential renditions from the works of Wesley, Watts, etc very stirring. It's a shame though that the repackage couldn't have corrected the sloppy (and inaccurate) crediting of every hymn to "traditional" and inserted the composers' names.

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