Reviewed by Graham Jovanovic

At the moment there appears to be something of a retrospectively trendy '80s resurgence making a musical comeback and this seems to have proved true with this Kingsway compilation release of praise and worship classics. Heralding a time where Graham Kendrick was at the forefront of contemporary praise and worship and drumkits were frowned upon by pastors wearing woolly jumpers, the sound is characterised by large choral vocals, brass band accompaniment, chorused acoustic guitars, flute and violin solos and the like, One can almost imagine banner waving processions down the street to cries of "Jesus Saves!" as anthems such as "Majesty", "He Is Exalted" and "Be Still" resound loudly. This nostalgically pleasing celebration of a past era of Christian music does offer great value as there is a large selection in a three CD set of original live and studio recordings although there is no indication from which source they have been obtained. Suffice to say, it's a pile of old Kingsway albums of the Bilbrough, Kendrick, Richards, Songs Of Fellowship variety. If you are old enough to clearly remember them then this offering will have to be carefully checked against your vinyl. Even if you are not old enough there are still names included here that present day contemporaries such as Matt Redman would no doubt hold in high regard.

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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