Reviewed by Philip Crawley

It seems like a great idea – one of the UK’s leading Christian labels joining with the London-based Christian radio station to produce a showcase album. Premier Radio presenter John Pantry offers us 18 tracks culled from (mostly) live worship albums of the last couple of years. New Frontiers, New Wine, Stoneleigh and Abundant Life Ministries (our own Hillsongs!) are represented along with others in a collection of songs both ancient and modern (to coin a phrase) – “Crown Him With Many Crowns” is one of the highlights for me along with LCGC’s “How I Get Over” from their Abbey Road album. For the most part the arrangements are incredibly similar and if you like this style of worship you’ll love the CD from end to end. There is no doubt that there are some very powerful songs here but for recorded music the challenge is to make me take the words away in my head and find myself singing it later in the day. Too much here is limply stereotypical.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.