Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

Not having had the opportunity to hear the first two volumes of this series, I can't comment definitively on whether this CD lives up to its publicity, but (probably for contractual reasons) there are a few choirs absent from this compilation who I would reasonably expect to appear in any top ten, f'rinstance, The Tommies, John P Kee's New Life Community Choir, or indeed any outfit fronted by such as Hezekiah Walker, Fred Hammond or Walter Hawkins. Be that as it may, the choirs on display include some well known names such as Ricky Dillard and New G, Greg O'Quin & Joyful Noize, and Donald Lawrence & The Tri-City Singers, but the rest are rather less than household names and the material is a mix of up-to-date, fairly old and rather ancient. An example of the latter is a six minute round and round medley of honkie praise music by Derrick Starks & Today's Generation, based mainly around Kirk Dearman's 1984 classic "We Bring The Sacrifice Of Praise", coupled with a painfully overblown rendition of "How Great Thou Art"; neither of these are credited in the sleevenotes, but at least Derrick Starks and Shawn Reed are prepared to take the blame for it. Overall, it's live, loud and average; all the hollered cliches are there, the singers quite often have more enthusiasm than technique and despite a playing time of over 65 minutes, there are precious few highlights; even a talented diva such as LeJuene Thompson only gets in on the act five minutes into a six and-a-half minute track, which is hardly enough to get the tonsils warmed up. For diehard fans only.

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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