Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

This three disc release from Kingsway contains 50 songs from the newly re-released Songs Of Fellowship songbook. There is absolutely no doubt that this has been a proven formula in the past but it should be noted that the most recent song here is "Holy Spirit Lead Me To My Father" which was written in 1991. The question therefore has to be raised as to why Kingsway continue to recycle old (but nonetheless valued) choruses instead of spending more time and money pioneering newer material. On the whole, the performances themselves are good and seem to have been taken from a variety of Kingsway albums. As is often the case with compilation worship albums, Kingsway have omitted to detail who have actually recorded the tracks and, as a result, denies the listener the chance to search out other material by the same artists. All the favourites you would expect are here ("Be Still", "Be Thou My Vision", "Give Thanks With A Grateful Heart" and "Shine Jesus Shine" for instance) plus a few that perhaps should have been left out such as Parchment's "Colours Of Day" and a dreadful version of "I'm Special". Surprisingly, there is a great live version of "Praise Him On The Trumpet" - if for nothing else than a fantastic guitar solo and a funky little bass run once you get past the Sunday school vocal delivery. Aside from this though, nothing else really stands out. A competent enough release but nothing new under the sun.

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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