Reviewed by Tom Lennie

It's a fairly arresting album title. Yet while some of the worship classics here presented may indeed have helped changed many individual lives, to say they "changed the Church" is surely something of a misnomer. Indeed the sleevenote "stories" for each of these 13 tracks - welcome as they certainly are - offer no evidence at all that these songs did so. 'Songs That Deeply Impacted The Church' might be a more apt description. Setting such quibble aside - along with the fact that the opening "essay" is little more than a few sentences introduction to the disc - this compilation indeed gathers together some of the most impacting worship songs from the past 40 years from both sides of the Atlantic, and in the case of "Shout To The Lord", from "down under". That latter song is rendered here, not by Ms Zschech, but by Aaron Benward; and one or two other tunes, also, are showcased with cover versions. All the tracks here have been compiled from existing recordings. Many usual suspects are included - "The Heart Of Worship", "How Great Is Our God", "Here I Am To Worship", "Awesome God". Just how generally influential one or two others have been - such as Twila Paris's "We Will Glorify" and the Gaithers' "There's Something About That Name" is debatable. And there's certainly some notable omissions - Kendrick's "Shine Jesus Shine", Keith Green's "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful", a vintage Vineyard chorus (such as "I Believe In Jesus"), etc. In fact, surely the output's concept makes it deserving of a double-disc. An appealing collection for sure - though hardly living up to its OTT billing.

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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