Reviewed by James Stewart

Ignoring the doubts cast by official investigators on the initial accounts of what happened in that room in Columbine, the CCM industry has based this latest compilation on the testimony of murdered teenager Cassie Bernall. Bringing together many of the usual suspects (Jars Of Clay, dc Talk, Rebecca St James, Delirious?, Audio Adrenaline) the album is certainly well filled with big names. Unfortunately, the music doesn't quite live up to the promise that might suggest, generally tending towards a fairly innocuous soft rock sound. Exceptions come generally from the female contributors, with Sarah Masen's "Flames Of Truth" (from her last album) and Jennifer Knapp's "Martyrs And Thieves" weaving in some rootsy influences. Most of the tracks on the album have cropped up on earlier releases -the Jars Of Clay and dc Talk cuts are both now five years old - and it would have been nice to hear some new tracks with perhaps a bit more edge to them. Sadly a few good tracks do not a good album make.

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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