Reviewed by Alan & Angeline Chesters

My first listening was when my wife's car was too poorly to make it to clutch-replacement/warranty service/MOT. Soon I was into "This Good Day" by Fernando Ortega and couldn't help but be reminded that any troubles weren't great. Nicole C Mullen's "Redeemer" followed and later the track representing the wonderful Rich Mullins was "My Deliverer" but it was quite a while longer before the recovery vehicle came. Seriously though, this compilation only works as a collectors' item, starting with an extract from Jarrell McCracken's "The Game Of Life", featuring the mythical radio station W-O-R-D, whose name launched the record label. It's a credit to the early vision that Word has taken on board so many artists over the years but styles vary so much over half a century that even those with the broadest of taste will, inevitably, only have a proportion of the good value of 35 tracks for which they really want to press repeat. Perhaps the next long-term MOT of Word should be after one decade.

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.

This track data is supplied by the Cross Rhythms CD/DVD review library. Please note that CD tracks may vary according to release region or product version.