Reviewed by Paul Poulton

Some people may not realise that despite dancehall's popularity reggae is still alive and well and enjoying something of a resurgence. Jet Star are one of the UK's main distributors of reggae and partly thanks to them reggae has made its way back into the high street stores. Our focus here is reggae with an uplifting message and Jet Star have provided a fine compilation of reggae artists who sing important stuff about God. The collection fits together pretty well even though there are 14 artists contributing a track or two. The overall feel is very much '70s style lovers rock and retrograde in that respect but the sound quality is definitely modern. Jamaican Glen Washington starts the ball rolling with "Take The Name Of Jesus"; no wonder Glen's in demand: the piano bass part is innovative and infectious. Two tracks from Island Records' Luciano, you may remember his hit "It's Me Again Jah", well that's not on here but the sweet and worshipful "Sweep Over My Soul" is. Two tracks also from the legendary Jamaican gospel group The Grace Thrillers; one being the fabulous "Don't Try To Tell Me", if an introduction is needed for this style of music then this song is the one to play for people. The vocals on all 16 tracks are laid down with hi-fi quality and the female backing singers on a few of the tracks have a The I Threes feel. Now you can't get a higher reggae BV accolade than that can you? Two diversions from the feel of the album comes with a clumsy revival of "Oh Happy Day" and the country song "One Day At A Time" which has a frenetic Bontempi keyboard type disco rhythm which is intriguing but also annoying depending on what you're doing at the time.

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.