Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

The marketing blurb states that this is the first in a new series of "stunning instrumental albums, themed by the lead instrument" and "These breathtakingly beautiful instrumental tracks, mixing famous and new tunes, feature beautiful arrangements behind electric guitar melodies. Designed as the perfect background music, they will also make perfect gifts." A less gushing and more informative description would have been "an instrumental project by experienced guitarist and producer Dan Wheeler." Dan's guitar playing is excellent throughout and he demonstrates his musicality in the way the arrangements are built. However, by very definition, having electric guitar playing lead melodies throughout songs conjures up bad memories of The Shadows playing instrumentals for karaoke before getting anywhere near the play button...and this fear is sadly justified! Whoever selected the songs did a good job - there are some great songs here, such as Phil Wickham's "You're Beautiful" and Delirious?' "Rain Down", which really takes off in the chorus and is the track I feel works best. But having said that, despite Dan's obvious instrumental capabilities, this far too often feels like production-line Christian muzak.

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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