STYLE: MOR / Soft Pop RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 9203-8921 LABEL: Kevin Mayhew 1490128 FORMAT: CD Album RRP: £9.99
Reviewed by Philip Croft
Okay, we’ve all seen and heard them in our local Christian bookstore right - CDs that claim to be instrumental versions of our "favourite" songs - but which are actually umpteen year old songs done in a format that makes them sound like background muzak in a hotel foyer. Granted, I’m making a generalisation here and I know that there are plenty of good instrumental albums out there that don’t fit the description but unfortunately this isn’t one of them. Of the 22 tracks on the CD only three are songs originally written less than 15 years ago, the majority being 20-30 years old. Alright, there are plenty of old songs that still have lots of life in them yet when done properly, but in this case the production and arrangements sound as dated as the songs themselves - if not more so. Looking at the sleevenotes I see that there are at least two other albums that Kevin Mayhew has done before in a similar format, so there is obviously some market out there for them but why I simply cannot tell.
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Posted by Stephanie Bott in London @ 20:03 on Feb 16 2009
I really wish I had seen the CR review before buying this
album, I wouldn't have wasted my cash on it if I had known
how bad it would be. The arrangements are dated, making the
songs painful to listen to. Nothing is relaxed about this
album, it motors along, churning out every song in a 1980s
way, and you end up wishing it would stop. Meekness and
majesty, one of my favourite worship songs is played quite
fast and at a pacy beat that doesn't allow you to get into
the music at all. It is the arrangements that let it down so
badly.
I really wish I had seen the CR review before buying this album, I wouldn't have wasted my cash on it if I had known how bad it would be. The arrangements are dated, making the songs painful to listen to. Nothing is relaxed about this album, it motors along, churning out every song in a 1980s way, and you end up wishing it would stop. Meekness and majesty, one of my favourite worship songs is played quite fast and at a pacy beat that doesn't allow you to get into the music at all. It is the arrangements that let it down so badly.