Reviewed by Anthony Longville

Doug Bowers, Christopher Flynn and Mitch Rall are all members of Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin, Florida. The three provide the backbone to this project supported by guest musicians including Rev Dave Hope, former Kansas and AD bassist. These are an accomplished set of musicians and those familiar with Hope's previous work will not be surprised to note that this release comes within the progressive rock category. The album steers away from prog epics and contains eight concise pieces of music. The album title is inspired by a motto at the Kennedy Space Centre, commemorating the ill-fated Apollo 1 mission, and meaning "to the stars." The band hope that their music "can help others reach heaven." The title track on the album has the great idea of interspersing the soundtrack of the Christmas Eve broadcast from Apollo 8, reading Genesis 1. It's musically tight and pleasing to the ear, but ironically never quite takes off. The weaknesses here are that the album is all a little safe and one paced and the lead vocals are often weak. Also, a single short instrumental "Ed Spence" fails to light a spark though things finally come together on the last track "Angle Of Repose" where the guitarist is allowed to let rip and a strong vocal performance ends the CD. By no means a bad album it's let down by a lack of musical adventure.

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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