Reviewed by George Luke

Hey Mr Cummings, I don't recall telling you that my birthday was this month, but thanks for the pressie anyway. This album first caught my attention last October, when it appeared quite high in Not-Much-Jazz FM's Collectable Soul chart. At the time, Expansion Records had released three tracks from it on a 12" single. The album itself was only available on import, and after seeing the speed at which its predecessor, 'Feeling I Know Best' had hit the deletions rack, I never expected Nelson Word to release it. But they have, with all its catchy dance hooks, uplifting lyrics and bass that warms up the house whenever it's played. Dennis has obviously discovered that smooth mellow songs are his strong point and isn't scared to take a risk either. My only gripe is "Not Ashamed To Say His Name", a sideswipe at CCM artists whose J word count per song is below the acceptable minimum, whatever it is (look, Mr Austin, I've learned loads of truths from Charlie Peacock, Adam Again and Steve Taylor, and they rarely use the J word, so what's your point?). But I digress. Favourite tracks for me were "I Want To Be Ready" and "Best Friend", both featuring some of the best sax playing this side of Grover G Sanborn, Jr. Another favourite is "Done So Much" - it's 46 seconds long and sounds like Jimi Hendrix being fed through a mangle. Nice to see a Christian artist other than the aforementioned Messrs S Taylor and A Again doing something weird. All in all, an excellent album that has already proved it can hold its own in the secular marketplace.

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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