Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Despite the considerable output over many years from multi-award winning gospel singer Fred Hammond, Verity Records have attempted to shoehorn the cream of the man's crop into a mere 12 tracks. In fact, a quarter of what's on offer here are brand new recordings - "I'm Grateful", "Saturate Us" and a simply gorgeous version of "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" - which bizarrely puts Hammond's back catalogue elite into single figures. On those tracks, Hammond's trademark powerhouse vocals, passion and crowd-encouraging persona shine through with lengthy gospel expositions like "Jesus, Be A Fence Around Me" and "Your Steps Are Ordered" seeing the Grammy winner in his natural habitat of the live arena giving it everything he's got to exalt God. As you would expect from an artist, arranger and producer of Hammond's calibre, this is a polished affair but, thanks to its half-hearted and less than career-spanning nature, this collection hardly does justice to one of modern gospel music's greatest exponents.

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