Reviewed by Jonathan Priday

Surely if you take one of the finest vocal quintets and add to it the undoubted qualities of the London Symphony Orchestra you must end up with a five star album. Unfortunately not! It appears Messrs Nalle, Davis, Gates, Neal and Bu Hard were so overawed by the LSO they chose not to display their own talents to the full. The resulting album is a collection of solos, mainly by Ed Nalle, that lie somewhere between Steve Curtis Chapman and Steve Green. The rest of the band seem content to provide backup - instrumental and vocal. The songs themselves are fairly strong ranging from meditations on Christ -- "Servant Of Servants" and "When He Comes Again" -- through comfort and consolation ~ "There Is Hope" and "He'll Always Defend You" ~ to a final declaration of commitment -- "We Belong To You Alone" - but the arrangements are, to my ears, a little bland. As a confirmed fan of the Acapella Projects it seems a shame that only on "Mary, Mary" do we get to hear the distinctive sounds I, for one, expected. Still, for all my disappointment, they still turn in a polished performance.

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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