Reviewed by Pippa Rimmer

  After 1997’s debut album ‘The Journey’, I was eager to hear what God Quest had come up with second time around.  First time it was upbeat, in-yer-face rap and hip hop.  This time, things have mellowed out a bit.  The album features the highly gifted Jacob Luttrell, who displayed his vocal wares in ‘The Journey’ and who, when he was 15, turned down a multi million dollar secular record deal which could have made him a huge star.  Instead he chose to use his voice to honour God and the secular arena’s loss is certainly our gain.  Here he makes up the soulful side of the duo along with God Quest frontman Marcus Davis who keeps things swinging on the rap front.  Marcus takes a back seat on this album and lets Jacob take the front wheel.  Jacob steers us through the dreamy “All That I Have”, a soothing, breathy song with a pulsing bass backbeat.  He takes it up a gear on the mischievous “Get It Right” which has an upbeat swing feel and Marcus’ rap riding comfortably under Jacob’s sultry voice.  The title track “Survival” is vibey and the most in-yer-face song on the album which reminded me of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”.  Taking it down a little, “Meditation” is a mainly instrumental track, mellow yet uplifting with Psalm 18:1-2 as its inspiration and a cool guitar provided by Marlon Bowen.  “Invitation” is just that – an evangelistic invitation by Marcus for the unsuspecting unsaved listener to accept Jesus.  That old gospel classic “Fly Away” gets the special GQ treatment – laid back vocals by Jacob, a cheeky trumpet and a steady beat as the album closes on a high note.  Leave ‘em wanting more – that’s always the first rule of success in showbiz.  Well, that’s certainly the case here.  Good on you guys!  The world feels a better place after listening to this top album.

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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