Reviewed by Tony Cummings

The difficulty when reviewing "best of" albums is that one is torn between simply reviewing the music on that particular compilation against considering the set in the light of previous compilations. Purely from a musical standpoint there is plenty of good stuff here with gems like "He Reigns" and "You Are My King (Amazing Love)" showing that the Aussie rockers' move into worship music was far more impressive than most CCM acts who jumped on the praise bandwagon while their older hits here, like "Shine", "Breakfast" and "Spirit Thing", still have the pop rock hooks and clever lyrics which made them such standouts on Christian radio. Also there is a new-to-CD track "I Fought The La", an amusing song about lyricists' writer's block. The downside for all this is that there have been several previous Newsboys compilations, tracks have been selected from only nine of the band's 16 albums and there is no attempt to offer fans an informative package with things like biography or rare photos. So let's give it seven squares and assume this will at least turn some new fans onto one of CCM's most enduring groups.

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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