Reviewed by Andy Cooper

More from the Worship Tools camp, this time with eight songs from New Zealand's Parachute Band's 'Roadmaps And Revelations' album. Again, the package features a very useful DVD, CD, sheet music and chord charts. But don't be fooled: it's not the real band playing the songs, but instead it's un-named session players. They show how to play basic arrangements for the music on drums, bass, keys and acoustic guitar. It's all quite useful, but what about electric guitar? The Parachutists are a rock band these days after all! The songs are all in a key which most singers could manage, and the parts are kept deliberately simple: good for church musicians of average skill, but it wouldn't satisfy those who want to get more creative or those trying to copy what the band do on their album. The songs aren't well known in the UK: there's more than a dozen other artists and album's I'd prefer to see in this series (give us some Delirious? or Tim Hughes for starters). And out of the eight cuts on offer here, I'd only consider two or three of the slower ones to use in my own worship sets, such as "Glorified" and "Mercy". The others are neither catchy enough melodically nor strong enough lyrically for congregational use.

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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