Reviewed by Philip Crawley

Paul Alan used to front the rather good pop rockers Nouveaux, but what we have here are 11 self-penned numbers recorded over the period '98 to this year. I'm a sucker for verse-bridge-chorus songs and even more so if there are lots of guitars in evidence, and so I approached this CD with some hope. For the most part I wasn't disappointed although I occasionally found myself wishing for a bit more grit and variation in arrangement. I suppose stylistically he's very similar to Stephen Curtis Chapman. "Leaving Lonely" is my favourite number but it is followed by "Can't Live Without You" which lets the side down a bit with bumper sticker style slogan-lyrics ("solid ground", "safe and sound"...etc.). The sleevenotes (and the fact that it's on one of America's smaller labels) imply that this isn't the big-budget Nashville "unit-shifter" we see lots of - and it probably benefited hugely because of it. There are some good songs of faith here and they haven't been over-produced.

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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