Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Between the early '70s and 1990, Randy Matthews released at least a dozen albums and was one of the pioneers of Christian pop rock music. He's reported as the first contemporary act to be signed to Word Records. This compilation, released in the UK in 1976, collects together 10 songs from Randy's first five albums - 'I Wish We'd All Been Ready' (1971), 'All I Am Is What You See' (1972), Son Of Dust' (1973), 'Now Do You Understand' (1975) and 'Eyes To The Sky' (1976) - and highlights range from the stripped down live solo song "Sunny Day" which is a bit of fun to the opening country rocker "Country Faith" which is a bit of autobiography. It's a perfect example of '70s Jesus Music and a time when artists weren't afraid to write songs with an enthusiastic message of faith. I like him when he's being upbeat on "It Took A Carpenter" but the best track on here is the epic closer "The Picnic/Didn't He" which is part story and part song and as moving a summation of the gospel message as you'll hear anywhere.

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