Reviewed by Dustin Helgeson

Pianist Rob Barker decided to undertake a themed album of solo piano with underlining spiritual messages. It works with varying degrees of success. He describes the spiritual context and thought behind each song in the album sleeve to help you feel this music more. The album starts with “The Resurrection And The Life”, inspired scripturally by John 11:25 and musically by background music heard on Hollywood films. “Through The Valley” is a piece meant to be both mournful and comforting with beautiful lush chord sequences and melodies. The attempt at spiritual depth on this album is commendable. The calming, quiet, beautiful compositions by Rob Baker have the natural effect of being relaxing. The music acts as a great tool to put children to sleep. For the child in me, sleep is a great thing, but I would prefer more dynamic change to keep me interested from song to song. Minor issues aside, this is a good instrumental album, encouraging me to “lay my heavy burden down” (aka my gargantuan head). Even better, it’s for a worthy cause: five pounds from the sale of every copy is donated to famed Christian aid agency World Vision.

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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