Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Here's a young man brimming with confidence!! How else could he have the guts to think that he could record a worship album with eight famous worship songs and only two of his own? Yet it works simply because these are great reworkings of the familiar as Sammy makes them his own. He's aided on the production side by producer Micah Wilshire and the album is given a final edge by Lincoln Brewster's mix. There are many highlights including yet another ver­sion of "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" which opens the proceedings, bub­bling with a fresh acoustic pop wall of sound and phased vocal. The ballad "Holy And Anointed One" only serves to highlight that Sammy has a fine voice and again the whole texture of the song has been changed. How could "Shout The Lord" be given an alternative pop edge with plenty of guitar? Don't knock it! It works. It's true that Mr Ward does lake a few liberties with tunes here and there but I'm cool with that! On "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever" he's the only person (including the D:boys) who's managed to record a version where you can actually dance to the line "I feel like dancing" - this can only be com­mended! Sammy's own tunes stand up well alongside the more famous stuff, especially the groovy "My Passion" and even the slight acoustic guitar/vocal arrangement of "You" is a fitting close to an effective guitar-based acoustic dri­ven worship album. We'll be hearing more from this guy - all we've got to do is lock him in a room and force him to write!

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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