Reviewed by Andrew Rolfe

The elderly gentleman had skilful fingers. Every Sunday they waltzed up and down the organ keyboard, which he played with vigour and obvious passion. Sadly, the whole thing failed to resonate. I was eight years old. Everyone else in the antique wooden chapel was well over a hundred, apart from my sister and the other bored-witless children. Kids Praise Party? Are you joking! We were lucky if we could understand the words. Now it's 2008, I'm a lot older and child-friendly is in vogue. Enter 'Kids Praise Party 2'. Everything about it seeks to grab attention and keep a tight hold. The book cover is ablaze with pseudo-psychedelic colours and swirls. The CD provides an eclectic mix of backing tracks (real instruments, not el cheapo programming), which shout out loud enough to rival anything the youngsters' non-Christian friends might be downloading to their i-Pods. Simply said, the music fits perfectly to the "party" in the title. Some of the six-string e-guitar numbers would have had my old chapel oldies frowning. Two of the heavier renditions would have had them racing towards the emergency power-off button. As a sound it very much resembles a modern church adult praise party. The difference lies in the words being sung, which definitely do not allow for non-comprehension. Here are some titles: "Wake Up" (kids hear it every morning, or shout it into the ears of their dozing dads), "Slithering Snakes And Jumping Frogs" (may sound a bit Garden-of-Eden-Fall-of-Man but the context proves it non-sinister), "I Am Walking" (not a single "thee" or "thou" in sight), "Holy Is The Lord" (good to teach kids Jesus is approachable, but also magnificent and to be respected) and "Jesus Super Hero" (a brilliant reality to the wide-screen fiction of Marvel Comics). One or two of the songs would fit better into a '(Confused, Angst-ridden) Teens Praise Party', the words and ideas being, in my opinion, too intense for kids; but the parent/teacher/youth leader would obviously be able to gauge things for themselves. Also included are music scores and MP3 backing tracks for 'Pre-school Praise 2', songs of the "requiring-actions" variety. Perhaps here some of the lyrics could prove taxing on a young mind, but nothing a five-minute Sunday school vocabulary trainer couldn't solve. In total the 28 songs (mostly uptempo) provide a bulky resource, a handy tool to brighten up children-oriented events, especially if the organ is left aside and the backing tracks are cranked up to adult-annoying volume.

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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