Reviewed by Geoff Howlett

Sweet Rain consist of Jamie Longo, Wendy Hunt and JoAnne Lotorto, backed by several musicans. The cover photography had me worried - a few flowers growing against a fence - and the thought "cheesy" immediately popped into my mind. Sadly, that thought describes around half of the 12 songs on the album. "My God Reigns" starts off quite nicely but soon gets repetative, while "He Has Made Me Glad", with all due respect, is no better than what you would hear from most church music groups up and down the UK each Sunday. More thoughts of a 1/10 review were brewing in the back of my mind but, then, a couple of brighter, unexpected moments appeared. "I Will Delight" provides the chance for some excellent harmonies, over the top of John Diaz's thoughtful acoustic guitar. "He Knows My Name" is sung in similar vein and the quality really lifts with these two songs. Then, Sweet Rain decide to go gospel with "Mighty Mighty Saviour" and all is lost once more. The vocal gifts of Sweet Rain need a guiding hand, the sooner the better.

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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