Reviewed by Tony Cummings

One of the most successful new worship album series of recent years, at least in the UK, has been Kingsway’s 500 Series. Like all brilliant ideas, it’s a simple one. Take the 500 most popular praise and worship songs in the UK as identified by the CCLI copyright licensing scheme and record them simply and cleanly with an experienced producer (Chris Norton) and a bevy of session singers both British and American. With each handsomely packaged box set offering three CDs and 50 recordings for the price, more or less, of one CD, the series has built-in appeal for those worship leaders wanting to accumulate an affordable yet exhaustive library of the most popular worship songs written over the last 30 years or so. There are plenty of classic songs here, like “In Heavenly Armour (The Battle Belongs To The Lord)”, “God Is Good”, “The River Is Here”, “When I Feel The Touch” and literally dozens more. There are bound to be songs here that you’ve never heard before while occasionally the original recording by someone like Delirious? or David Ruis makes any new stab at the song pretty bland by comparison. But it’s the songs rather than the performances which are being showcased here.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.