Reviewed by Norman Smith

A Stars In Their Eyes question: why has every Christian male singer got to sound exactly like Cliff or Delirious? these days? The "Smithy twang" appears to have been copied by every new kid on the block, with every old one siding with pop's Peter Pan! The female vocals provided by the session singers here are much better, the range of songs and hymns is broad, from "Lord, How Majestic You Are" via "Hands Hands Fingers Thumbs" through to "For The Fruits Of His Creation", and with 50 songs on display there are bound to be highlights: There are, in fact two or three: Noel and Trisha Richards' "Champion" and Dave Bilborough's "I Believe There Is A God In Heaven" are fine songs in their own right, and these versions do full justice to good material. "I Want To Worship The Lord" is also sensitively done (in the style of The Corrs), Unfortunately, the majority of the rest are either run off the electric piano production line, or are rank bad arrangements, as in "I Serve A Risen Saviour", which is butchered, "This Child", which is mauled and "Don't Build Your House On The Sandy Land" which is gratuitous. "There's A Sound On The Wind" completes the soundalikes with a kitsche Wet Wet Wet production that is anything but a call to battle.

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.

This track data is supplied by the Cross Rhythms CD/DVD review library. Please note that CD tracks may vary according to release region or product version.