Reviewed by Dave Brassington

This album is a bit of a mystery as the sleevenotes categorically state that it was produced on the announcement of The Florida Boys' retirement, yet only recently the veterans have been on the Inspiration TV Southern Gospel series and have appeared doing the odd song on some recent Gaither live recordings. I must admit that I enjoyed them more on these recent appearances than on this album which sounds pretty dated and lacklustre. As a group that has been going for many years it is also not clear whether these were "final" recordings or a collection of older tracks. The tenor lead vocal for me was most uninspiring but there are a couple of nice tracks like the Marijohn Wilkin song "Scars In The Hands Of Jesus" and "When They Ring Those Golden Bells". Also, I'm sure I'm not the only Brit who cannot understand why "Star-Spangled Banner" keeps appearing on gospel albums! This collection will only appeal to long-in-the-tooth devotees of Southern gospel.

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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