Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Following on from their debut 'Innocent' EP, Derbyshire-based blues/rock trio the Foundation Stone have released their first full album with the overriding theme of finding hope through Jesus. As with the EP, this is a very rough and ready affair but one that is unfortunately hampered by a dreadful mix and poor production standards. Despite frontman Matt Preston's valiant lead guitar work and Roger Daltrey-like vocals, the muddy two-dimensional mix of the album (a lot of the time Trevor Shepard's drums don't even sound like drums) makes for a somewhat arduous listen. Full credit to the band though for attempting to offer up Christian-themed songs that are different from the raft of modern worship music out there at the moment and tracks like the positive opener "Hope Is Rising" and the Jesus-quoting "Do You Love Me" - the latter complete with a borrowed Black Sabbath riff - have the potential to sound good in a decent recording environment. However, the album's mix seems to deteriorate with each passing track with things either sounding way too cluttered or each song tending to meander along musically and lyrically without really making an impression. The accompanying press release states that the album took 12 months to record in admittedly low budget circumstances and, whilst there's no doubting the effort put in by all involved and the spiritual heart of the band, it's hard to get beyond the substandard production of this well-meaning release.

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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