Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

The early '70s saw the explosion of the Jesus revolution which happened on the west coast of America and eventually spreading across the USA. Musically it felt like the epicentre for the coolest Christian music was in California where musicians found faith, formed bands and hit the studio to record the Jesus rock songs they were recording. One band that made the most impact in those early days was called The Way. It's a joy when vintage vinyl releases make it onto CD re-releases and this 18 track CD captures The Way's entire debut plus songs from the 'Can It Be?' album. The latter was the first time that Al Perkins produced an album. So what do we have? We have West Coast American rock with plenty of tight harmonies, effective guitar work and songs that these days might sound a little naïve but captured the fresh feelings of revival and purpose. The self titled debut album is probably more acoustic in sound than 'Can It Be' but by then the band had hit the road and had been hardened by a hectic schedule of gigging. Standouts on the debut are the gorgeous ballad "Closer To God" and the jaunty "You're Caught In A World" which features some great guitar work. Talking of great guitar, I absolutely love the twin guitar playing on "Do You Feel The Change?" which is very much of its time production wise with plenty of reverb on the vocals but somehow driven along by an outstanding percussion workout by drummer Alex MacDougal. Another standout is the funk rock of "Livin' On The Bottle" built around a fabulous clavinet groove. These are seminal Jesus Rock recordings and with the memorable statuettes cover of their debut album faithfully reproduced, everything is in place.

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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