Reviewed by Nigel Harris

As usual, don't be fooled by the date: this compilation of "the year's top Christian music hits" was released in 2006! The tracks are nominally divided between 15 pop artists and 15 rock artists, although the styles of individual tracks might not appear to warrant that description. Musically, this DVD presents a pretty good cross section of the current US Christian music scene. Veterans like Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W Smith appear alongside newer names such as Jeremy Camp, Chris Tomlin and BarlowGirl. While the pop tracks use a variety of formats and styles, the rock tracks tend largely to show band miming their tracks in parking lot, at deserted cross roads, in a darkened room, in a club, etc. "Shut Me Out" by Kutless use the "band playing in a warehouse" style, but adds a mysterious SWAT team that screeches up to the building as the track starts and carts the band away at the end - mysterious, but it breaks the mould! Only Edison Glass try something different, with a quirky black and white animation (the story of which I couldn't make head or tail of!). Stellar Kart's 1960s TV spoof on "Activate" is another refreshing change from the same old stuff. Several tracks - Jeremy Camp's "This Man" and Amy Grant's "Eye To Eye" - feature the artist performing for a studio audience, while "All In The Serve" cuts from Michael W Smith pretending to play a dusty old piano in a warehouse to clips of him in his recent feature film The Second Chance. If you have seen the film this probably makes sense, otherwise it's just eye candy I'm afraid. There are a few low points too, of course. Like Steven Curtis Chapman singing "All I Really Want" (ie, for Christmas) in a horribly fake snow scene, and Krystal Meyers who makes no attempt whatsoever to lip sync to the vocals on the otherwise excellent "The Beauty Of Grace". This is a great way to spend two hours instead of watching junk TV, and out of these 30 tracks you'll probably discover a new artist you want to explore further.

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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