Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

I'm not sure about these live gospel albums where everything feels hyped up! My back was up from the first few chords here where an utterly OTT sister did a most hyped intro, declaring Ami to be powerful and prophetic and whatever else. Hmmm. just let the girl sing! We can decide for ourselves how gifted she is! The former member of Rev James Cleveland's Southern California Community Choir, no mean feat for a blue-eyed blonde, there's no doubt that Ms Rushes is blessed with a powerful voice and the production of Kurt Carr isn't harming anything here but there is something that doesn't grab me about the album overall. There are a few moments where it hits it like on the cover of the old Albertina Walker tune "I Can Go To God In Prayer". And then there's the closing mellow gospel version of "In Christ Alone" and her version of Michael Card's "El Shaddai" which make a welcome change of pace from the rest of the album. Overall though, there isn't anything here that I haven't heard a hundred times before and combining that with a voice which is certainly powerful but too often verges on the raucous, the album remains rather average.

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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