Reviewed by Ian Thomson

When this album was originally released in 2006 the front sleeve billing was to Chris Quilala, Kim Walker, Melissa Wise. Now, as Jesus Culture the trio of worship leaders out of the famed Bethel Church in Redding, California have become recognised as trui pioneers exploring the prophetic dimension of worship. Full of passion and energy, this rocky live recording certainly makes an instant impression on the listener. That impression is one of being slightly outside the worship zone; track one repeats the single lyric "Oh how we want you to come" into double digits, as an invocation of the Spirit, backed by enthusiastic applause from the sizable and evidently youthful congregation. While the backing band are tight and professional in their play, the vocals are strong, and there is some creative use of secular songs in a worship context, the overall feeling is that this CD is an in-house job. The recorded prayers exhibit a spontaneous abandon full of the passion of the moment. A particularly interesting feature is what appears to be onstage composition of several of the songs, the lyrics of which are not recorded on the album cover. The recording quality is good, and certainly anyone closely associated with Bethel Church and the Jesus Culture movement can be proud of the album; for the rest of us, it's a little hard to get into.

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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