Reviewed by Seamus Bradley

The very word Hillsong carries a mantle that is not always easy to live up to. I'm one of those people that believe that Hillsong London could be as popular as their Australian family. Unfortunately this offering falls a bit short of my expectations. The production of the DVD is slick and is of the usual high standards that we come to expect with Hillsong DVDs. It includes inspiring interviews from people whose life has been changed by God, some pieces about London and some snippets of the genesis of Hillsong church in London. It's all crafted nicely, packaged well and sold as the typical Hillsong experience that we all enjoy, and to that I can't pick out a flaw. The extras are great and watching the DVD you almost feel part of the extended Hillsong family. The part where I feel let down is in the musical side of the DVD. It starts off with the title track, a simple song that sings of the majesty of God. It's actually quite catchy and my four year old son loves it. The second song is "You Deserve", which also appeared on the Hillsong album 'This Is Our God' and is one of my favourite Hillsong songs. After the third song we are catapulted into an urban London setting with the urban music to boot. To be honest though, it really upsets the flow of the disc. I must mention at this point that I do appreciate urban music but the tracks here simply didn't fit with the projected message of the disc; they sort of sit in the middle of the disc like a big sore thumb. Worse than that, the jarring stylistic shift divides the disc into two sections as the first three songs are archetypal bouncy pop rock, fulfilling all our Hillsong expectations, followed by four songs which seem to crawl in and mostly consist of guitar run-downs and little arpeggios that encumber the worship setting steered heavily by a piano. After two or three listens the album did start to grow on me but I found the urban music inclusion spoilt the project's focus.

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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