Reviewed by Simon Redfern

This latest release from Juanita brings a collection of music and word from the top-selling gospel diva. If quality gospel ballads are your thing, then you'll love the music on offer here with powerful and passionate vocals from Juanita over a subtle layer of musical accompaniment plus an occasional sprinkling of harmonies from the gospel choir. On the whole they work extremely well, but the pace of some such as "Heart's Desire" are so relaxed they almost stop completely. There are a couple of Darlene Zschech songs here, "You Are Worthy (Any Crown)" and "You Are/You Are Lord", which are both gutsy interpretations, but for me the inclusion of interludes of preaching over music do drag on a bit. So the odd faster track, with "Breakforth Praise" and "Wonderful Is Your Name" being very typically gospel in style, complete with funky bass lines, tight drum rhythms and brass interludes, are particularly welcome. The DVD features a sermon from the 2006 Mega Fest and a live performance from Juanita's 'Unplugged' DVD release. The sound quality in the sermon suffers from the effects of being recorded in a huge stadium, where delays and echoes dominate. Although the content of the sermon was stirring, non-Pentecostals will be put off by the crowd being whipped up by the over-the-top style of preaching. The unplugged session had way better sound quality, but again like some of the interludes on the CDs, it did go on a little too long. So all in all, this is a package only for hardcore Bynum devotees.

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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