Reviewed by Paul Loader

Following the sad passing of Larry Norman in February 2008 it was obvious that much of his work would be re-released. And sure enough this is happening. Much of Norman's material has already been re-mastered and issued on CD. 1973's 'In Another Land', part three of Larry's famed Trilogy, has been repackaged on numerous occasions. As with the other CD versions this has a bonus of three additional tracks, one of which has been taken from what can only be described as an iconic moment in gospel music history, Cliff Richard's BBC Special where we have Larry storming through "The Rock That Doesn't Roll", a sassy piece of R&B rock ala Sticky Fingers era Stones with the crowd going absolutely and utterly bonkers which will remind all devotees what a great rocker Larry was. You can even watch the vid of it on YouTube. I would buy the album for this track alone. The CD has 18 tracks in total giving a real feel of what Christian music was like in the mid '70s. "I Love You" (not the People! hit but a catchy Randy Stonehill composition written for the Billy Graham film Time To Run) gives us a real '70s love song to God. "UFO" created an absolute stink when it came out by suggesting that people would think the seconding coming of Christ would be like a UFO sighting in the sky and that if there were life on other planets he would have gone and died for them as well. The haunting song "I Am A Servant" has a beauty that lingers long after the song has ended. In an age when theology can be quite frankly overly complicated and worship music has a depth that would frighten a Bible college student it is quite refreshing to go back to the innocence of an age when albums like this simply sang about how much God loves us and how excited the singer is about "just talking about my Jesus" ("Shot Down"). If you don't already have this album in your collection then I heartily recommend that you get on and buy this classic.

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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