Reviewed by Dave Griffiths

One of the big talents of '80s CCM, a Best Of is most welcome. There are '80s/'90s production values all over this compilation that dates the music quite a lot, but the songs are pretty strong and Margaret's vocals are vibrantly expressed. Billboard magazine once called Margaret "the Christian music equivalent of Mary Chapin Carpenter" but in truth there's little of the country star's stylings, instead Margaret seems to have begun as a Christian version of pat Benatar and gradually came to resemble (a little) Annie Lennox. But whatever style she adopts the Irish American singer emotes with believable passion. Standouts for me were "This I Know" featuring a tight arrangement and clever programming and my favourite track, "Find Me", which smacks of '80's rock ballad, but I like a bit of that, especially if it has lyrics that point me Heavenwards. Also worth a listen is "Friend For Life", co-written with Chris Eaton, (great songwriter for people like Sir Cliff and Amy Grant). Spiritually, these songs are fairly 'safe', there's nothing to offend or challenge in particular, but it's all very nice, and there's nothing wrong with that is there? Margaret can sing, and she can write, and do what it takes to last over 15 years in the industry (the music on this Best Of spans from 1987 to 1999).

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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