Reviewed by Jon Cooper

'Strong God' epitomises the slick, chrome-alloyed face of contemporary worship music. Euphoric keyboards soar over "woah-woah" congregational sing-alongs, while delay-laden high-end guitar noodling decorates predictable four chord progressions pilfered from U2's back pocket. The effect is to place the listener in a zone that is part teary youth event altar call, part next-big-thing hysteria in a dingy music festival tent. "Jesus Reigns" is a strong opener cut from the same cloth as Tim Hughes' more anthemic and sing-able tracks, while "More Than Enough" builds to soaring, stadium-filling bridge that is reprised, rather oddly, as a separate track immediately afterwards. Disappointingly, 'Strong God' then goes on to provide further evidence of the steady drip-feed of Coldplay's influence into contemporary Christian music; "Unassailable" bumbles along with a military-inspired drum rhythm, taking an age to really get anywhere other than the end, before "Who Compares" builds to a prime slice of soundtrack for a mobile network advertisement. You could be forgiven for falling into a coma-like state of MOR-induced musical comfort, until closer "Alive And Free" picks up the pulse rate with its Killers-esque bounce-along. A mixed bag, and perhaps a little guilty of style-over-substance in places.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.