Reviewed by Tom Lennie

The frustrating thing about this two-CD compilation of live worship sounds from New Wine conferences is that the sleevenotes, although containing full lyrics and composers' names, etc, provide no details whatever about what New Wine is, where it's held, or, most annoying of all, who is singing each song. Thankfully, with the unique vocals of folk like Matt Redman, Andy Park, etc, the problem is somewhat alleviated. Then there's the cover-art (art?), which does nothing to commend the product. Okay, enough of the negatives. Thankfully, they're greatly outweighed by the pluses, which include a fantastic song selection. Though including few recent compositions, they certainly appeal to my ears, being, in my opinion, among some of the best worship songs of the last two decades or so, and each with a pulsating live atmosphere, which make some of them sound even better than the originals! Vineyard output features prominently, much of it more than 10 years old. There's an air of nostalgia attached to some of these older songs which perhaps adds to their appeal. Almost embarrassingly simple though it is, I'm much attracted to the little-recorded "I Sing Praises" (written by Terry MacAlmon in 1989), but there's loads of other beauties. This has got to be one of the most worshipful compilations I've heard in quite some time. Great stuff.

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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