Reviewed by John Baugh

The blurb with this one claims a "new, fresh sound" - remembering that this is number seven in the series you can see such a change must be necessary for the supposedly contemporary Praise Band to remain so. So.out of the archives comes Praise Band 3 (1990) for a bit of before and after comparison. The result? Definitely different: before, it was all very high tech and power chordy; after is much more of a 'real' band sound led mostly by acoustic guitar or piano. Not that they have thrown the baby out with the bath water - the classy vocal harmonies, top notch playing and inventive arrangements remain. Some of the sound is deliberately a touch retro - the swing of "Wailing Into Dancing" reminding me of Leo Sayer of all things. The best of the contributions are at the rockier end of the spectrum ("Let It Rise", "Rock Of Ages") but at least there is a spectrum! At the other end, the intimate, devotional songs also help to "set your mind on things above" which, when you get down to it must be among the main purposes of all worship.

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