Reviewed by Tony Cummings

There are a few problems with this set. First off, you'll need to forget the publicity hype - an album featuring two British, one South African, two Australian and four American acts do not constitute "a global expression of worship." (Where's South America, China, etc, etc?) Secondly, having two tracks from previously released albums (a remix of Delirious?' "Jesus' Blood" and the original of Matt Redman's "0 Sacred King") wedged into the middle of the new recordings by producer Peter Kipley breaks up the musical continuity and makes the whole thing smack of el cheapo compilation rather than the big budget multi artist concept album it would like to be perceived as. Thirdly, getting Nashville's finest to do poptastic arrangements of worship classics (Rebecca St James sings a makeover of Darlene's "Shout To The Lord" while both Eli and Raze do Martin Smith oldies) leaves the impression of Nashville furiously trying to climb on board the youth praise bandwagon. But such a jaundiced perspective ignores the fact that the American artists featured here are among the most Jesus focused on the scene. Let's conclude that with such quality songs and gifted vocalists as these and with a nice ambient feel of some tracks which, if not delivering the deep forest grooves promised in the press release, definitely make for a fresh approach to worship material. All in all, worth checking out.

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