Reviewed by Doug Holland

The vision here is both bold and clear - a huge compilation of some of the most highly regarded music (instrumental and vocal) The Salvation Army has to offer from its songsters and bands around the world and sale proceeds to go to help fund the Army's work amongst those struggling in developed countries around the world. Each of the four CDs here contains one longer piece and a varied mixture of instrumental and sung pieces complete the recording; approximately three and a half hours of outstanding Army music is the result. There are too many bands and songsters to list them all but included here is the Amsterdam Staff Band, the Melbourne Staff Songsters, USA Western Territorial Band, the International Staff Band and the Sydney Staff Singers. The collection is so massive that no discernible "musical journey" is possible across it (and none appears to have been attempted), but that is no real criticism as of much greater value is what is here rather than what is not, and for aficionados of this genre this makes an excellent (and very sizeable) addition to their collection.

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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