Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

These guys are wild! Completely creative and blessed with a wild sense of humour, their live set at the GMA conference in Nashville opened plenty of eyes. On album, this is their major release after making their mark with an independent project. Two songs build on the "Wizard Of Oz" theme of the band name, with their opening theme tune a clever metaphor for the need for Christ's transformation and the album's title song is a vibey, drum looped, catchy chorused exploration of the eternal. This is intelligent tongue in cheek stuff. One of the album's focal points is the slower tune "You Are My Sun" which celebrates the intimate love which God lavishes on His children. Chunky guitars and strong harmonies combine to great effect on 'Overcome' and the atmospheric moody 'Gen X' is a real highlight. The band are produced by John and Dino Elefante and this is both a good and a bad thing. Where some songs benefit from production polish, there's a feeling on others that the band end up sounding a little too like everyone else and I wonder whether left to their own devices, this would have been an album that really pushed back the barriers! After all, this isn't Kansas, we want a band who'll get over the rainbow! As a debut, I love it! It's clever, creative and polished but I don't think we've yet seen the total genius that these guys have to offer. I'll patiently wait for the next one!

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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