Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

This five CD Kingsway collection is designed to help us "find that time and space that gives us the freedom to sit, reflect and allow the Spirit of God to consume us... Using the timeless sounds of violin, harp, flute, cello, guitar, saxophone and Celtic pipes, this is your oasis in the desert for that time." So the main question has to be, Does this collection achieve the aim of being an oasis in the desert? Well, I don't believe so; this has all been done before many times and in my opinion 100 songs, culled from Kingsway's vast archive of instrumental praise albums, are just too much. The truth is too many of these renditions veer perilously close to instrumental muzak. As usual with Kingsway compilations you have no idea who is performing and occasionally there are some flashes of quality playing as in the cello on "Prayer Of St Patrick" or the simple acoustic guitar and brushes of "Show Your Power". But then, some songs are completely ruined, like the Shadows-style guitar arrangement on "I Will Offer Up My Life", and many others are simply bland. One final piece of advice, if you don't like panpipes avoid this album. Although not mentioned in the instrumentation list above, they feature a lot!

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.

Sometimes in the hectic humdrum of everyday life we need to find that time and space that gives us the freedom to sit, reflect and allow the Spirit of God to consume us.

In this creative box set collection Kingsway have brought together no less than 100 songs of Instrumental Worship featuring many well known classics such as Be Still, All Heaven Declares, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Such Love, There is A Redeemer and many many more.

Using the timeless sounds of Violin, Harp, Flute, Cello, Guitar, Saxophone and Celtic pipes, this is your oasis in the desert for that time.