Reviewed by Paul Baker

One look at the front cover and you might mistake this for WOW Worship Yellow. Whether or not the all American content is a good or bad thing is a matter of personal taste, since the UK and US CCM worship scenes have their own distinct flavour. That said, this is a solid release with more than a few highlights. Building 429's version of Chris Tomlin's "Famous One" takes off like a jet engine with crunching guitars and towering riffs. In "Call On Jesus" Nicole C Mullen delivers a tender moment of inspiring gospel. Sara Groves' song about security in God, "This Is The One Thing I Know", will stick in your head for ages with its mellow good-natured funk, crisp lyrics and sing-song chorus. You can almost feel the presence of the Spirit hovering over the water in the chilling use of ebow in By The Tree's version of "God Of Wonders". I challenge anyone not to start moshing to Fusebox's fist-pumping version of David Ruis' "Every Move I Make", and BarlowGirl's "No One Like You" is fun, if not that mature. Moments of corporate worship are rare but there are two fine examples. Charlie Hall's shining chorus "Give Us Clean Hands" has a glorious sense of adoration and the sense of God in the room is palpable. And Salvador are clearly having far too much fun in their infectious, Latin-flavoured take on Martin Smith's "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever". So, do we have a memorable compilation that bears permanent repeat on your ipod? Well, no. The problem is it's padded out to two discs with a number of mediocre offerings. Mikeschair's track (the only exclusive) is uneven and directionless; Planetshakers, Lincoln Brewster and Rachael Lampa offerings are bland and rather forgettable and Skillet's "Holy And Anointed One" is just plain irritating. Of the two discs number one is the stronger with the least filler. Why not just give us the cream and leave the skimmed milk out?

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.