Reviewed by Tony Cummings

It was of course John Wimber's stream of Vineyard churches which played a seminal role in the development of what we now refer to as contemporary worship. Vineyard's early albums were similar in sound to the Maranatha! Music albums that Calvary Chapel had birthed in the early and mid '70s (indeed the early Vineyard albums used many of the same musicians, singers and worship leaders that were featured on Maranatha's 'Praise' albums). But as the later Maranatha! albums took on a more middle of the road approach with ever increasing use of lush string arrangements, so too the Vineyard Music albums gradually became more and more stereotyped with the distinct feel of a worship song production line. Having said all that, this compilation, concentrating as it does on many of Vineyard's most successful songs, is still fairly impressive, with Andy Park's "The River Is Here", David Ruis' "Every Move I Make" and Kelly Carpenter's "Draw Me Close" all still having legs. But, in truth, it's the more recent tracks on this set like Brian Doerksen's "Come Now Is The Time" (brilliantly performed by Vineyard UK) and Vineyard Anaheim's fine new talent Jeremy Riddle on "More Than A Friend" which show production dynamics head and shoulders above some of the older, staider tracks here. But 'Legacy Worship From The Vineyard' is still worth investigating if you have few Vineyard albums in your 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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