Israel And New Breed - Live From Another Level

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Israel and New Breed's energetic brand of contemporary gospel is captured to great effect on this concert DVD filmed at the Sheffield Family Life Center - not in South Yorkshire, but Kansas City, USA. Israel Houghton leads the audience (congregation?) with passion and charisma, ably supported by the musicians and vocalists of the 16-strong New Breed. The music is top quality, the band a tight unit equally at home blasting through high energy numbers like "Going To Another Level" or providing a gentle backdrop to quieter moments such as the medley "I Still Love You/Magnificent And Holy/Breathe Into Me". However, the visuals fail to match up to the consistent quality of the audio; jerky use of hand-held cameras, quick edits and, worst of all, poor synchronisation with the soundtrack meant that, at times, following the action is difficult. Compounding these technical slip-ups is the poor coverage of the onstage lighting, meaning that individual musicians are sometimes shrouded in darkness at vital moments. Also not working in the show's favour are, firstly, a redundant, self-congratulatory and, frankly, distasteful "Prelude" consisting of a documentary-style montage of urban America's darker side, accompanied by the tagline "A new era with new issues requires a New Breed of worship." Secondly, during the anthemic "Lord Of The Breakthrough", guest speaker Bishop Joseph Garlington appears stage-left to deliver a word on the theme including the questionable sentiment that "[Your path in life is] not right until someone is opposing you." Hmm. However, the DVD ends with a superb double-whammy; "Trading My Sorrows" and "You Are Good" see Israel leading all the worshippers in exuberant and powerful praise. Special features include backstage "home movie" moments and footage from a bird's eye "drum cam".