Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir - Be Glad

Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

It's been a while since we've had something new from this, the premier multi-racial gospel choir in the USA, and it did them no favours when their last label change meant the reissue of some of the cheesier offerings from their back catalogue. So what are we to make of this - is it an album that sees them back to something like the form that we know they're capable of, or is it more dull, painful-to-listen-to inspirational schlock? Well, there's good news and bad news - it's both. The up-tempo tracks are perfectly good examples of call-and-response, although one or two are rather repetitive and somewhat lengthy. The slower stuff, on the other hand, is even lengthier ("My Life Is In Your Hands" is a particularly turgid six minutes and three seconds, and the following track "We Bless Your Name" goes 15 seconds longer), so whilst a total run time of just over 59 minutes might seem generous, you may find yourself using the skip forward button rather a lot. It would be easy for me to say that this sort of music doesn't connect on this side of the Atlantic, but there are other gospel choirs in the States who are perfectly capable of hitting the spot in Europe, so why not the Brooklyn Tab? Answers on a postcard, please ..