God He Reigns by Hillsong

Reviewed by Doug Holland

This is the 14th of the now annual recordings of live worship from the massive Hillsong Church of Sydney, Australia, and comprises a two-CD set lasting some 95 minutes. A variety of Hillsong worship leaders and writers, including Darlene Zschech and Reuben Morgan, have contributed to the track list (all the songs are new, 2004 or 2005) and the performance and, as ever for Hillsong, the music is impeccably performed, produced, packaged and presented. With a production team of around 70, almost the same number of musicians AND a choir, one is entitled to expect a big sound, and that is precisely what one gets. If relentless and closely choreographed mass worship is your bag then you will love this. If you seek new perspectives and fresh insights about and into the love of God in the lyrics of your worship songs then you most certainly will not, as this is corporate worship at its safest and most formulaic. The 90 minutes of recording are spread over just 15 songs, with the generous length of the recording derived from the numerous repeated sections within each song. For some it will be what they have been waiting for; for others it will be like one of those humorous situations someone tells you about where you really had to be there.