Reviewed by Doug Holland

Gateway Church at Dallas, Texas was planted about 10 years ago and in that time has grown from a congregation of 200 to its present size of about 16,000. Worship plays a major part in church life, and the passion of the Gateway Worship band and its leaders is apparent in this 15-track, 75-minute collection of worship songs recorded live. Having started with a few good, but nonetheless fairly routine big guitar-driven songs it moves into a longer period of greater variety of sound and emotion which it sustains to the end, and the majority of songs in this latter section of the recording, when the guitars are supplemented by orchestral strings and real inspiration is apparent in some of the compositions and arrangements. The sound of the worshipping congregation is given prominence and helps to retain the 'live' feel throughout and the crunchy and raw production values given to the project also contribute to this effect. Overall, there is enough variation of textures across the offering to make it a potent live worship set.

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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Recorded LIVE, God Be Praised emanates passionate worship from Gateway Church in Southlake (Dallas), Texas.

Led by Thomas Miller and the Gateway Worship team, energetic praise gives way to intimate worship as the church comes together in one voice to glorify the name of Jesus and give thanks for all He’s done.