Reviewed by David Faulkner

In this reviewer's opinion, the Great Big God CDs were among the best recent children's worship recordings. Two of the songs here - the title track and "He's Jesus" - appeared on 'Great Big God 2'. In keeping with GBG, Parry's CD contains high energy worship songs. Like GBG, it occasionally strays into religious clichés and melodies that are beyond younger children - "Always Be With Me" has both the melody problem and the lyric issue, with lines such as "Lord I want to thank you/ For who you are in my life". And is it right to say that God is "cool"? "Cool" refers to social acceptance - something that often the Gospel lacks. Then there is with the cover of "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher". Yes, the song can be sung with an additional meaning by Christians about what the love of God is like, but Simon's voice - which is fine in context - is white and polite, and pales next to Jackie Wilson's. There is also a booklet error, where the words to "God Is Good" are replaced by a duplication of "Sent From Above". Yet despite the imperfections, this is a worthwhile release, and my All Age Worship team will find several songs here, such as "I Believe" and "Thank You" that will be a joy to use on Sundays.

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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