Reviewed by Dave Williams

You do not have to be dabbling in the occult or be a prophet of God to predict the contents of this fifth album by American AOR/Metal band Whitecross. The album is yet another two ballad, seven rock and one guitar instrumental identikit of the band's previous four albums. Whitecross have obviously settled into an album formula that in my opinion is long overdue for a change. Whitecross are obviously a band for the Christian marketplace, the lyrical content is so Christian that anyone digging up the inlay sleeve in a few hundred years' time will wonder if they have found a lost portion of Holy Scripture. I really do not see the benefit of such blatent Christian lyrics - they satisfy the Christian but cause the majority of unsaved listeners to choke on their own vomit. All this is a real shame because Whitecross have what it takes to put together a quality album that would be acceptable to all listeners and at the same time create an interest in investigating the person of Jesus. Musically the album is 7777777 (sorry, just dozed off) quite good and makes more use of the acoustic guitar than their previous albums, but overall it offers very little progression and relies far too much on the talents of Rex Carroll. I notice that the band have gone through yet another line up change and it makes you wonder if Whitecross are Scott Wenzel and Rex Carrol with a few session guys filling in. Don't get me wrong, I know that Whitecross are a band of sincere Christians with a desire to reach young people for Jesus and they are probably doing great at live gigs, but on an album level they need to re-think their approach and make their albums acceptable for anyone's CD collection.

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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