Score: 10/10
Admiral Cummings and I recently agreed that the Brits are the world’s best for producing exciting Christian Dance Pop. Nobody does it better and here is another example! Dance/Techno/Rock/Rave/Pop (just covering all the bases here) trio As If have followed up their excellent debut with this huge step in a dancy direction. All the elements of the band are highlighted here-strong rhythm tracks, memorable hooky songwriting, a bit of powerful guitar here and there and there’s even Phil Goss’s metal detector playing in the key of F, He’s poor old cat sampled and mutilated (the sample that is not the cat, see if you can spot it). Any minute now I almost expect drummer Phil Heard to leap out of the speakers and start knocking out a rhythm on top of my computer or filing cabinet!
Packed with top tunes, I’ll simply rave about my faves, I love “Outside In”,driven as it is by Steve Rothwell’s brilliant bass playing and “Heaven” would be an obvious contender for a single release with one of those punchy pulsating driving beats that Phil Goss delights in creating. At the other extreme “Heaven” is followed on the CD by “Area 51”, a rather poignant song about Hell. Not a popular topic for CCM artist to write about and therefore to be commended. “It’s Alright By Me” is moody and catchy and I love the atmosphere and vulnerability of the plaintive “How I Feel”. There is so much to enjoy here.
Mike Rimmer.