Review

If Mariah Carey sang Christian music and released a worship album, her back-up band would be Tribe Of Benjamin.

This new Urban Praise imprint from Integrity does something that no other worship label has done in many, many years. They've taken a risk, and the results are really wonderful.

When was the last time you heard a worship album that had a groove? Well, if you have, I'm sure it was a long time ago, and if you haven't, then get ready for something really unique.

'Raize Da Prayze' delivers more than the street-level title implies. From the opening R&B vibe of 'Raize Da Prayze' and Darrel Evans' 'Your Love Is Extravagant' you know you're in for a real treat. The instrumentation is dead-on with pulsing bass lines and a well-polished group of female background singers. This doesn't sound like a Nashville version of an R&B record, this sounds like the real Motown deal, complete with toe-tapping urban pop instrumentation that is as new as today's cup of coffee.

Tribe Of Benjamin is made up of seven talented young people who have a real gift for expressing their love for God through a style of music that, until now, has been mostly reserved for expressing a love of a more romantic or erotic kind. It's very refreshing to hear 'Mighty Is Our God' performed to music that sounds like it was produced by Quincy Jones.

Most of the songs here are made up of slick, urban versions of great worship songs you may already know in their original form, such as Darrell Evans' 'Trading My Sorrows' and 'Your Love Is Extravagant', Gary Sadler's 'Blessed Is He' and 'It Is Good To Give Thanks' and Ed Kerr's 'I Will Give' (all published by Integrity/Hosanna Music). But, trust me, you've never heard these songs, or any worship songs, quite as cool as these.

It may not be possible for most worship teams to pull off any of these arrangements on Sunday morning, but this CD is worth a listen if for no other reason than to hear how an older favorite can be re-interpreted with such fantastic results.

What really sets Tribe Of Benjamin apart from the crowd, apart from the choice of style, is the phenomenal production work by Ben Tankard who produced, arranged, programmed, engineered and mixed this project before handing the finished goods over to Integrity. Here's hoping he's working on the follow up as we enjoy this fine worship CD.

Review: Keith Giles