This is the missing piece  of their portfolio: it carries  their usual classic  construction, Irish melodies, scriptural base, newly-found American country influences – and this time it's live.

Label: Getty Music (www.gettymusic.com)
Time: 16 Tracks / 66 minutes

Surely anyone who likes the music of the Gettys must by now be pretty sure of what's coming their way. For years, the couple's modern hymns have set the standard for worship music. The importance they place on strong theological content is as obvious as the lilting Irish melodies that carry those words. This selection of greatest hits live is everything you would expect.

Whereas that last release took in the breadth of life, this one, "Hear the Call of the Kingdom" aside, is more limited to liturgical themes of praise, mercy, Church and theological observation.

Typically exultant, "Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed" starts the disc off in fourth or fifth gear (without laboring the engine) and most songs you hope for show up: "Come People of the Risen King" (with its exhilarating chorus of "Rejoice") comes next. "By Faith," congregational anthem "O Church Arise" and signature tune "In Christ Alone" all appear, as does the usual inclusion of "Gabriel's Oboe" from The Mission's soundtrack.

Along with a fully-charged "O Church Arise", the Celtic fireball "Toss the Feathers" is again one of the album's biggest highlights, added as the climax to "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," but at just a minute long remains as criminally short as on the studio version. This is something that could build even further and almost explode in joy. After all, this is a live recording.

Showing that their hymns have roots, the couple includes another classic in "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty" as they bring the worship festival to an à capella close.

Continuing the style of their last studio release, after the Gettys relocated to Nashville, the band is decidedly more American (as shown so well on "Lift High the Name of Jesus"). Mandolin and banjo join in with their more typical Uilleann pipes, with fiddle glueing the two cultures together. This mix of influences prevents it from being samey.

Given that their work is aimed squarely at a congregational target, to have these songs sung live is a natural fit and the missing piece of their portfolio. This may be executed with typically clinical precision – as opposed to the rootsier, lo-fi approach of collaborator Stuart Townend – but this band gives the material a fuller sound than in the studio (lead guitar is more prominent and have they ever done "In Christ Alone" better?). Now where do they go from here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRnG2xzzEaU

4 Tocks
Derek Walker
http://walkerwords.wordpress.com

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