newsboys He Reigns: The Worship Collection (Sparrow/EMI) Released October 2005 reviewed by Christa Banister

Sounds like … the band's worshipful chapter of bright pop/rock from the last five years, compiled on one disc.

At a glance … the album could serve as an intro to their praise-oriented fare, but for fans who own the band's most recent albums, this disc is completely unnecessary.

Sometimes business dealings aren't always in the fans' best interest, leading to what's essentially a superfluous product. Case in point: He Reigns: The Worship Collection. In what ends up fulfilling the band's contractual obligation to Sparrow Records, the latest from newsboys is nothing more than a collection of the band's most worshipful offerings from their last four studio albums—Love Liberty Disco, Thrive, Adoration and Devotion.

A lot of artists these days—Usher, Gwen Stefani, Relient K, Green Day, John Mayer, and Building 429, to name a few—have repackaged their albums with enhanced features, bonus/unreleased tracks, a complimentary DVD with a live performance, or even some snazzy new packaging. But with He Reigns, even the packaging looks like a five-minute job—a shame, really, when you think about all that the newsboys have done in recent years.

It's all probably out of the band's hands, but there's absolutely nothing new here that an ardent fan wouldn't already own—plus, a good chunk of the album are merely covers of common modern worship standards that the band didn't even write. Seems like some sort of bonus material could have been added. If nothing else, couldn't Sparrow and Inpop Records have worked together to offer a taste of the newsboys' highly anticipated spring 2006 release?

That's not to say there aren't good songs here, particularly "It Is You," "Beautiful Sound," "Lord (I Don't Know)," and the title track. Anyone unfamiliar with the newsboys' most recent material will find this a well-produced sampling of their worship-oriented era. But the core fan base deserves better than this largely unnecessary recap of the band's last four albums.

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newsboys He Reigns: The Worship Collection (Sparrow/EMI) Released October 2005 reviewed by Christa Banister