Pam Rhodes - Hearts and Hymns

Pam Rhodes cherry picks Christian music that spans the centuries to create the ultimate compilation album: 'Hearts and Hymns'.

Pam Who? - A Brief Biography

To say that Pam Rhodes is a multi-talented woman is an apt use of British understatement. She's a writer, presenter, speaker and journalist. Entering the television industry at the tender age of 19, Pam kickstarted a career in news journalism. Famous for presenting the BBC programme ‘Songs of Praise’ since 1987, Pam has a love of hymns and a passionate interest in the stories behind the lyrics and the reasons they were written.

In recent years Pam has established a reputation as an author, with five novels to her name. One of her books, ‘With Hearts and Hymns and Voices’ gives a behind the scenes view of the work of ‘Songs of Praise’ in a fictional village. With a similar title, Pam has compiled the double CD ‘Hearts and Hymns’ which brings together hymns and songs from the 1600s to the 2000s - some time span!

Hearts and Hymns - What's in there?

A wide range of tracks that appeal to a range of tastes, maintaining a great consistency with the Word.

Old Favourites

Most of us love to belt out these classics. It is because of the powerful melodies and enduring truth of the lyrics that hymns like these continue to be sung:

‘Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
To his feet thy tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me his praise should sing?
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King!’

Pam Rhodes’ choices of classics for this compilation album are unwavering and uncompromising on both the quality and the enjoyment of these hymns. Featuring ‘How Great Thou Art’, ‘Amazing Grace’, ‘O For A Thousand Tongues’ and ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness’ among other brilliant tracks. This is the ultimate classic collection ...and we haven’t even reached disc two!

New(er) Tunes

The second disc sees the songs take a turn for the more modern, with Stuart Townend’s ‘In Christ Alone’:

‘No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.’

This song in particular is a favourite for the contemporary hymn singer. Great gifts to the Church from Matt Redman, Tim Hughes and more are also included. Conscious of the increasing crossover between ‘secular’ music and ‘worship’ music (in style if not in content), Pam endeavours to discern quality in songs - keeping up to date yet rooted in scripture. In this album, a great balance is achieved.

What Now?

It’s quite simple really: this a fantastic compilation of worship songs old and new, brought together in one place for the first time.

Buy it.
Enjoy it.