The Apostle (Rising Tide, 1998)

This CD features "music from and inspired by the motion picture "The Apostle," the Robert Duvall film. Translation: Only three songs here actually appear in the movie, but the soundtrack provides a decent smorgasbord of country and contemporary Christian singers performing mostly traditional gospel songs.

Johnny Cash, backed only by an acoustic guitar, provides a quietly tender rendition of "In the Garden." Lari White is fabulous on the gospel rave-up "There Is Power in the Blood," and Rebecca Lynn Howard sweetly sings on the spare "Softly & Tenderly." One of the best songs is "I Will Not Go Quietly," an uptempo pop song written and performed by Steven Curtis Chapman. Duvall himself even sings a credible duet with Emmylou Harris on "I Love to Tell the Story," which also features some gorgeous twin fiddle solos. Patty Loveless, Wynonna, Lyle Lovett and The Carter Family also perform on the disc.

Like most movie soundtracks, this is far from a must-have, but it's a pleasant enough gospel sampler.