This is a rather odd release. in 1998 Guardian released their own version of the Stryper original cassette “The Yellow And Black Attack” EP from 1984. Not one or two tracks but the entire 6 song EP. Also strangely it’s not their interpretation of the songs but almost exact copies. It was a private release which I imagine was the only option considering they directly covered someone else’s album. Even the CD visuals are all inspired by Stryper. I really don’t have much else to tell you about the album. The covers are excellent and well if you’re either a Guardian or Stryper fan this one is a must listen.
Tracklist 1 – Loud N Clear – 3:42 2 – From Wrong To Right – 4:00 3 – You Know What To Do – 4:54 4 – Co’Mon Rock – 3:49 5 – You Won’t Be Lonely – 3:51 6 – Loving You – 4:22
Credits Design [Original Design] – Kewi Dee Liner Notes – Brett Christensen Mastered By – Damon Riley Mixed By – Russ Long, Tony Palacios Producer [Produced By] – Guardian, Tony Palacios Recorded By – Tony Palacios
After 3 albums Reunion Records decided the time was right to release a live album but unfortunately I can’t find any information on where and when it was required. It’s a great collection of Michael’s most popular tracks and while this is not a genre of music I like I have to admit that I quite enjoyed this album. It’s a lot of fun and Michael is a great performer. It should be noted that Michael was in the process of earning a B.S. degree in Mass Media/Speech Communications from State University of New York at Brockport at the time of this tour. It should also say that Micheal said that God told him “to minister by faith and not charge a fee.” Thus, he only made $1,000-2,500 per concert. Nice to see that.
Tracklist 1 – Ad Lib – 4:11 2 – Rrrock It Right (Let’s Get Busy) – 4:45 3 – J-E-S-U-S – 4:04 4 – Vigilante Of The Rhyme – 4:30 5 – I’ll See You There – 3:30 6 – Solid Rock – 5:22 7 – That’s Right – 4:09 8 – He’s The Baddest – 4:40 9 – Livin’ On The Edge – 7:21 10 – (The New) Solid Rock Crew – 6:27 11 – On The Throne – 2:25 12 – Rock Your World – 4:06
Credits Art Direction – Buddy Jackson Cover [Cover Coordination], Production Manager [Production Assistant] – D.L. Rhodes Design – B. Middleworth Executive-Producer – Michael Blanton, Terry Hemmings Mastered By – Glenn Meadows Mixed By – Chuck Zwicky Photography By – Mark Tucker Producer [Production Assistant] – Tedd Tjornhom Producer, Arranged By – Dez Dickerson Programmed By – Tedd Tjornhom Recorded By – Alan Dusel Technician [Assistant Live Technician] – Ross Wullenweber
This is the third album for Thomas Steven Smith who released his first 2 albums using his nickname Moose Smith. Strangely for an artist with 4 albums I really can’t find much about him. There are a few notes around the interwebs of people who saw him in concert saying how great he was but that’s about all I can find. So let’s talk about the album. It has a great 70’s sound and feel. It’s not particularly my style but there’s a couple tracks I quite liked. “You’ve Gotta Hear It To Believe It” is a great rock tune that deserves to be heard and “Loco Boy Made Good” also had a great seventies rock sound. I’m looking forward to hearing his other albums as there is some real talent here. It is absolutely the wrong cover for the album but it does have a cool 3d effect which makes it stand out.
Tracklist 1 – Love Will Find A Way – 3:28 2 – And When All Is Said And Done – 2:50 3 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 2:39 4 – Loco Boy Made Good – 3:50 5 – Anything Worth Doin’ Is Worth Doin’ Right – 3:57 6 – There Is A Way – 4:07 7 – Turn Around And See – 2:46 8 – Fresh Start – 3:26 9 – One Song – 4:04 10 – You’ve Gotta Hear It To Believe It – 3:03
Credits Art Direction – Michael Harris Design Engineer – Brian Tankersley, Paul Mills Executive-Producer – Phil Brower Horn [Arrangements] – Fletch Wiley Photography By – Michael Borum Producer – Fletch Wiley Synthesizer [Programming] – Paul Mills
Rick was in one of the Scepter bands and I only found out about him because of this. While researching the band I discovered that he had 2 solo albums. This is the first of those albums. The cover of this album had me expecting a light rock album but, well, it’s not. He tries rock on the track Front Line but his vocals just don’t work. Get A Bible also leans rock and he does a little better on this one but still not great. That said this is a really good song that should have had a cover version by someone. To be clear I’m not saying he’s not a good vocalist in fact I think he’s a very good vocalist but Rock & Roll doesn’t work for him which is just as well because this is an easy listening album and a pretty good one. Interestingly the album was produced by Matthew Ward which probably helped out it’s easy listening quality.
Tracklist 1 – Love Is – 4:00 2 – Come, Lord Jesus – 4:19 3 – Rescue Me – 4:27 4 – There Is A Rock – 3:34 5 – Jesus Paid It All – 4:56 6 – Front Line – 3:53 7 – All Things – 3:24 8 – Does Anybody Love The Lord? – 4:10 9 – Be Still My Heart – 5:02 10 – Get A Bible – 3:52
Credits Engineer – Greg Hunt Producer – Matthew Ward Written-By – Rick Crawford
In 1987 Bebe & Cece left the PTL Club singers to strike out on their own. This is their first album after striking a deal with Sparrow Records. The album was hugely successful with the first single, “I.O.U. Me” topping R&B and inspirational charts. It generated a Grammy nominations as well as making it to #1 on the CCM charts. CeCe also earned a Grammy for “Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female” for the track “For Always.” They also won the 1988 Dove award for New Artist Of The Year. That’s a pretty successful album. It was also the first heavily played R&B album on many CCM radio stations and it also received heavy airplay on secular R&B radio stations.
Tracklist 1 – I. O. U. Me – 4:42 2 – I Don’t Know Why – 3:58 3 – For Always – 4:02 4 – No Hiding Place – 3:17 5 – Still In Love With You – 4:02 6 – Call Me – 5:18 7 – Love Said Not So – 4:30 8 – Change Your Nature – 4:56 9 – In Return – 3:47 10 – He’s Coming Soon – 4:21
Credits Arranged By [Backing Vocals] – BeBe Winans, CeCe Winans, Keith Thomas, Marvin Winans Arranged By [Strings] – Keith Thomas Backing Vocals [Additional] – Angie, Bebe & Cece Winans, Constance Jackson, Debra, Debra, Kevin Jackson, Michael, Regina, Ronald, Vicki Bass – Jimmie Lee Sloas Drums, Drum Programming – Mark Hammond Engineer [Assistant] – Bill Heath, Billy Whitington*, Michael Koreba Guitar – Tom Hemby Keyboards – Keith Thomas Mastered By – Steve Hall Producer – Keith Thomas Producer [Associate] – Brett Perry Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Glad was, for a time, one of the most influential and important groups in Christian Music. An incredibly high standard of quality, interesting and creative arrangements and some of, if not the best, harmonies in CCM history. After their debut showed a much more “progressive” rock and jazz influence, Beyond a star would carry their original form into the 1980’s with more pop and the introduction of the a capella vocal style they would later by primarily known for. Though less progressive than their debut the album still contain several classic influences such as the Yes sounding “Away” and a touch of the 2nd Chapter of acts on “Sing a New Song.” “Iron Sharpens Iron” has a Steely Dan or Alan Parsons Project feel. The opening track, “The Reason” would introduce the a capella vocal style that would end of being the trademark for the band through much the 1980’s. In fact, their biggest selling album would be the firs “A Capella Project,” going gold and beyond. This would not have been possible without the perfect combination of voices the band possessed. Many members are still actively involved in music, most notable Bob Kauflin, who is spearheading a great modern worship label based on more doctrinally solid lyrical content than what is found in most of today’s worship music.
Contributor – David Lowman https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – The Reason – 1:50 2 – Take A Stand – 3:32 3 – Beyond A Star – 3:49 4 – Away – 4:11 5 – Sing A New Song – 3:37 6 – Iron Sharpens Iron – 3:36 7 – Lying – 3:25 8 – Lonely Love – 4:31 9 – It Is Good – 4:54 10 – Pierce My Ear – 3:19
Credits Arranged By [Special Assistance, Strings & Horns] – Dan Wolgemuth Arranged By [Strings & Horns] – Bob Kauflin, Ed Nalle Arranged By [Vocals] – Bob Kauflin Booking – Logsdon Associates Design [Art Design] – Michael Harris Drums – Brad Currie, Mark Farley, Roger Clark Electric Guitar – John Goin Engineer – Brown Bannister, Skip Plant Executive-Producer – Michael Blanton Flugelhorn – George Tidwell Mastered By – Larry Nix Photography By [Back Cover] – Mimi Roth Mandel Photography By [Front Cover] – Michael Borum Producer – Brown Bannister, Ed Nalle Saxophone – Billy Puett, Dennis Solee Strings – The Shelly Kurland Strings Trombone – Dennis Good Trumpet – Don Sheffield Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Jim Gheen Vocals, Bass [Alembic] – Don Nalle Vocals, Electric Guitar – John Bolles, Wayne Farley Vocals, Keyboards – Bob Kauflin Vocals, Percussion – Ed Nalle
This is a rather odd release. Unfortunately that’s a pretty common phrase when working with Larry Norman releases. In 1991 Larry re-released Randy’s Born Twice album from 1971. As a bonus of sorts he included an album of very early Randy live cuts. Now the odd part, the new album got released as a b side on both vinyl cuts of the album meaning, The black vinyl has side one of “Judgment Day At The Speede Mart” and side two of “Born Twice”, the blue vinyl has side one of “Born Twice” and side two of “Judgment Day At The Speede Mart”. Also there was nothing printed on the labels of either album. Pretty rare error except when it came to stuff from Larry. Anyway we’ve gathered it here into one album. As I said this is a collection of early live Randy cuts and you can tell it’s early as at times the audience doesn’t kind of get Randy’s humour. Also Randy is not as confident with his humour. The album has a few Larry tracks which is kind of fun to listen to. This is a must have if you’re a fan of Randy’s and if you’re a fan of Larry’s I’d consider it a should have.
Tracklist 1 – Forget Your Hexagram – 2:53 2 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus? – 2:32 3 – Lonely By Myself – 3:49 4 – God’s Not Dead – 2:46 5 – I’m a Servant – 3:13 6 – Norman’s Kitchen – 6:26 7 – Pardon Me – 3:46 8 – Sunset Road to Nowhere – 4:04 9 – Hasty Heart – 3:47 10 – He’s A Friend Of Mine – 4:06
Scepter is/was Craig Smith, Rick Crawford, Si Simonson, and Warren Baker and while you may not be aware of Scepter you may know these artists as all of them except Baker had solo careers. I have no idea how or why this album came about and I’m a little unsure why it wasn’t a little more known especially considering it was produce by Wayne Watson. Usually projects from Wayne got a lot more attention than this album did. It starts out as a worship oriented album but gets more upbeat as you listen to it. I think I can hear some early Petra influence. Don’t confuse these guys with the Scepter out of Canada. That version of Scepter actually changed their name to The Keep to avoid confusion between the 2 bands.
1 – Changing Me – 3:40 2 – I Believe – 4:30 3 – All You Need is Jesus – 3:34 4 – Giving It Up – 2:17 5 – I Will Be There – 3:49 6 – One More Time – 3:37 7 – Without You – 3:36 8 – Sweet Harmony – 2:57 9 – I’m So Glad – 2:46 10 – Keep on Trustin’ – 4:08
This is the follow up to Classic Blues Volume 1. Strangely it had a different name in that it was called “Gospel Blues Volume 2” vs “Classic Blues Volume 1”. I am guessing that these songs are more Gospel oriented. The album features the vocals of Crystal Lewis, Darrell Mansfield, Philip Bardowell, and Lanny Cordola. The highlight of the album is a version of “John The Revelator” by Crystal Lewis and Darrell Mansfield. This is a must listen if you are a blues fan and it may be one of the best CCM blues albums ever released.
Tracklist 1 – Don’t Wanna Go Down There – 2:17 2 – Samson and Delilah – 2:29 3 – Swing Low, Sweet Chariot / Swing Down, Chariot – 3:30 4 – Ring Them Bells – 3:11 5 – I’m Going To That City – 3:47 6 – A Shack In Negev – 2:14 7 – Hymns Of The Meek – 3:34 8 – John The Revelator – 2:29 9 – One More River To Cross – 2:30 10 – There’ll Be No Grumbler There – 2:12 11 – Won’t Be Long ‘Til Paradise – 4:14
Credits Philip Bardowell – Vocals Michael Sean Black – Executive Producer Lanny Cordola – Producer, Arranger, Songwriter, Guitars, Bass, Dobro, Banjo, Mandolin, Jaw Harp, Vocals Chris Farmer – Vocals Gary Thomas Griffin – Producer, Engineer, Songwriter, Bass Harmonica, Melodica, Accordion, Hi Hat, Tambourine, Vocals D.D. Howard – Vocals Carol Huston – Vocals Taso Kotsos – Tambourine, Snare Drum, Shakers Crystal Lewis – Vocals Chris Lizotte – Vocals Darrell Mansfield – Harmonica, Vocals Fletcher Quigley – Vocals Brian Ray – Executive Producer
This is the first album from Albrecht, Roley And Moore. Mike Albrecht and Scott Roley formed the band in Georgia in the early 70’s and were joined by Alan Moore to form the trio in 1977. The album is a rather typical 70’s Jesus Music album with strong country vibes. The album was released on White Horse Records and was only one of two albums released by this label. That’s a pretty short lived label. As such the album had a pretty limited release and most people may not even know about it. Also strange is that the album was the only one ever recorded at Riverside Studios in Bismark North Dakota. I have no idea how these guys ended up in Bismark but I’ve been to Bismark and it really is a town in the middle of no where.
Tracklist 1 – Take Me To The Comfort – 2:16 2 – Engaged – 1:05 3 – Further Up & Further In – 3:33 4 – Over The Next Horizon – 3:27 5 – Constantly – 3:16 6 – Lead Me Through – 3:19 7 – Shotgun – 2:45 8 – Journey – 1:32 9 – White Seagull – 3:55 10 – Drink In The Soft Sound – 2:58 11 – To Keep Me Struggling On – 3:50 12 – Gently Flowing Feeling – 2:07
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Alan Moore, John Michael Talbot, Michael Albrecht, Scott Roley Arranged By, Conductor – Greg Nelson Banjo, Dobro – John Michael Talbot Bass – Alan Moore, David Swenson, Greg Nelson, Russ Daughtry, Steven Alexandersen Engineer – Bill Townsend Engineer [Asisstant] – David Swenson Executive-Producer – Ray Nenow Fiddle – Tim Briggs Illustration, Design – Chuck Strantz Lead Guitar – Bob Hartman Management, Booking – Ray Nenow Mixed By [Final Mix Engineered By] – Travis Turk Orchestra – Pinebook Players Pedal Steel Guitar – Al Perkins Percussion – Bob Gelotte, Steve Hanna Photography – James Elliot Piano, Electric Piano – Greg Nelson, Steven Alexandersen Producer – Greg Nelson, The Col. And The Gang Remix – Monty Matthews, Randy Matthews, Ray Nenow Vibraphone – David Ringenbach Vocals – Alan Moore, Michael Albrecht, Scott Roley
