Month: May 2024

Guardian – Swing Swang Swung – 1994

To say this album was not well received would be an understatement. Guardian had garnered a strong following of their Metal/Hard Rock sound. I really don’t understand what either the band or the Elefante brothers were thinking. I feel sorry for their fans thinking they were buying a hard rock album and they got this instead. Now it should be said the band were successful with this sound and had many more albums with what I assume were new fans of the band. Personally I don’t mind when a band evolves but in this case they changed not evolved. As for the album it’s actually pretty good as the band avoided the grunge sound that was becoming popular but instead went with a pop sound. As I was never a fan of either of the bands styles I can enjoy both sounds equally but wow, it really was a slap in the face to their hard rock roots.

Tracklist
1 – The Way Home Back – 4:31
2 – Endless Summer – 4:32
3 – C’mon Everyone – 4:48
4 – Like The Sun – 5:19
5 – Rich Man Over The Line – 4:03
6 – Your Love – 4:47
7 – Don’t Say That It’s Over – 4:47
8 – See You In Heaven – 4:39
9 – Let The Whole World – 5:02
10 – Preacher And The Bear – 3:15
11 – Still On My Mind – 3:45
12 – Why Don’t We – 1:28

Credits
A&R – Mark Maxwell
Arranged By, Directed By – Tom Howard
Art Direction, Design – Diana Barnes
Band [Guardian Is], Bass, Vocals – David Bach
Band [Guardian Is], Drums, Vocals – Karl Ney
Band [Guardian Is], Guitar, Vocals – Tony Palacios
Band [Guardian Is], Lead Vocals – Jamie Rowe
Bass [Additional], Guitar [Additional Nashville Guitar] – J.R. McNeely
Clarinet – Matt Davich
Design – David Bach
Drums [Additional] – Jon Knox
Drums [Additional], Mellotron, Keyboards [Assorted Digital Claviers] – John Elefante
Engineer, Mixed By – J.R. McNeely
Management – Marc Whitmore
Mastered By – Ken Love
Photography By – Michael Wilson
Piano – Michael W. Smith
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Strings – The Nashville String Machine
Trombone – Bill Huber
Trumpet – David Balph

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Myrrh
Copyright © – Myrrh
Engineered At – The Snack Bar
Mixed At – Sound Kitchen
Mastered At – Mastermix
Distributed By – Nelson/Word
Distributed By – Nelson/Word, UK
Manufactured By – JVC
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Straggletoons Music

Idea – Stone Sharpens The Blade – 1985

History as a rule is not kind to 80’s CCM bands. Not that history remembers them poorly, instead history just doesn’t remember them at all and Idea is a great example of this. If you search for info on them almost all the information comes from the band themselves. History shows one album, one EP, and a few singles released in the 80’s. What history has forgotten about Idea is that toured Australia extensively and opened for the biggest CCM names and the band was very well known by Australian Christian music listeners. As for the album history does remember that the band did get backing to cut 2 tracks in the studio, “Turn Up The Tapes”, and “Eve Of Destruction”. Strangely they didn’t put “Turn Up The Tapes” on the album which kind of confuses me but hey it’s their album. “Eve of Destruction” did make it onto the album and is a pretty darn good cover. The rest of the album was, and I’m quoting the band here “so we hired an extra mixer desk, plenty of FX modules, some good fold-back speakers and with our normal onstage gear, we set them all up in Darryl and Lyn’s lounge room rental house in Menai and recorded live in one take onto a Revox stereo 1/4” tape machine”. Well they did a pretty good job because it sounds great. Note that the cassette release got a bonus track “Ambushed”. Anyway I think history should be kinder to Idea but unfortunately this is an industry where these great 80’s artists have just been forgotten about. Give this one a listen you won’t be disappointed and quite frankly we should have all heard this one in 1985 but for some reason us in America just weren’t allowed to.

Tracklist
1 – Lucky One – 3:24
2 – Voice Crying In The Wilderness – 3:32
3 – Now That We Found Out – 3:12
4 – Daring – 3:07
5 – Light The Light – 3:54
6 – As The World Turns – 5:44
7 – Eve Of Destruction – 3:56
8 – Ambushed – 3:28

Credits
Design – Brian Livingston Clark
Guitar, Synthesizer, Vocals – Darryl Thompson
Keyboards, Vocals – Billy Nielson
Percussion, Vocals – Steve Lyne
Photography By – Richard Peake
Vocals – Rod Boucher

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – RCA Limited Australia and New Zealand
Distributed By – RCA Limited Australia and New Zealand
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Idea
Copyright © – DTS Music

Mike Lee – Studio ‘A’ The Acoustic Session – 1993

In 1993 Mike Lee put out this acoustic album. I want to straight up say that I think Mike is a fantastic vocalist unfortunately this album just doesn’t seem to work. The album was self produced so maybe this is the stumbling block. It doesn’t sound like Mike had the skill set to release an acoustic album all on his own. Acoustic albums are harder to put together than most artists think. That said Mike’s vocals are good but the guitar playing suffers a little bit. Strangely this album was initially released using the name Mike Lee on cassette. When a CD veriso0n was released later the same year he called himself Michael D.R.I.V.E. I’m not really too sure why this was done but Michael D.R.I.V.E. is a great stage name.

Tracklist
1 – True Love – 3:42
2 – Time For Love – 4:14
3 – Don’t Say Goodnight – 4:21
4 – Goodbye – 4:07
5 – Johnny Lost – 4:03
6 – Too Late For Never – 3:55

Rock Power Praise – Volume 1 The Hymns – 1990

Pakaderm Records strikes again. This is sort of a compilation album of artists singing rockified hymns. Now I’ll be straight up here. When rock artists try to interpret a hymn it rarely if ever works for me. Usually this is because the arrangements basically suck. It’s not as easy as people think to take and old Hymn and turn it into a rock song. That aside the Elefante brothers wrote the arrangements for these tracks and they know what they are doing. As a result this is hands down the absolute best collection of rockified hymns that has been produced. What’s even more impressive on this album as that some of the vocalists are actually Maranatha singers who certainly are not known for Rock & Roll. Case in point is Sara Tennison covering A Mighty Fortress Is Our God which she absolutely nails and Mike Hadley’s Amazing Grace. This album is an absolute must listen. Where others have failed the Elefante brothers have succeeded.

Tracklist
1 – The Old Rugged Cross – 4:48
2 – He’ Got The Whole World In His Hands – 4:40
3 – A Mighty Fortress Is Our God – 4:19
4 – We Need Jesus – 4:49
5 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 4:00
6 – Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus – 3:21
7 – Amazing Grace – 4:02
8 – Go, Tell It On A Mountain – 4:27
9 – When We All Get To Heaven – 3:38
10 – I Have Decided (To Follow Jesus) – 4:41

Credits
Arranged By – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Backing Vocals – Barney Dunn (2), Gregg Lancer, Sara Tennison, Terry Stratton
Bass – Ba-Ba
Drums – Artemus Crowe, Jack Mac
Guitar – Rock Lobster, T-Mex
Keyboards – Jack Mac, John Andrew Schreiner, John Elefante
Lead Vocals – Gregg Lancer, Jamie Rowe, John Elefante, Sara Tennison, Scott Springer, Mike Lee, Mike Hadley, Russell Painter
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Saxophone – Greg Vail

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Pressed By – Disctronics USA

Priority Paid – Image – 1988

This was the first album form Priority Paid. I still can’t find much info on this Australian band but I’m still enjoying their work. The album is a great 80’s Pop album with above average lyrics in my opinion. As this was only released in Australia many of you haven’t heard it so here’s your chance to catch up on an 80’s rarity.

Tracklist
1 – Night After Night – 5:11
2 – Can You Come Over Tonight – 4:50
3 – Going Home – 5:07
4 – Forever – 5:20
5 – Robin Hood – 3:20
6 – Do You Know – 4:17
7 – Voice – 4:00
8 – Shut Up And Dance – 3:03
9 – In Your Image – 4:03

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Peter Downey
Bass, Vocals – Owen Craig
Drums, Vocals – Rik Petereit
Electric Guitar – Iain McDonald
Percussion, Vocals – Bill Marsden
Vocals, Keyboards – John Burns

Companies, etc.
Engineered At – Rich Studios
Engineered At – Silver Wood Studios

Various – The Strait Tapes – Volume III – 1986

Here’s Volume 3 of the Strait Tapes and I believe the last in the series but we’ve had a few surprises in this series so I will will say I think it is the final one. Again we have quite a few unreleased tracks to enjoy. I didn’t do a count but I think this one has the most examples of secular bands of Christians. Anyway it’s another fantastic offering and we should give credit the the gang over at Strait Magazine for putting together such a great series of tapes. I’ve listed below what album these tracks showed up on if they did.

1 – The 77’s – The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes And The Pride Of Life. – Released on their 1987 album The 77’s
2 – Talking Drums – You Do Cry A Lot – Released on their 1985 album Reassembly
3 – Maldwyn Pope – Reunion Of The Heart – Released on his 1990 album Love Will Find A Way
4 – Bryan McGlynn – Soul Doctor – still unreleased
5 – The Good Guys – Still A Mistake – Released on their 1984 album A System Of Grooves
6 – Charlie Peacock – Down In The Lowlands – Released on his 1986 album Charlie Peacock
7 – Trade Secret – With Or Without You – Released on their 1987 album Trade Secret
8 – One A.M. – Over And Over – still unreleased
9 – Mike Starkey – I Became A Johnson’s Baby – still unreleased
10 – Vector – America – Released on their 1984 album Please Stand By
11 – Deniece Williams – Straight Ahead – Released her 1986 album
12 – The Refuseniks – Quiet Time – Gag track as intro to next track
13 – Terry Scott Taylor – Old Time Gospel Camp Meeting Hour – Released on his 1986 album Knowledge & Innocence
14 – Bruce Cockburn – Wondering Where The Lions Are – Released on his 1979 album Dancing In The Dragon’s Jaws
15 – Steve Scott – Not A Pretty Picture – Released on his 1988 album Lost Horizon
16 – Jump The Nile – Proud To Be A Warrior – still unreleased
17 – First Strike – Power – Released on their 1987 album Crank It Up!
18 – Bryan McGlynn – Stranger At The Party – still unreleased

Tracklist
1 – The 77’s – The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes And The Pride Of Life. – 3:25
2 – Talking Drums – You Do Cry A Lot – 3:07
3 – Maldwyn Pope – Reunion Of The Heart – 4:31
4 – Bryan McGlynn – Soul Doctor – 3:28
5 – The Good Guys – Still A Mistake – 2:16
6 – Charlie Peacock – Down In The Lowlands – 4:28
7 – Trade Secret – With Or Without You – 3:42
8 – One A.M. – Over And Over – 3:12
9 – Mike Starkey – I Became A Johnson’s Baby – 2:01
10 – Vector – America – 4:05
11 – Deniece Williams – Straight Ahead – 4:07
12 – The Refuseniks – Quiet Time – 0:44
13 – Terry Scott Taylor – Old Time Gospel Camp Meeting Hour – 3:17
14 – Bruce Cockburn – Wondering Where The Lions Are – 3:27
15 – Steve Scott – Not A Pretty Picture – 4:03
16 – Jump The Nile – Proud To Be A Warrior – 4:13
17 – First Strike – Power – 4:51
18 – Bryan McGlynn – Stranger At The Party – 3:13

Wendell Burton – Altar’d Ego – 2006

In 2006 Wendell released an updated version of his single For America. He also released a new track that’s pretty good too. I have always been of the opinion that For America was one of the best CCM songs of all time and quite frankly it just begged for a secular release. Unfortunately the song is a little patriotic for most mainstream artists that do the style of music this would have worked in. Anyway usually we don’t upload stuff after about 1995 but this is a special case.

Tracklist
1 – For America – 5:03
2 – Back To The Cave – 3:17

Kid Promise – My Generation – 1994

When the band Seraiah shut down Quinton Gibson and Bradley Beckey formed the band Kid Promise. Now if you are expecting a metal album like Seraiah you’ll be disappointed because this is a pop rock album. In fact it’s a very good pop rock album. Unfortunately this was a one album project and the band went separate way with Quinton working in the industry on several more projects but Bradley appears to have retired and moved on from the industry. This is actually a great pop rock album and probably should have done much better but history said otherwise.

Tracklist
1 – Groove – 4:45
2 – Two Hearts One Love – 4:16
3 – Neverending Love – 4:54
4 – First Time We Met – 4:50
5 – This Time – 4:21
6 – My Generation – 5:36
7 – Whatever It Takes – 5:12
8 – Come Home – 4:28
9 – What Do We Call Love – 3:59
10 – Your Love Is Real – 4:26
11 – Heal Me – 5:17

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Jimmy Abegg
Backing Vocals – Murray
Band, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Quinton Gibson
Band, Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Bradley Beckey
Creative Director – A. Dawn Allen
Executive Producer – Dez Dickerson
Layout, Design – Nosegrind Creative
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By, Backing Vocals, Sounds, Loops, Keyboards – Dave Frank
Photography – Jeff Frazier
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By, Programmed By – Steve Griffith

Companies, etc.
Produced At – Gaga Productions
Mastered At – Mastermix

The Crucified – The Pillars Of Humanity – 1991

This is the second and last album from The Crucified. The line up changed slightly with Jeff Bellew replacing Mark Johnson on bass but everyone else stayed the course. I think this album is actually a bit better than their first but it very similar just with slightly better vocals or perhaps it’s been better engineered. Unfortunately the band split after this album and in fact toured very little to support the album. They did however come back together for a good bye show at Cornerstone Festival. Everyone went on to further projects including, Stavesacre, Neon Horse, The Blamed, CHATTERbOX, and Applehead. After a long battle with Ocean Records the band was able to get the rights to their music and released a complete collection CD set. The band also returned to touring including a show at Cornerstone Festival in July 2009.

Tracklist
1 – Intro / Hateworld – 5:20
2 – It’s All About Fear – 2:29
3 – The Wrong One – 3:41
4 – Mindbender – 3:53
5 – Path To Sorrow – 4:02
6 – Fellowship Of Thieves – 3:12
7 – Focus – 2:32
8 – The Strength – 3:53
9 – Blackstone / So-Called Living, 1991 – 4:16
10 – The Pillars Of Humanity – 2:57

Credits
Artwork – Rick Catizone
Artwork [Inside] – Mark Salomon
Bass – Jeff Bellew
Design Concept, Cover – Mark Salomon, Rick Catizone
Drums – Jim Chaffin
Guitar – Greg Minier
Photography By [Group Shots] – Perry Cooper
Photography By [Individual Shots] – Andrew P. Watrous, Teddi Sherrer
Producer, Mixed By, Engineer – Chris Morris, The Crucified
Vocals – Mark Salomon

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Ocean Records
Copyright © – Ocean Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Manufactured By – JVC

Various – Portrait Of A Spirit – 1991

This is a rather odd sampler from Pakaderm Records. I’m not entirely sure but I think the point of this sampler was to hear these artists doing sort of an acoustic track. This is a little weird because there are a few artists here that usually only do this style of music so like I say I’m a little confused at what the Elefante brothers were trying to achieve here. I’m even further confused as most of the tracks seem to be newly written and the recordings are only with the performer as the vocalist and the album appears to utilize a studio band. I honestly don’t think most of the artists understood what was going on either because most of the tracks just don’t work in my opinion. There are 3 tracks that in my opinion did get it. The 2 tracks form Richie Furay are absolutely excellent and include an appearance form Darrell Mansfield on harmonica. The other track that “got it” is the one from Guardian where they absolutely nail the vocals. Anyway it is what it is and I’d suggest a listen even if it’s just for the 3 tracks I mentioned.

Tracklist
1 – David Robertson – The House Of The Lord – 3:17
2 – Richie Furay – Man Of Many Sorrows – 4:23
3 – Brighton – Taking Back The Land (Jericho) – 4:20
4 – Sara Tennison – What Did I Ever Do – 4:57
5 – X-Sinner – Shelter Me – 3:12
6 – Mark Pogue – Thou Shalt Love – 3:49
7 – Richie Furay – Song Of The Lamb – 3:06
8 – Guardian – Take Up Your Cross – 4:50
9 – Halo – Real Life Conversation – 3:47
10 – The Heard – We Need Jesus – 5:05

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Terry DeGraff
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Doug Beiden, Sara Tennison
Bass – W.C. Jr
Cover – David Del Sesto, Terry DeGraff
Engineer – Dino Elefante, Doug Beiden, J.R. McNeely, John Elefante
Guitar [Additional] – Rock Lobster, Tex Mex
Keyboards, Drums – Mack Jack
Mandolin, Violin – Matt Brislawn
Mastered By – Chris
Mixed By – Dino Elefante, Doug Beiden, John Elefante
Percussion – “Chi Chi” Allison
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Made By – JVC
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering