June 2026 – Real 80s CCM

Eric Champion – Vertical Reality – 1994

I’ll be honest that for some reason I knew nothing about Eric in the 80’s. However after listening to his work I can honestly say I think he was the synth king of CCM era for his period and this was his greatest achievement in that genre. While his album up until now had a synth pop feel this one took a turn towards sci-fi synth. This may actually be one of the best sci-fi synth albums I have ever heard. It came completely out of left field because as I said Eric was a pop artist. While I’m not saying he wasn’t a great artist his stuff was mainly just simple pop. Not this album. This album is more like a piece of art and I’m comfortable categorizing this as a conceptual album though it may not have a traditional conceptual structure. It should also be said that it is strongly influenced by Tommy Sims (White Heart). He helped Eric with everything from production to instruments, in fact he played most of the instruments on the album. The album sold very well especially considering the genre with over 100,000 sold. If I had one small criticism for the album is that it was 1994 and this style fit better into the mid 80′. That said who cares, this is a great album.

Tracklist
1 – Transmit – 1:55
2 – N2 The Next Dimension – 5:09
3 – Verticality – 3:29
4 – Walk On Water – 4:16
5 – More About You – 4:28
6 – My Life Is In Your Hands – 4:34
7 – Dancing In The Fire – 4:40
8 – Endless – 4:59
9 – Journey – 4:49
10 – Touch – 6:21
11 – Believe It To See It – 5:18

Credits
Accordion – John Painter
Art Direction – Diane Barnes
Backing Vocals – Angelo & Veronica Petrucci, Chris Eaton, Cindy Morgan, Danny Duncan, Eric Champion, Fleming Painter, Tommy Sims
Classical Guitar – George Cocchini
Design – Dylan Tran, Gabrielle Raumberger
Drums – Chris McHugh
Engineer [Assistant Engineer] – Greg Parker, Martin Woodlee, Pete Martinez, Wayne Mehl
Executive-Producer – Mark Maxwell
Flugelhorn – Mike Haynes, – John Painter
Guitar [Sci-Fi Guitar] – George Cocchini
Management [Artist Management] – Champion & Smallbone
Mastered By – Ken Love
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Phil Madeira
Photography By – Ruth Leitman
Producer, Concept By [Vertical Reality Concept And Story By], Recorded By, Arranged By, Programmed By [Keyboard Programming], Drum Programming, Keyboards, Backing Vocals [All Others] – Eric Champion
Producer, Executive-Producer, Recorded By, Arranged By, Arranged By [Horn And String Arrangements], Programmed By [Keyboard Programming], Drum Programming, Keyboards, Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals [All Others] – Tommy Sims
Recorded By, Mixed By – Rick Will
Recorded By, Producer [Production Assistant], Programmed By [Keyboard Programming Assistant] – Danny Duncan
Saxophone [Sax] – Mark Douthit
Trombone – Chris McDonald

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word Records & Music
Copyright © – Word Records & Music
Produced For – 1 World Productions, Theopolis Productions
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus
Recorded At – Lo-Key, The Dugout, Theopolis, Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mastered At – Mastermix

White Heart – Power House – 1990

This album was new era in the history of White Heart. They had left Sparrow records and this was their first album on Star Song. Chris McHugh, Gordon Kennedy, and Tommy Sims had left the band to become studio musicians and Brian Wooten, Anthony Sallee , and Mark Nemer were brought in as replacements. I’m sure there some great gossipy reason for the big change but here we just like to say “That’s Rock & Roll”. The result of this was their most successful album with “Desert Rose”, “Independence Day”, and “Powerhouse” all apparently making it to number one on the rock charts. I had not listened to this album before this week and wow I was stunned with how great it is. It has lots of gimmicky intros which I usually hate but I love it on this album. Producer Bill Drescher nailed the intros. He failed however on the outro’s which are way too long and radio friendly for a commercial album. Small thing that drives me nuts. One final thing I will say is that “Independence Day” should have been used in the Movie of the same name which had horrible music. What a banger of a tune.

Tracklist
1 – Independence Day – 5:37
2 – Powerhouse – 4:30
3 – Desert Rose – 4:41
4 – Lovers And Dreamers – 4:35
5 – Nailed Down – 5:09
6 – Messiah – 5:19
7 – A Love Calling – 6:24
8 – Answer The Call – 4:44
9 – Storyline – 4:20
10 – Lay It Down – 4:57

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals – Billy Smiley
Art Direction – Toni Thigpen
Backing Vocals – Chris Rodriguez, Gordon Kennedy, Marty McCall
Bass Guitar – Anthony Sallee
Co-producer [Additional Production] – Billy Smiley, Mark Gersmehl
Computer [Fairlight], Percussion – Carl Marsh
Coordinator [Project] – Malcolm Greenwood
Drums, Percussion – Mark Nemer
Engineer [Assistant] – Barry Dixon, Lee Groitzsch, Richard Engstrom, Roy Gamble, Shawn McLean
Executive-Producer – Darrell A. Harris
Keyboards, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Mark Gersmehl
Layout, Design – Tufts Design Studio
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Brian Wooten
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Riq Florian
Management – Malcolm Greenwood
Photography By [Back Cover] – Mark Tucker
Photography By [Cover] – Bob Forti
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Bill Drescher

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Star Song
Copyright © – Star Song
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Recorded At – The Bennett House, Midtown Tone & Volume, Quad Studios
Mixed At – Studio 55, Los Angeles

The All Saved Freak Band – Brainwashed – 1975

This is the second album from All Saved Freak Band. The recording of this album came after a very strange period in the history of the band. Lead guitarist Glenn Schwartz had actually been with both James Gang and Pacific Gas & Electric. He left the secular music scene to join an Ohio religious group called Church of the Risen Christ and ASFB was the musical arm of the church. Today most people recognize the church as a cult and there’s actually a book about it called Fortney Road: Life, Death, and Deception in a Christian Cult. In 1975 before this album, Glenn’s family had him abducted by famed cult deprogrammer Ted Patrick. I’m a little confused at how you abduct a 35 year old man without going to jail but obviously the whole thing didn’t work and this album’s cheeky name was a result of this whole event. This album is their most Rock oriented albums and is likely one of if not the best rock album of the era. That said not many people had this album as it really wasn’t well known and had very little distribution. It had some distribution because it is out there but nothing like Larry Norman was getting at the time. This album has become legendary with the resurgence of seventies music and I would say slightly tongue in cheek that it has a cult following.

Tracklist
1 – Peace, Love, And Rock And Roll – 3:37
2 – Ode To Glenn Schwartz – 4:04
3 – Seek Him – 3:02
4 – Don’t Look Back – 7:05
5 – Lonely – 2:50
6 – Frog Alley – 4:55
7 – Messed Up – 2:27
8 – See The Flesh Fly – 3:34
9 – Smilin’ Dog – 3:27
10 – Our Answer – 2:05

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Mike Berkey
Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Cello – Kim Massmann
Arranged By, Keyboards, Artwork, Photography – Larry Hill
Artwork By, Photography By – Gary Allen, Joe Markko
Backing Vocals – All Saved Freak Band
Bass – Glenn Schwartz, Morgan King, Norris McClure
Bass, Drums, Percussion – Tim Hill
Drums, Percussion – Tom Eritano
Engineer – Ken Hamann
Keyboards – Carole King
Keyboards, Violin, Cello, Arranged By [String] – Pam Massmann
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica – Glenn Schwartz
Music By – All Saved Freak Band
Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Arranged By [String] – Rob Galbraith
Rhythm Guitar – Ed Durkos

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Cleveland Recording Company – CRC-2197
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – All Saved Freak Band
Copyright © – All Saved Freak Band
Mastered At – Nashville Record Productions – NR5974

Dieter Falk – Dieter Falk – 1989

This is the third album from Dieter and I have now listened to all three. Originally I listened to “Today” and just loved it so I hunted out more of his albums. Unfortunately I have not liked the other two I have listened to. This one is a complete instrumental album and I always struggle with that style. All of the tracks on this album leave me sitting there waiting for the vocals to start because they all sound like, well, songs. Personally I prefer the instrumental writing style of bands like Tangerine Dream because their songs aren’t in a traditional song format and thus I rarely anticipate lyrics on their tracks. But let’s get to the positives of this album. Dieter is a very good keyboardist and I do really like his musical stlyings. So this is still a great album but it screamed for a vocalist to complete it.

Tracklist
1 – Alles Was Ihr Tut (Everything You Do) – 3:41
2 – Danket (Thankful) – 4:14
3 – Charme – 4:07
4 – Dir (Gonna Sing For You) – 4:08
5 – Deep River – 3:32
6 – In Dir Ist Freude (Joyful) – 3:52
7 – Aufeinander Zugehn (Coming Together) – 3:14
8 – Sing And Shout – 3:46
9 – It’s Me – 3:42
10 – Precious Interlude – 2:54

Credits
Arranged By – Dieter Falk
Art Direction – Wepler + Burfeind, Hamburg
Bass – Joe Chemay
Bass [Solo] – Wolfgang Schmid
Co-producer – Angelika Falk, John Guess
Drums [Tom Overdub] – Martin Stoeck
Drums, Percussion – Paul Leim
Engineer [Additional] – Adrian Von Ripka, Al Phillips, Manfred Lohse, Thomas Brück
Engineer [Assistant] – Chris Rich, King Julien III, Mark Coddington, Marty Williams
Engineer, Mixed By – John Guess
Guitar – Jon Goin, Steve Lukather
Kalimba – Nippi Noya
Keyboards, Piano – Dieter Falk
Liner Notes – Andreas Malessa, Clemens Bittlinger, Dieter Falk, Heinz Bossi
Percussion, Harmonica – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Wieser, Ringeisen*
Producer – Dieter Falk
Programmed By [Additional] – Andreas Seibold
Saxophone – Mark Douthit, Michael Paulo
Trombone – Bill Reichenbach, Joe Gallardo
Trumpet – Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, Michael Stewart

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Pila Music GmbH
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pila Music GmbH
Pressed By – CDT Berlin
Recorded At – Sound Stage Studios, Hollywood Sound Recorders, Tonstudio Leonberg, Tonstudio Bauer, Sound Studio N

Fighter – Bang The Drum – 1992

This is the second and final album from Fighter. The lineup stayed the same and the talent grew quite a bit. This was a group of guys and girl that worked really well together and quite frankly they are one of the hidden wonders of the industry. This album is a fantastic arena rock album and the production is dead on. The opening 3 tracks suck you right in so that you’ll listen to the rest of the album. My one slim criticism is that I would have liked some more vocals from Amy Wolter, maybe just one more track. Anyway this is a great arena rock albums and probably the best in the genre for the period.

Tracklist
1 – Time Out – 3:20
2 – Alone With You – 4:14
3 – Bang The Drum – 3:29
4 – When Will We Learn – 4:30
5 – Faithfully – 3:52
6 – Avalanche – 4:40
7 – Try – 4:29
8 – So Much To Learn – 3:54
9 – Without You – 4:44
10 – Your Hand – 3:31
11 – Where Can Love Be Found – 4:59

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Sean Murphy
Backing Vocals – Amy Wolter, Sean Murphy
Bass – Billy Heller, Jim Wolter
Drum Programming – Mark Pence
Drums – Sean Murphy
Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski
Executive-Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, P. Gavin Morkel
Guitar – Billy Heller
Keyboards – Mark Pence
Lead Vocals – Amy Wolter, Sean Murphy
Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, Fighter

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Wonderland
Copyright © – Wonderland
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.

Vengeance Rising – Released Upon The Earth – 1992

This is the final album from Vengeance Rising and the last one I will be reviewing. I have listened to all 4 albums and I am done with it. Again the entire band turned over except for Roger Martinez. The album itself sounds just like the other ones and again I struggled to hear any of the lyrics so again I can not judge the lyrical quality of the album. Musically I do hear talent but I simply can’t stand this style of music. After this album Roger decided he was actually a satanist and then a few years later decided he was a atheist. I think we can face that he was struggling with some sort of mental illness. Martinez obtained the name of the band was planning on releasing a satanist then atheist album. Apparently he even successfully recorded an album called “Realms of Blasphemy”. Luckily it never made it out into the public. Sometime in the late 90’s Martinez began making death threats to individuals he claimed “stabbed him in the back” including his friend Steve Rowe of Mortification. Martinez passed away in 2025 and hopefully that will bring this whole mess to an end. All that aside if this is one you really enjoyed in the day we respect that and that is why we offer.

Tracklist
1 – Help Me – 6:17
2 – The Damnation Of Judas And The Salvation Of The Thief – 3:14
3 – Released Upon The Earth – 2:02
4 – Human Dark Potential – 4:15
5 – Instruments Of Death – 3:46
6 – Lest You Be Judged – 3:46
7 – Out Of Bounds – 3:27
8 – Bishop Of Souls – 5:24
9 – Tion – 2:59
10 – You Will Be Hated – 4:37

Credits
Backing Vocals – David Fuentes, David Portillo, David Vasquez, Gordon Martinez, Jimmy Brown*, Michael Kramer, Steve Rowe, Victor Macias
Bass – “Manic” Joe Monsorb’nik
Drums – Johnny Vasquez
Engineer – George Ochoa, Pat Woehl
Engineer [2nd] – Roger Milke, Thom Roy
Engineer [Drum Tracking] – Gil Morales
Lead Guitar – Jamie Mitchell
Mastered By – John Matousek
Mixed By – George Ochoa, Roger Martinez
Rhythm Guitar – Simon Dawg
Vocals, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Bass – Roger Martinez

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab
Recorded At – Micro Note Recording Studio
Mastered At – Soundworks West
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus

Randy Matthews – Now Do You Understand – 1975

Long scraggly hair and beard, John Lennon like spectacles and a silver jump suit cladded Matthews grabs just a guitar and microphone and makes his way through 70-minutes of song, story, humor and ministry. There sometimes appears to be as much talking as singing, but it works so incredibly well with Matthews. He is a master story teller whether in song or not. His rough edged, Joe Cocker like voice is pure gold on this project. the intimacy and genuineness of the performance simply pulls the listener into what is being said and sung. Sunny Day, Holy Band and Evacuation Day are just stellar. The 10 minute version of Country Faith – interrupted by stories and questions – is priceless. But, quite frankly, the song “Didn’t He” that closes the album is just mesmerizing and painful. This is one of those songs where artist and message collide to create something that will always be remembered. Simply, simply stunning!

Contributor – David Lowman https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – Intro – 0:50
2 – Holy Band – 2:45
3 – Quartet Rap – 3:30
4 – Dill Pickles – 2:00
5 – The Bad Has Made It Better – 2:20
6 – Guiding Light – 3:10
7 – The Deli – 1:15
8 – Sunny Day – 3:40
9 – Important Things – 2:30
10 – Love – 5:25
11 – Darling I’ll Be There – 2:20
12 – Where Were You? – 0:40
13 – Wounded Warrior – 2:50
14 – Country Faith – 10:00
15 – Christmas (White House Shuffle) – 0:55
16 – Pharoah’s Hand – 3:35
17 – Evacuation Day – 3:15
18 – Hands – 3:45
19 – Oh My – 2:45
20 – In The Morning – 4:10
21 – The Picnic – 3:50
22 – Didn’t He? – 3:50

Credits
Composed By – Randy Matthews
Engineer – Bob Clark (3)
Mixed By [Remix] – Lee Hazen
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Zap (15)
Producer, Liner Notes [Back Liner Notes], Management [Personal Management] – Wes Yoder

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Mixed At – Hazen’s Recording Studio
Mastered At – Artisan Sound Recorders

Mark Farner – Rock ‘n Roll Soul Live 1989 – 2023

Mark Farner did something really great for his fans with this one. Somehow he got the rights to the video and audio of his performance at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California as part of the “Woodstock 20 Years After” festival in 1989. He released a DVD with the full video, a CD with all the tracks, and a very cool coloured vinyl LP with limited tracks. Okay so lets set the background. This was a music festival that unofficially celebrated the 20 year anniversary of Woodstock. While that was strange enough even stranger Grand Funk Railroad never played at Woodstock as they had conflicting tour dates. To be clear this was a secular music festival but Mark didn’t let that get in the way and sang a great mix of his classics and current Christian music. Mark really was a treasure in the industry. He often leveraged his bands early success to minister to people. Mark practised what he preached and I always felt he never got the recognition he deserved for that. Now let’s talk about the album. The original recording of this concert was obviously not intended for an album release but I have to say the mix is pretty good. Mark’s team did a pretty good job in post production because a concert mix is nothing like an album mix. I of course never being satisfied did do some post production work myself so you may notice our copy is slightly more saturated than the original. Hat’s off to Mark for an excellent release and I’ll say this too, he didn’t do a kickstarter so it is likely he didn’t make much of anything off this release. I hope I’m wrong and he made some money but if you listen to it here he’ll get a few pennies from YouTube. Be sure to visit his website if you’re a fan as he is still releasing albums and they are available there including both the vinyl and CD version of this album signed. I doubt Mark will ever read this but hats off to you Mark for an excellent release.

Tracklist
1 – Are You Ready – 4:03
2 – Rock’n Roll Soul – 3:32
3 – Footstompin’ Music – 4:06
4 – Airborne Ranger – 4:39
5 – Judgement Day Blues – 4:45
6 – Some Kind Of Wonderful – 5:27
7 – Paranoid – 10:23
8 – Come To Jesus – 4:01
9 – Mean Mistreater – 4:38
10 – Must Have Been Love – 3:11
11 – Bad Time – 2:46
12 – I’m Your Captain/Closer To Home – 6:34
13 – Heartbreaker – 7:24
14 – Isn’t It Amazing – 5:08
15 – The Loco-motion – 4:27

Credits
Art Direction – Mark Kalmus
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Lawrence Buckner
Drums, Backing Vocals – Mike Maple
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Mike Blair
Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals – Mark Farner
Mastered By – Randy Perry
Photography – Fred B. Slinger
Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals – Arnie Vilches

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Liberation Hall – Lib – 5164

Michael Sweet – Demo – 1992

This was an early teaser release from Michael of 4 tracks from his future self titled album. These have completely different mixes/production than the album and I’ll be blunt…… these versions are better. Not just a little better but substantially better. I have no idea why these initial versions were rejected but it has just solidified my opinion that music industry people that make such decisions aren’t any better qualified to make those decisions than you and I. On the opening track “I Think You Hear Me Knockin'” is a single on the EP but on the album it’s just a good filler track. Anyway I’m glad I was encouraged to grab this one out of the stack for a listen. While I love Michael’s solo album I far prefer the tracks as they were produced here. The lesson for record companies that they will not listen to? Leave stuff alone, sometimes the best route of action is to just stop.

Tracklist
1 – I Think You Hear Me Knockin’ – 3:42
2 – All I Wanna Do Is Love You – 4:21
3 – Tomorrow, Tonight – 4:18
4 – Someday – 4:30

Credits
Written-By – Michael Sweet

Darrell Mansfield – Give Him Your Blues – 1992

This album from Darrell is actually a pretty important one. It usually gets lost in the shuffle of his many albums but this album would steer his direction for much of the rest of his career. The event was rather small but if you follow his next several albums the addition of Glenn Kaiser to this album is very important. It also helped shape Darrell sound on upcoming albums as he drifted away from traditional rock and concentrated on blues rock. He starts the album with “Never Been To The Seminary” at it sets the tone for the rest of the album both musically and lyrically. If you follow my writing you know I have a love for Darrell’s music and I have in the past counted him as a friend. One of the real standouts on this album for me was the drumming of Michael Fickling. This was his first album with Darrell and while he was a little known studio musician this album really displayed his skills. Unfortunately we lost Michael suddenly in March of 2018 at the age of 65. Listen for his work it really fits with Glenn’s guitar and Darrell’s harp. Oh and yes I know that track 7 is spelt wrong. Just as it was, so shall it be.

Tracklist
1 – Never Been To The Seminary – 4:22
2 – Beautiful City – 3:38
3 – Trimmed & Burnin’ – 2:28
4 – You Know It Ain’t Right – 3:39
5 – Ain’t No Need – 7:03
6 – God’s Radar – 3:45
7 – It Takes God To Built A Home – 3:18
8 – I Know Jesus Can – 4:15
9 – Swing Low – 4:17
10 – The Mission – 5:02
11 – Never Heard A Man – 4:16

Credits
Art Direction – Huurdeman, De Kemp
Backing Vocals – Darrell Mansfield
Bass – Matthew Chapman
Coordinator – Gerrit aan ‘t Goor
Design – Hotline
Drums – Michael Fickling
Guitar – Shawn Jones
Keyboards – Phil Kristianson
Lead Guitar [Additional] – Glenn Kaiser
Management [Booking Agent] – Crossbow Productions
Photography By – Florian Lem
Producer, Harmonica, Lead Vocals – Darrell Mansfield
Rhythm Guitar [Additional] – Glenn Kaiser
Technician – Heyke Noordhof

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – GMI Music Partners
Copyright © – GMI Music Partners
Recorded At – Studio Spitsbergen