This album has been floating around the internet claiming that this album was recorded with After The Fire (ATF). I decided I wanted to get to the bottom of the story and talked with Peter Banks about this album. Here is the true story. John Pantry was producing the album and had booked Peter Banks to do some keyboard work for the album. Ishmael consequently asked if ATF could come into the studio as session players. John Pantry asked Peter if this was possible and Peter and ATF agreed to step in to help with the album. The version of ATF at the time was Andy Piercy, Ian Adamson, Robin Childs, and Peter Banks. So the internet story is relatively correct. Okay now that we’ve set the record straight (see what I did there?) lets talk about the album. To be clear this album is the amalgamation of 2 of my top 5 favourite Christian artists and I was excited to give it a listen and I wasn’t disappointed. It is done in Ishmael’s style but you can get a feel of ATF in the background. Peter’s keyboards are very distinctive and you can tell a mile away it is him. Unfortunately in the 80’s we simply didn’t know anything about ATF except Der Kommissar or Ishmael other that Ishmael United due to where we lived. I simply wish I could go back and enjoy those days when their music was fresh but I’m delighted to hear it now.
Tracklist 1 – When Revival Hits Our Town – 3:57 2 – Praise Away – 4:10 3 – It’s Amazin’ What Praisin’ Can Do – 2:28 4 – Soul Man – 2:24 5 – I Will Sing A Song Unto The Lord – 1:07 6 – Martyr’s Praise Song – 2:26 7 – Who Is He In Yonder Stall – 8:30 8 – Benedictus – 4:33 9 – Lord Army/Prayer Force – 4:55 10 – Song Of Emmanuel – 3:09 11 – Jesus Christ Is Risen Today – 3:01 12 – Kiss The Hand Of Jesus – 7:10 13 – We Are Coming To His House – 3:51
Credits Ishmael – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar Andy Piercy – Acoustic Guitar Ian Adamson – Drums Robin Childs – Bass Peter Banks – Keyboards, Electric Guitar John Pantry – Producer
Companies, etc. Published By – Thankyou Music Published By – Word
There is very little info out there on Ezra. In fact there’s none I can find other than the liner notes and none of the members went on to do any other projects that I can find. The album is on Asaph Records which is the music ministry label of Calvary Chapel, based in Santa Ana. So I guess we can guess that they were a southern California band but that’s just a guess. Anyway the album is fantastic. While described by some as metal it’s not. It leans more towards Arena Rock and some of the tracks are Hard Rock. I’m really surprised there isn’t more info on these guys out there given the quality of this album. Was the album a little late in 1991? I don’t think so, there was still lots of Arena Rock at the time. Anyway give it a listen and if you only have time for one track go with Frontline.
Tracklist 1 – Key To Heaven – 4:12 2 – Frontline – 4:30 3 – Listen To Your Heart – 3:56 4 – Shadow Of The Son – 3:05 5 – Carry Me Home – 4:23 6 – The Return – 5:21 7 – Here For You – 4:15 8 – That’s Right – 2:48 9 – Take Me – 5:16
Credits Arranged By, Producer – Ezra Art Direction, Illustration, Layout – John Shaffer Backing Vocals [Additional Backing Vocals] – Andy Allen Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Greg Lambas Design [Cover Design And Concept By] – Greg Lambas Drums – Jeff Chubb Drums [Additional Drumming By] – Terry McNab Executive-Producer – Brian Broderson Guitar, Vocals – Howard Anderson Lead Vocals, Keyboards – Thomas Potter Mixed By [Assisted By] – Andy Allen Photography By – Rick Gould Producer, Mixed By – Chip Cimino Recorded By, Mixed By – Alan DiCato
Companies, etc. Distributed By – Frontline Distribution Distributed By – Christian Marketing Canada
Hoi Polloi was formed in New Zealand by Jenny Gullen, her husband, Andrew Horst, David Ball and Jozsef Fityus. This is their first demo recording and it likely propelled their career in the CCM industry. The Demo is fantastic and very very well produced by Tim Foreman at Airforce Recording Studio in Auckland NZ. The demo led to the band getting an invitation to Cornerstone and a 2 record deal from Reunion Records. All but one of the tracks on this album were rerecorded and released on the bands first album and the one remaining track showed up on their second album. The album has a great alternative sound and one can’t help but make a comparison to Lone Justice but with much less cow influence. The vocals are strong and the instruments are tight. This is probably one of the best produced demo’s I’ve ever heard. Definitely top 10.
Tracklist 1 – Rest Tonite – 3:22 2 – Rain – 4:05 3 – Love Shine Down – 3:14 4 – Satisfy – 4:13 5 – The Other Name – 4:23 6 – Come To Me – 4:09
Credits Jenny Gullen – Lead vocals, acoustic guitar David Ball – Lead guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards Andrew Horst – Bass, backing vocals, acoustic guitar Jozsef Fityus – Drums Jasmine Kemp – Background vocals on “Satisfy” Dave Henderson – Background vocals on “Satisfy” Youth Renewal Singers – Background vocals on “Rest Tonight” Guy Wishart – Acoustic guitar on “Satisfy” Jeff Tribe – Trumpet Peter Slainey – Saxophone Dave Parry – Keyboards on “Love Shine Down”
You could never say that Ken Tamplin was lazy. Between Joshua, Magdallan, Shout, and his solo projects his fans were never left wanting for an album. This is his second (if you count Ken Tamplin & Friends) solo project though there were very few “friends” on this album as he played almost all of the instruments on all the track himself though he did have some help on a few tracks. For this album Ken turned it down a little bit from Ken Tamplin & Friends. This is a more straight up Rock & Roll album with very few hints of Metal. As I start listening to Ken’s 90’s stuff I get the feeling my favourite album by him is going to constantly evolve. But for now this is my favorite. So if you like straight up Rock & Roll, this album is a must listen.
Tracklist 1 – Media Mania – 4:17 2 – (I’m Gonna) Live Forever – 3:36 3 – Hard Times Comin’ – 3:37 4 – Stand Up – 4:29 5 – Midnight ‘N Peru – 3:15 6 – Take It Now (Or Nothing) – 3:09 7 – Love’s Eternal Road – 4:16 8 – Stay By My Side – 3:25 9 – Come And Save Me – 4:02 10 – Heart And Soul – 3:07
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Ken Tamplin, Scott Van Zen Art Direction – Ed McTaggart Backing Vocals – Ken Tamplin, Vicki Lyn Reynolds Bass – Ken Tamplin, Roger Mielke, Scott van Zen Design – Joe Potter Drums – Ken Tamplin Harmonica – Jimmy Woods Keyboards – Roger Mielke Lead Guitar – Ken Tamplin, Scott Van Zen Lead Vocals – Ken Tamplin Mixed By – Ken Tamplin Percussion – Ken Tamplin Photography By – Nigel Skeet Producer – Ken Tamplin Rhythm Guitar – Ken Tamplin, Scott Van Zen Saxophone – Jergen Swartz
This album was recorded on Martyn’s “Acoustic Tour” in May 1989 except for Contradictions, No Choices and An Aching And A Longing recorded at Blue Strike Studio, Harrogate. Apparently he paid for the entire album production himself but seeing as it was released on Myrrh with a one album deal surely he got some help. That aside this album sold fantastic and was his jump into a record deal with Epic records (Sony). This is another artist that was very well known and loved in Europe but was completely unknown in the west. Well maybe not completely unknown but we couldn’t buy his albums so he was only known by a select few. Anyway this is a great album and though it was recorded on his “Acoustic” tour that actually refers to his guitar not the entire album. He is backed up skilfully by a great travelling studio band.
Tracklist 1 – Nobody’s Fool – 4:17 2 – Contradictions – 5:08 3 – Treasure The Questions – 5:38 4 – Reminded Of Heaven – 4:33 5 – Vincent – 4:30 6 – Real World – 3:46 7 – Power Of Your Love – 4:34 8 – Candle In The Wind – 4:23 9 – Beautiful Woman – 4:05 10 – I Will Follow – 3:30 11 – Dolphin’s Make Me Cry – 6:32 12 – Sunday’s Coming – 2:15 13 – An Aching And A Longing – 4:47 14 – No Choices – 3:29
Credits Backing Vocals – Mike Haughton Design – James Kessell Engineer – Will Jackson Flute, Recorder, Backing Vocals – Mike Haughton Guitar, Vocals – Martyn Joseph Keyboards, Bass Guitar – Will Jackson Lighting – Pete Allison Photography By – Theresa Wassif Recorded By – Frank Mizon Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Mike Haughton
This is Garth’s offering for 1988 and this one like most of his albums in this period was only released in the U.K. I have heard that the few albums he did release in the U.S. just didn’t sell well but they sold well in the U.K. I don’t kind of understand why that would be but anyway lets get to the album. This album has several different styles. There’s some folk, some country, some pop, and even a Rock & Roll tune. This many different styles means the album doesn’t have a flow but they are well done and if you’re a fan of his I’m sure you don’t care about the flow of the album. This was the first album of his I listened too so the differing styles was a bit jarring.
Tracklist 1 – Namibia – 3:49 2 – Strange Weapons – 3:07 3 – Land Of Palestine – 3:11 4 – Johnny Cash – 2:55 5 – Our Silent Eyes – 3:22 6 – Tears Of God – 2:44 7 – Peace Like A Phoenix – 3:44 8 – Amusing Ourselves – 3:06 9 – 32 Years – 3:46 10 – The Sky That Wouldn’t Weep – 3:54 11 – Polish Winter – 4:30 12 – Get Up And Dance – 3:37 13 – Jesus Of The Scars – 2:54
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Doyle Grisham, Tom Blades Backing Vocals – Barb Smith, Billy Bob Shane, Craig Wiseman, Darryl Adams, Gilly Sue Blades, Jan Pulsford Bass – Jimmy Carter Design – James Kessell Drums – Craig Wiseman Electric Guitar – Tom ‘Razor’ Blades, Walt Houston Engineer – Lori Larsen, Roger Holmes Fiddle – Hank Singer Harmonica – Garth Hewitt Keyboards – Howard Duck Keyboards [Additional] – Jan Pulsford Lead Vocals – Garth Hewitt Mandolin – Hank Singer Photography – Michael Rock Steel Guitar – Cal Freeman
This was the second studio album from Code of Ethics. For this album the lineup was Barry Blaze, Rick Brainer, Scot Kifer. Strangely Barry takes credit for every instrument on the album. I get the vibe he was difficult to work with but I don’t know that for sure. Anyway this is a very techno pop oriented album and is more in the style of an 80’s New Order. I actually really like this album but I absolutely love 80’s New Wave. Of course the problem is that they put this album out in 1993. But apparently it did very very well on Christian Radio even reportedly having a #1 hit with “Something Real” which has a bit of a Depeche Mode feel to me. It also probably helped that Ed DeGarmo was one of the Executive Producers. Anyway there is some real talent here and they were quite successful so my criticisms should probable be ignored.
Tracklist 1 – Eden – 0:23 2 – Freedom – 4:20 3 – True Love – 4:38 4 – Something Real – 4:30 5 – Without Reason – 3:36 6 – World Machine – 3:37 7 – Waiting – 4:19 8 – Satellite Babies – 4:35 9 – Follow On – 4:24 10 – Pain – 4:07 11 – Chasing The Dragon – 4:23 12 – Sands Of Time – 5:48
Credits Artwork – The Riordon Design Group Inc. Booking – Vision Artist Engineer [Assistant] – Darrin Smith, David Hall Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo Management, Booking – Artist Aid Management Mastered By – Ken Love Mixed By [Mix Engineer] – John Hiler, John Jaszcz Performer [Code Of Ethics] – Barry Blaze, Rick Brainer, Scot Kifer Photography By – Norma Jean Roy Producer – Barry Blaze Recorded By [Recording Engineer] – Ed Simmonton, Eugene Baker, Jeff Alford, Max Hsu, Steve Bisher Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drum Programming, Programmed By [Synth Programming], Percussion [Live] – Barry Blaze
Bruce Cockburn is the greatest songwriter of all time! OK…that may be an exaggeration…but not by much. Along with being intensely prolific, Cockburn is also incredibly intelligent, diverse, creative, original, stark, honest, transparent, intriguing… When I was first hired as a 16 year old at a local Christian Bookstore I was already a “music expert” of sorts. I had begun collecting Christian music much earlier, first as “hand me down” albums from my parents and older brother and sister, and then using my allowance or money from odd jobs to buy my own. Then as I could save money I would ask my parents to drive me to Maranatha Village or other Christian bookstores in town to pick up the most recent releases from Sweet Comfort, Daniel Amos and Darrell Mansfield. My Youth Pastor subscribed to CCM Magazine and I subscribed to Camus Life, both of which had a heavy impact on my growing love and appreciation for the genre. My first few days at my new job was primarily an education in how the store worked, my responsibilities and dealing with customers. But the owner’s daughter was a music fan, especially of more cutting edge and controversial artists. On one of those first few days she took an LP of “Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws” and placed on the in-store play system. As a fan of Bob Dylan I was immediately drawn to Cockburn’s nasally, borderline off-key vocals and compelling lyrical content. This birthed my fascination with Bruce Cockburn, an artist I have had the privilege of seeing in concert over 10 times and one of the few artists that I own every album he has released. My favorites remain those released between the mid-70′s and the mid-80′s. Cockburn had become a Christian at just about the time his solo career began despite being born and raised in an agnostic family setting. Cockburn’s Christianity would impact and influence his content from the earliest days. His brand of Christianity also informed his view of environmental and human rights issues. These two subjects, especially the latter, would be an integral part of his work. Like the previously discussed songwriter, Bill Mallonee, Cockburn has drawn criticism from evangelical circles for his subject matter and for his use of provocative language. But also like Mallonee there never appears to be an illicit purpose for the use of language, but rather an understandable inclusion of such language to express or prove a point. The subject matter, though, is quite often more provocative than certain linguistic choices. Leaning toward the political left, Cockburn has rubbed American evangelicalism the wrong way on more than one occasion. It should also be noted that Cockburn is quite the impressive musician. He is easily one of the finest acoustic guitar players around. His early work especially proved this point. One concert I attended was a solo concert in which 20 separate instruments were place behind him on the stage. That night he performed 20 songs using a different instrument for each song. I was later told be a friend that the following evening that the order of the songs remained the same but the placement and instrument choices on stage changed!
Contributor David Lowman – https://legacyccmsgreatestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Creation Dream – 4:00 2 – Hills Of Morning – 4:25 3 – Badlands Flashback – 6:12 4 – Northern Lights – 4:06 5 – After The Rain – 3:59 6 – Wondering Where The Lions Are – 3:42 7 – Incandescent Blue – 4:35 8 – No Footprints – 5:38
Credits Art Direction – Bart Schoales Bass – Robert Boucher Drums – Bob DiSalle Engineer – Gary Gray Engineer [Assisted By] – Frank Kitson Guitar, Voice, Chimes, Synthesizer, Dulcimer – Bruce Cockburn Lacquer Cut By – Cub Management [Direction] – The Finkelstein Fiedler Co. Painting [Cover] – Norval Morrisseau Photography By [Inside Photograph] – Christopher Dew Piano, Marimba – Pat Godfrey Producer – Eugene Martynec Translated By [Traduction Par] – Marcel Mousette Words By, Music By – Bruce Cockburn
Not much information out there on The Mighty Flyers. It looks like it was a David Rees project as he did vocals and produced the album. I stumbled on this one because it features Nick Brotherwood of The Alwyn Wall Band and After The Fire and also Norman Barratt of the Barratt Band and The Alwyn Wall Band. These were some of the top Christian artists of the period. The album is pretty good as it has a seventies folk sound and feel. I can’t find that David Rees did any other projects but there are 2 more albums from The Mighty Flyers which I’m looking forward to listening to soon.
Tracklist 1 – Egypt – 3:09 2 – Thinking of Mary Tonight – 3:16 3 – I Saw Heaven Open – 3:39 4 – Eyes Like Jewels – 2:51 5 – Love Like An Ocean – 4:22 6 – Let Me Die An Easy Death – 4:25 7 – The Thief’s Song – 4:33 8 – Four Score Years – 4:00 9 – Fair Weather Friends – 4:25 10 – Celebrate The Feast/Salute The King – 4:18 11 – I Looked Down – 1:02
Credits Bass – Martin Bunyar Drums – Nick Brotherwood Guitar – Norman Barratt Lead Guitar – Nick Stone Vocals, Producer, Written-By – David Rees
This may be the oldest album we’ve ever uploaded and while we hear time and time again that Larry Norman was the first Christian artist that simply isn’t true as Jesus Music was in full swing when he showed up on the scene and this album was part of that scene. Pauline falls in as a member of my After The Fire tentacles series. Well, kind of. Before ATF there was Narnia which had three future ATF members and also in Narnia was Pauline. So she’s not really a tentacle but perhaps one of the suction cups as she definitely has a place in the history of ATF. Anyway this is her one and only solo album and it came out several years before Narnia. It has a 70’s folk sound and I was actually quite surprised at how good it was. Track seven “Satisfied Mind” is a cover of a song that you are probably more familiar with as a Dylan track but it’s actually a cover of a Porter Wagoner song written by Jack Rhodes and Red Hayes in 1963. If you want to actually hear the origins of CCM music here’s a great place to start.
Tracklist 1 – A Day – 2:11 2 – Believe – 2:04 3 – Trouble – 2:16 4 – Loneliness – 2:01 5 – Tramp On The Street – 4:29 6 – Show Me A Rainbow – 3:35 7 – Satisfied Mind – 3:49 8 – Friday Street – 3:19 9 – Jigsaw – 4:05 10 – The Temptation – 3:21 11 – Amen – 1:58
Credits Artwork [Sleeve] – Celia Parratt Banjo, Harmonica – Jack Watson Bass, Guitar – Bill Pownall Clarinet – Brian Osmond Drums – Tim Anderson Flute – Brian Cresswell Guitar – Gordon Giltrap Harmonica – Bruce Duncan Liner Notes – Barron Antony Photography By – Clifford Shirley Written-By – Pauline Filby
