I had no idea this one existed until I stumble on it a week ago. It’s a Petra tribute album released in 1996 by Star Song with some of biggest artists of the mid 90’s. I am just guessing here but I think the producers asked the artists to “really make your cover your own.” The result? Some of these songs aren’t even recognizable. I don’t know if it’s just me but I find most of these covers to be horrible. I did like the Audio Adrenaline and Caprill And My Sister’s Garden tracks but I really struggled with the rest. But hey I’m just a critic that doesn’t always “get it.” How about you, what do you think of this project?
Tracklist 1 – Audio Adrenaline – Taste And See – 3:36 2 – The Walter Eugenes – Judas’ Kiss – 4:34 3 – Galactic Cowboys – Not Of This World – 5:30 4 – Sarah Jahn – Yahweh Love – 5:13 5 – MxPx – I Can Be Friends With You – 2:43 6 – Jars Of Clay – Rose Colored Stained Glass Window – 4:18 7 – Kevin Smith & Passafist – Louie’s Solo – 5:33 8 – Sixpence None The Richer – Road To Zion – 5:43 9 – The Stand – Pied Piper – 3:28 10 – Grammatrain – Wake Up – 3:45 11 – Caprill And My Sister’s Garden – The Coloring Song – 4:02 12 – Plankeye – All The King’s Horses – 5:47
Credits Executive producer – Darrell A. Harris Co-executive producers – Lynn Nichols, Dave Perkins Mastered by Steve Marcussen at Precision Mastering, Hollywood, California Project coordinator – Debby Austin
While this is the fourth album released from 2nd Chapter of Acts it was actually recorded in 1976 before their third album Mansion Builder. Unfortunately it got tied up in legalities which delayed it’s release. Luckily it all got figured out and the album got released. These legal problems were because of the album was based on a telling of the story of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which was the first published book in The Chronicles of Narnia, a series by C. S. Lewis. Matthew Ward tells the story that the vocals were recorded in a bedroom of their house but the mixer was in the garage which in turn caused them to put hole in the wall for the cords of the microphone. This album is one of their most popular even today. Apparently people really enjoyed the C.S. Lewis tie in.
Tracklist 1 – Are You Goin’ To Narnia – 3:26 2 – Lucy’s Long Gone – 1:46 3 – Tell The Truth – 2:27 4 – Turkish Delight – 3:00 5 – Son Of Adam Daughter Of Eve – 2:16 6 – Christmas Where Are You – 1:50 7 – Gifts From Father Christmas – 1:54 8 – Aslan Is Killed – 2:28 9 – The Roar Of Love – 2:28 10 – I’ve Heard The Stars Sing Before – 2:13 11 – He’s Broken Thru – 3:14 12 – Witch’s Demise / Get It Into Your Head – 2:40 13 – Something Is Happening In Me – 2:03 14 – White Stag – 3:25
Credits Arranged By [Instrumental Arrangements] – Michael Omartian Bass – Leland Sklar Engineer, Producer – Buck Herring Guitar – Jay Graydon Guitar, Soloist [Guitar] – Phil Keaggy Illustration, Design – Larry McAdams Keyboards, Synthesizer [s] – Michael Omartian Lacquer Cut By – KPG Liner Notes [Inner Sleeve quote] – Clyde S. Kilby Programmed By [Synthesizers] – Alex Cima Sounds [Crystal Glasses] – 2nd Chapter Of Acts Whistle – Matthew Ward Written-By – Anne Herring, Matthew Ward, Nelly Greisen
This is the one and only album we would get from Killed By Cain, kind of. Before this one album deal with R.E.X. Music the band was actually called White Ray and they actually had 4 demo’s which were very well liked and sought after. At this point I have only listened to one of those demos and it’s okay but nothing special. This album is very well produced thanks to Dale Thompson and the mix is good. That said the album just doesn’t stand out to me. It’s not bad, just nothing special. I admit this isn’t my preferred style of music but I know a good album when I hear it. Is it a good album? Yes, but it’s not a great album. It has a typical metal sound that was just overdone at this point. I do have all of their demo’s and maybe I’ll be more impressed there and I will give them an honest listen.
Tracklist 1 – Intro To Hypocrisy – 0:54 2 – Burn The Church – 3:09 3 – Violence – 3:46 4 – Thou Shalt Not Kill – 3:48 5 – Gasoline – 4:12 6 – Jezebel – 3:15 7 – Father – 4:47 8 – Sin City – 3:30 9 – Walk The Line – 3:58 10 – Gun Control – 3:47
Credits Art Direction, Design – Noisegrind/Jeff Spencer* Bass – Steve Curtsinger Drums – Stephan Roland Engineer – Martin Woodlee Executive-Producer – P. Gavin Morkel Guitar – Tony Bowling Photography By – Forest Williams Producer – Dale Thompson Vocals – John Warren
This is the first album from Starflyer 59 (Jason Martin). Strangely he had 2 self titled albums one with a gold cover and one with silver. This one is Colloquially referred to as Starflyer 59 Silver. This was a great introductory album for a style of grunge that Christian music needed. Jason is a fantastic song writer and you can hear it on this album. That said I just do not like how this album was engineered and produced. Later albums were produced by Jason and sound much better. This album was produced and engineered by the team of Jerome Fontamillas, Jyro Xhan, and Mark Rodriguez and I’m just going to say it, too many cooks in the kitchen ruins the stew. I think they were going for the “wall of sound” feel but honestly I’m just not feeling it. I would have preferred Jason mixed this album himself. Anyway it’s still a great album if you are a grunge fan. Jason is one of the greatest unsung heroes of the Christian music genre and deserves recognition as such.
Tracklist 1 – Blue Collar Love – 4:03 2 – Monterey – 2:59 3 – Sled – 3:27 4 – Hazel Would – 2:53 5 – The Zenith – 5:35 6 – 2nd Space Song – 3:20 7 – Droned – 4:32 8 – Happy Days Are Here Again – 1:16 9 – She Only Knows – 2:07 10 – The Dungeon – 3:49
Credits Art Direction, Design – Brandon Ebel, Jason Pickersgill Bass – Andrew Larson Drums – Dan Reid Executive-Producer – Brandon Ebel Mastered By – Brian Gardner Mixed By – Blood Productions Mixed By, Engineer – Bob Moon Photography By [Band And Studio Photography] – Brandon Ebel Photography By [Triumph Photography] – Matt Wignall Producer – Blood Vocals, Guitar, Drums, Music By, Lyrics By – Jason Martin
This is the 6th album from David & The Giants and strangely they hadn’t released a self titled album yet so this one got that treatment. This was the first of a 2 album run with CBS Priority Records but I wonder if they had a deal for more. The Priority label was shut down shortly after the bands second album with them so I guess we’ll never know. The Huff’s both engineered and produced this album and I don’t think they were quite ready for that role as personally I find the mix on this album to be a bit questionable. That said the album was very successful within the genre and many of their fans consider this their best album. The album still has a pretty strong 70’s sound which is a little surprising for 1982 but this was a transition album for them and they would have a more 80’s pop sound on their next album. I really enjoy this album and think there are several tracks here that deserve to be in peoples playlists if you like the traditional sound.
Tracklist 1 – One Less Stone – 4:00 2 – God Is Love – 4:32 3 – America (In God You Used To Trust) – 3:09 4 – I’m Gonna Go Fly Away – 3:15 5 – Noah – 4:10 6 – The Well (Will Never Run Dry) – 4:16 7 – Who In The World – 3:18 8 – Thunder And Lightning – 3:15 9 – Rock ‘N Roll Blues – 2:57 10 – Highway To Heaven – 4:10
Credits Backing Vocals, Bass Guitar – Clayborn Huff Backing Vocals, Clarinet, Organ, Electric Piano [Rhodes], Piano, Engineer, Synthesizer – Rayborn Huff Design – Bob McConnell Drums, Percussion – Keith Thibodeaux Engineer [Assistant] – Dennis Ritchey Guitar – David Huff Guitar, Percussion, Vocals, Engineer, Mixed By – David Huff Horns – Muscle Shoals Horns Illustration – Mike Drake Mastered By – Glenn Meadows Organ – Rayborn Huff Strings – Jackson Strings
While this album was released in 2000 the material was apparently recorded in 1992. Things were a little more complicated for Stryper in 1992 with Michael announcing his departure and the joining/not joining of Dale Thompson. Apparently they did hit the studio in 1992 and recorded these 5 tracks but with all the turmoil they never got released. Somehow Michael got the rights to these songs and self released them in 2000. Anyway let’s not get hung up on the turmoil and give the EP a listen. These are excellent tracks and are pretty well produced. Tony Palacios (Guardian) played lead guitar on the first 2 tracks. I really enjoyed these 5 tracks, they have a great arena rock feel and I’m sure would have sold well in 1992 if they could have been released. Michael rerecorded/remixed “All I Wanna Do” for his self titled album in 1994.
Tracklist 1 – Love You Crazy – 3:55 2 – Give What You’ve Got – 4:53 3 – All I Wanna Do – 3:57 4 – When I’m Lonely – 4:05 5 – I Need You Now – 4:13
Credits Bass – Baba Elephante Drums – Jamie Wollam Guitar – Tony Palacios (tracks: 1,2) Keyboards – Terry Usler Lead Guitar – Michael Sweet Lead Vocals – Michael Sweet Piano – Terry Usler Producer – Michael Sweet Rhythm Guitar – Michael Sweet
Washes Whiter Than is the third studio album by Petra and would mark the beginning of the chaos that became membership in the band. First, Greg Hough and John DeGroff left the band during the previous tour for “Come and Join Us” so Bob Hartman brought in Rob Frazier as a guitarist and vocalist. Then as they were starting to record this album drummer Bill Glover also left. Bob now invited Greg X. Volz who had been entertaining an offer from REO Speedwagon but decided Petra was for him. So the root of the band for this album was Bob Hartman, Rob Frazier, and Greg X. Volz while studio musicians rounded out the band for this recording. During all this chaos the band had taken a 9 month sabbatical to ponder their future. The band actually started recording this album while not even having a record deal in place. While recording and touring they were able to secure a record deal from Star Song Records. Now we’re not really too sure if it was Star Song or the band but the album took a mellow turn. It wasn’t an entirely mellow album but much more mellow than their previous 2 albums. I’ll be honest here that this is probably my least liked Petra album because of this turn. Even though this album had some great tracks it generally sat on the shelf in our listening room. The album did have 2 successful singles. “Why Should the Father Bother” made it to #3 on the CCM AC charts and stayed on the charts for 25 weeks while “Yahweh Love” made it to #20 on the CCM AC charts and stayed on the charts for 4 weeks. As usual for the CCM charts these were probably my 2 most disliked tracks. While Greg and Rob were sharing the lead vocal duties there is little doubt that Greg had the better tracks. That said I kind of like Rob’s vocals and it would have been interesting to see what direction he would have taken the band in. But anyway, Greg ended up with the vocalist job and Petra history would have him at the forefront until John Schlitt would take over in 1986. So that’s the interesting story behind this album making it historically one of the great story behind the album stories in CCM music.
Tracklist 1 – I’m Thankful – 2:41 2 – Why Should The Father Bother? – 3:46 3 – Morning Star – 4:47 4 – Magic Mirror – 3:27 5 – Mary’s Song – 4:00 6 – Yahweh Love – 5:38 7 – (Couldn’t Find Love) Without You – 4:19 8 – Taste And See – 3:23 9 – Magic Words – 3:31 10 – Deep Love – 3:57
Credits Arranged By – George Atwell, Bob Hartman, Robert Frazier Bass – Chip Meyers Design, Artwork – George Werth Drums, Percussion – Randy Nichols Engineer – Andy deGanahl Guitar – Gerald “Jit” Byron, Joel Balin Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals – Robert Frazier Keyboards – George Atwell Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Bob Hartman Lead Vocals – Greg X. Volz (tracks: 1, 4, 6, 8), Rob Frazier (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 7, 9, 10) Management, Booking – Dan Brock Associates Mastered By – Allen Zentz Recording Musician [“The Crown Of Sound”] – Bob Prince Producer – George Atwell, Dan R. Brock
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) Star Song Records Copyright (c) Star Song Records Manufactured By Word, Inc. Distributed By Word, Inc. Published By Dawn Treader Music Recorded At Bee Jay Recording Studio Mastered At Future Disc
We normally do not upload Greatest hits albums to YouTube but in this case we made an exception. The album contains 2 new tracks and the second of this two CD collection is entirely live so it’s also new material. Disc 1 consists of material from their 4 albums on the ForeFront label. It includes two new songs, More Than Gold and Today. Disc two is parts pf a concert recorded in Rome Georgia. A video was released to coincide with this release called Roadwork and is a more complete collection of the concert mentioned previously. The live tracks are well recorded and engineered which is more difficult than you may think as live mixes are completely different than album mixes. The live recording are what makes this album worth listening to as it was a great concert.
Tracklist 1 – More Than Gold – 4:19 2 – Life Together – 4:25 3 – Evolution … Redefined – 4:27 4 – The Vow – 4:08 5 – Good To Be Alive – 4:27 6 – If You Could See What I See – 4:18 7 – Listen To Our Hearts – 4:48 8 – House Of Faith – 4:22 9 – A Friend Like U – 3:44 10 – Simple Heart – 4:56 11 – Live To Tell – 4:34 12 – Today – 3:37 13 – Evidence Of God – 4:05 14 – Evolution … Redefined – 3:22 15 – Life Together – 3:54 16 – Best Days – 3:59 17 – Good To Be Alive – 4:18 18 – Home Run – 5:18 19 – New Americans – 5:18 20 – Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music – 4:26 21 – When All Is Said And Done – 2:50
Credits Art Direction, Design – Tom Davis, Tonya Presley Engineer [The Live Set], Mixed By [The Live Set] – Richie Biggs Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo Illustration [Jupiter Boy Cover Image By] – Steven Webster Management – Brock & Associates Mastered By – Ken Love Photography By [Bus Image] – Shane Johnson Photography By [Group Photography By] – John Chiasson Photography By [Truck Image] – Jeff Frazier Recorded By – RM Audio
This is the first official album from Brazil’s Katsbarnea. Most of the tracks on this album are from their demo and I have read both that they re-recorded them and that they were just remixed. I have no idea which it was. The track Extra was a huge hit in Brazil and won a prominent Brazilian music award. As I understand it Christian music was common on Brazil’s secular radio stations due to a very high level of Christianity in the population. Wouldn’t that have been nice in North America? Anyway, this would be the start of a long run for the band that is still touring today. Of course I don’t know a word of Portuguese so I can’t even comment on the lyrics but the music is fantastic. I really really enjoy their feel and sound and would have loved to have seen them live back in the 90’s. While we aim these foreign releases at our foreign fans I would actually suggest giving it a listen, it’s quite good.
This is the first album from Charlotte that was released in the U.S. This is the Swedish version that was originally released in 1985. They went back into the studio to record the English version in 1987. The music scores are slightly different but I think it’s due to mixing and not due to rerecording them. There are 2 additional tracks on the English version and the Swedish version actually had 2 English songs. English songs on a Swedish release were not uncommon at the time. Being from Canada I had no idea about the existence of this album or even this artist. I discovered it as I was researching Frank Ådahl and discovered he sang backup on this album. Charlotte actually had several albums including many as a child with her brother Per Höglund. Charlotte’s parents are singers Lotten and Arne Höglund and were also travel evangelists with the Swedish Missionary Association in the early 1970’s. The album is a great Pop album with strong vocals and I really really like it. It’s easily as good as the female pop stuff that was on the lower end of radio playlists in 85/87. No real stand out tracks for me but a great all around album. Charlotte Höglund is currently the pastor of Immanuelskyrkan Church in Stockholm.
The English version of this album is here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPcTOx34g9XQ1vdSt8rX1lGHxqCXcJa2v
Tracklist 1 – Fri – 3:45 2 – Dansa – 3:56 3 – Vem Är Du? – 4:08 4 – Känn Ingen Oro – 3:34 5 – End Of The Book – 3:47 6 – Stjärnorna – 3:36 7 – All I Needed To Say – 3:21 8 – Vinna – Våga – 3:19 9 – Befria Mitt Folk – 5:01 10 – Konungen – 3:35
Credits Arranged By – Peter Ljung Backing Vocals – Björn Ström, Eva Axelsson, Frank Ådahl Bass – Teddy Walther Design – Camilla B. Drums – Klas Anderhell, Per Lindvall Engineer – Lennart Östlund, Paris Edvinsson Guitar – Henrik Janson Hair – Maria, KlippButiken Illustration – Jan Sandström Keyboards – Peter Ljung Make-Up – Jean Pierre Barda Photography By – Labe Allwin Producer – Peter Ljung Saxophone – Johan Stengård
