I can not find very much information about R.K. Fraser. I do know this was his only Christian album though he did have 2 albums in the 70’s that I have not listened to yet. The album was on Bright Star Records which was a division of Kerygma Records, Kerry Livgren’s label. The album was also associated with the American Coalition of Traditional Values (ACTV). Fraser was a Vietnam vet serving in 1969 and 1970. This fact helps explain the rather odd album cover which makes sense once you realize he was wearing face camouflage as was done in Vietnam. The album contains a pretty good cover of John Denver’s Annie’s Song. The album is a pretty easy listening pop album that was probably more oriented at our parents than us. Anyway it’s a pretty good album and while little known those who did have it seem to have great memories of it.
Tracklist 1 – Knockin’ At Your Door 2 – In God We Trust 3 – All Roads Lead To You 4 – Galilee 5 – Heroes 6 – Cold Cold Night 7 – Annie’s Song 8 – Light Up The Sky 9 – I Wish I Was Home
Snakes in the Playground is the fifth studio album from Bride. Strangely many of the reviews for this album say “it was their breakthrough album”. I am assuming most these reviewers actually had no idea about Christian metal. Bride was well established and already revered as one of the best Metal acts of the period. That said it was a great album and I think everyone recognized that including the Dove Awards who gave it 2 nominations for “Hard Music Recorded Song of the Year” which they won for 1992 (Rattlesnake) and 1993 (Psychedelic Super Jesus). Interestingly the album featured several guest musicians, Peter Furler and John James from the Newsboys, Rick Florian from White Heart for backing vocals, Greg Martin from the Kentucky Headhunters, Rick Elias, and Derek Jan from Novella for some solo guitar spots. As for the naming of the album Dale Thompson gave us the story “We were in the beginning stages of recording, and took a break to drive to the store. A large reptile was lying beside our car sunbathing on the pavement. In my attempts to chase the snake away, I chased it under the car. To make matters worse, the effort to move the snake from under the car drove it up into the fender wells. We spent the next hour and a half trying to get the snake to come out. We sprayed it with the water hose, poked at it with a broom handle, even shook the car, but it would not come out. Finally, when we thought we would just have to let the snake have the car, it crawled out and back into the wooded area next to the studio.” If you were living on the moon in 1992 and missed this album it is a must listen.
Tracklist 1 – Rattlesnake – 4:34 2 – Would You Die For Me – 3:35 3 – Psychedelic Super Jesus – 4:18 4 – Fallout – 4:03 5 – Saltriver Shuffle – 0:38 6 – Dust Through A Fan – 3:08 7 – I Miss The Rain – 3:52 8 – Don’t Use Me – 4:01 9 – Picture Perfect – 4:21 10 – Love, Money – 3:48 11 – Some Things Never Change – 4:09 12 – Goodbye – 5:20
Credits Art Direction – Toni Thigpen Bass – Rik Foley Design, Layout – Tufts Design Studio Drums – Jerry McBroom Edited By [Digital Editing] – Alan Douches Executive-Producer – Dez Dickerson Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Cello, Viola – Troy Thompson Illustration – Todd Tufts Mastered By – Denny Purcell Photography By – Russ Harrington Producer – Salvatore Giglio Recorded By, Mixed By – Salvatore Giglio Vocals, Backing Vocals, Tambourine, Shaker – Dale Thompson
This is the first album from The Wall Brothers. It was initially self released as a self titled album but it looks like Greentree Records picked it up the following year and released it with a new cover and title. I still can find anything out about these guys. I have discovered that before this album they were known as The Chancellors and had a couple albums with the Lefevre family. I can’t find either of those two albums but they look like they were more praise oriented. As for the album I really liked the opening track but it should never have been chosen as an opening track. The rest of the album is a little dull but if you like 70’s Jesus music you might like it. When I say dull I mean, typical. It is a typical 70’s light rock Jesus music album but not a bad one.
Tracklist 1 – Two Hands – 3:45 2 – Walk In The Sunshine – 2:42 3 – Jesus (He Is The Son Of God) – 4:55 4 – Jesus Got Ahold Of My Life – 4:10 5 – More (Than You’ll Ever Know) – 4:04 6 – Which Way The Wind Blows – 4:59 7 – Follow The Man With The Music – 3:18 8 – Praise The Lord, He Never Changes – 3:48 9 – Didn’t He? – 5:12 10 – If My People Pray – 3:39
Credits Acoustic Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Greg Wall Arranged By, Keyboards – Lari Goss Art Direction – Bob McConnell Bass – Roni Goss Cover – Michael Harris Drums, Percussion – Buster Phillips Electric Guitar – Kenny Mims Photography – Dill Beaty Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – James Goss Steel Guitar – Glynn Andrews
Companies, etc. Recorded At – The Sound Pit Mixed At – The Sound Pit Mastered At – Masterfonics
We have about 100 or 200 albums in reserve for this project. This is one of those albums that I have NO idea why or how we have it. I see it was on Fortress/Refuge Records so my best guess is that I grabbed it because of that. Of course the next step is for me to actually listen to the album and I have no idea why I chose it but I did. This is a one album group out of the U.S. or South Africa. I’m not really too sure as I’ve seen it both ways. The album was recorded and mixed in South Africa, we do know that. They have this Jazz Fusion Progressive Rock thing going on and to be clear this is NOT my style of music. In fact I really dislike this style. That said this is a spectacular album that I should really dislike but I loved it. Now let me tell you about the band. They might be from South Africa. That’s it, that’s all I could find. This is their only album and I can’t find that any of the band members were involved in any other Christian projects. I’ll be honest wasn’t even sure this was a Christian project as it’s instrumental and the song titles aren’t very descriptive but the Thank you on the back cover settled that issue for me, it is. Anyway if you like your Rock Progressive and with a bit of Jazz Fusion this is a MUST listen.
Youth alive is actually Youth Alive NSW out of Australia. It is an organization formed in 1986 to minister to kids and this is a recording of one of their concerts. The organization is still active today and is still ministering to kids across Australia, a cause I love. So we have a fun little live concert here. Don’t expect anything rising to Dove awards level but it’s a fun album and the band is tight. No one in the band had a stand out name for me other than John Waller from Avion on drums. Was great to see him involved with the group. A few other members appeared on Hillsong albums. Anyway a simple but fun live album that I enjoyed listening to.
Tracklist 1 – God Didn’t Give Me A Spirit Of Fear 2 – The Gates Of Hell Shall Not Prevail 3 – King Of Kings 4 – God Has Not Given Us 5 – Rise Up 6 – Speaking [Pat Mesiti] 7 – I Delight In The Lord 8 – Holy Holy Holy Lord (Hosanna) 9 – Open Worship [Spontaneous] 10 – The Spirit Is Falling 11 – Speaking 12 – Blessed Be The Lord My Rock 13 – He’s My Roof Top 14 – We Will Not Bow To The World 15 – Jesus Is The Rock (And He Rolls My Blues Away) 16 – This Joy That I Have 17 – Amen 18 – Youth Alive
Credits Artwork – Damien Lange Bass – Ian Fisher Brass – Cathy Byrne, Paul Stiles, Ray Price Coordinator – Jonathon De Jong, Peter Laughton Drums – John Waller Engineer [Concert Sound] – John McConnell Guitar – Chris Falson Keyboards – Brian Shirtliffe MC [Worship Enthusiast] – Pat Mesiti Percussion – Peter Kelly Producer, Piano – Geoff Bullock Recorded By – Wyn Wynyard Vocals – Chris McKinnon, David Reidy, Gerard Keehan, Lucy Fisher, Ruth Grant
Companies, etc. Record Company – Refuge Music Group Distributed By – Spectra Distribution Mixed At – Albert Studios Recorded At – Hordern Pavilion
I think I’m safe to say that this was Petra’s most successful 90’s album. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album and the Dove Award for Rock Album of the Year. Personally I struggle with Petra’s 90’s albums. They are very well done and I’m not being critical of their talent but I think I am so stuck in the 80’s I don’t appreciate their 90’s work. They stepped away from the Elefante brothers as producers for this album and went with Brown Bannister and you can tell. The album is much more mellow than their previous few and well quite frankly, just dull in spots. I respect Bannister but he was well known for leaving too many out right boring songs on an album. That said the album was hugely successful so what do I know. If you drifted away from Petra in the 90’s and missed this one I would suggest giving it a listen, I think it deserves that but I wouldn’t get excited based on the hype. I simply don’t think it’s that level of an album.
Tracklist 1 – Midnight Oil – 3:17 2 – Good News – 4:29 3 – Strong Convictions – 3:53 4 – He’s Been In My Shoes – 4:22 5 – Praying Man – 4:25 6 – Underneath The Blood – 3:30 7 – Sleeping Giant – 5:28 8 – Believer In Deed – 4:06 9 – Marks Of The Cross – 4:35 10 – Just Reach Out – 4:28
Credits A&R – Lynn Keesecker Art Direction – Diana Barnes Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle, Chris Eddy, Dale Thompson, Gordon Kennedy, Jimmie Lee Sloas, Joe Pizzulo, Judson Spence, Michael Black, Nanette Britt, Robert White Johnson, Ron Hemby, Tommy Funderburk, Vicki Carrico Bass – Ronny Cates Design – Gabrielle Raumberger Drums – Louie Weaver Engineer [Additional] – Steve Bishir Engineer [Assistant] – Martin Woodlee, Rory Romano, Wayne Mehl Engineer, Mixed By – Jeff Balding Guitar – Bob Hartman Keyboards – John Lawry Lead Vocals – John Schlitt Mastered By – Doug Sax Mixed By [Assisted] – Greg Parker, Jeff Demorris, Pete Martinez Photography By – Michael Llewellyn Producer, Engineer [Additional] – Brown Bannister Production Manager [Coordinator] – Tracy Sterling Typography – Dylan Tran
Companies, etc. Manufactured By – U.S. Optical Disc Produced For – RBI Productions Recorded At – Power Station Recorded At – The Dugout Recorded At – Ocean Way Recording Mixed At – Ocean Way Recording Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Soles is well known as a member of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review. Us in the Christian music scene probably know him best as a member of The Alpha Band. When the Alpha Band broke up in 1979 Stephen started a solo career. This album is the first of two solo albums from him. I’ll be honest when I sat down to listen to this one I wasn’t very excited about listening to it. The opening track “Touch The Power” really sucked me in and got me excited. I would say the album is evenly split between up tempo and low tempo tracks. I actually really liked this album and I didn’t expect to. Fellow Alpha Band member David Mansfield provides electric guitar for the album and if you want to hear his skills and hear the best track on the album listen to “Shake The Dust”. It has a great 70’s Dylan feel. Anyway this is a definite must hear. If your likes lean very early 80’s I’m pretty sure this one will enter your regular rotation.
Tracklist 1 – Touch The Power – 2:34 2 – The Healer – 3:50 3 – Lead Me To Water – 3:21 4 – The Witness – 3:49 5 – The Promise – 3:59 6 – Shake The Dust – 3:07 7 – Can I Get An Amen – 2:33 8 – Heartbroke And Happy – 5:23 9 – I Found A Love – 2:58 10 – If You Believe – 2:14
Credits Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Steven Soles Backing Vocals – Jude Johnstone, Wendy Matthews Bass Guitar – Jerry Scheff Drums – Ron Tutt Guitar, Violin, Dobro – David Mansfield Percussion, Handclaps – Geoffrey Hales, Jude Johnstone, Larry Hirsch, Ray Vaughn, Wendy Matthews Photography By – Ray Vaughn Producer – Steven Soles Recorded By, Engineer, Mixed By – Larry Hirsch
To say this is a legendary sampler is an understatement. It was 1987 and metal was really catching so Regency put this sampler out. They lured you in with Barren Cross and then fed you some of California’s best Metal bands. Many of these tracks weren’t even released elsewhere for 20 more years. Also included on the album was the unreleased band Hero that people loved. I have detailed below where you can find these songs outside of this sampler. If you had this one in 80’s you know how special it was.
Tracklist 1 – Barren Cross – Deadlock – On 1988 album “Atomic Arena 2 – Guardian – Marching On – Unreleased until 2009 on “First Watch” re-release as a bonus track 3 – Neon Cross – I Need Your Love – Unreleased until 2001 on “Neon Cross” re-release as a bonus track 4 – Hero – I Surrender – Unreleased Band 5 – Deliverance – A Space Called You – Unreleased until 2008 on “Deliverance” re-release as a bonus track 6 – Mastedon – Wasn’t It Love – Unreleased until 2009 on “It’s A Jungle Out There” re-release as a bonus track 7 – Guardian – Spiritual Warfare – Unreleased until 2009 on “First Watch” re-release as a bonus track 8 – Deliverance – Attack – Unreleased until 2008 on “Deliverance” re-release as a bonus track 9 – Hero – Sing It Out – Unreleased Band 10 – Neon Cross – Son Of God – Unreleased until 2001 on “Neon Cross” re-release as a bonus track
Tracklist 1 – Barren Cross – Deadlock – 4:33 2 – Guardian – Marching On – 3:38 3 – Neon Cross – I Need Your Love – 3:08 4 – Hero – I Surrender – 3:47 5 – Deliverance – A Space Called You – 3:51 6 – Mastedon – Wasn’t It Love – 4:42 7 – Guardian – Spiritual Warfare – 4:13 8 – Deliverance – Attack – 3:44 9 – Hero – Sing It Out – 3:02 10 – Neon Cross – Son Of God – 4:15
Credits Executive-Producer – David Malme, John Moore Illustration – Helane Freeman Lacquer Cut By – Eddy Schreyer Producer, Engineer – Bob Beeman, The Pakaderm Company
I absolutely loved the first Brave album so I was really looking forward to this one and I was not disappointed. This album has a little less of the blues style Rock and is more arena rock style and the Elefante brothers nailed the production on this one. I can not help but to think these guys were just about 8 years too late from being a huge deal. Let’s face the world had moved to grunge and this style just wasn’t “in”. That said these guys were good, really really good. Unfortunately this album would be the shut down of the band but they resurrected in 2014 and I’m looking forward to listening to their newer albums from this century unfortunately with a new vocalist as Randy Roberts apparently passed in 2007. Only have time for one track? “The River” is the one for you.
Tracklist 1 – The River – 4:22 2 – Rage Of The Age – 4:46 3 – Following You – 4:15 4 – Dirty Water – 4:53 5 – Tomorrow – 5:03 6 – Don’t – 5:13 7 – Long Way To Heaven – 4:14 8 – Can’t Let The Devil Win – 4:31 9 – When You’re Alone – 5:29 10 – Trust – 3:16
Credits Artwork – David Bach Backing Vocals [Additional Musician] – Jeff Gunn, Larry Worley, The Brave Bass [Additional Musician] – J.R. McNeely Bass, Vocals – Steve Irwin Drums [Additional Musician] – Jamie Wollam Engineer – J.R. McNeely Guitar, Vocals – Freddie Tierra, Stayce Roberts Keyboards [Additional Musician], Producer – John Elefante Lead Vocals, Guitar – Randy Roberts Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Dino Elefante
Starflyer 59 is one of the most prolific Christian artists you have probably never heard of. As of this writing they have 20 full length albums with the most recent coming in 2025. Now when I say they that’s a bit of a stretch. “They” are essentially Jason Martin who you may know from DanceHouse Children. He has a rotating roster of musicians helping him out including his son. Anyway this is their third album and second self titled album. Because they have 2 self titled albums they are generally referred to as either “Gold” or “Silver” as those are the colours of their album covers. The album has a bit of an experimental feel and while not my cup of tea it’s actually really well done. The album opens with a pretty strong grunge track but if that isn’t your thig not to worry is drifts away from that style as you go on. If you’d like to learn more about Starflyer 59 check out this podcast from The Album Anniversary Podcast. Lot’s of great info
Tracklist 1 – A Housewife Love Song – 4:23 2 – Duel Overhead Cam – 4:39 3 – When You Feel Miserable – 5:07 4 – You’re Mean – 2:05 5 – Stop Wasting Your Whole Life / Messed Up And Down – 5:03 6 – Messed Up Over You – 6:44 7 – When You Feel The Mess – 6:17 8 – Somewhere When Your Heart Glowed The Hope – 4:44 9 – Indiana – 4:26 10 – Do You Ever Feel That Way – 2:15 11 – One Shot Juanita – 4:37
Credits Artwork [Visualizing and Imaging] – Jason Pickersgill Bass – Andrew Larson Guitar, Vocals, Written-By – Jason Martin Drums – Ed Giles Benrock, Jason Martin Engineer – Bob Moon Executive-Producer – Brandon Ebel Management [Road Managing] – Jeff Cloud Mastered By – Brian Gardner Mixed By – Bob Moon, Gene Eugene, Jason Martin Photography By [Band] – Karen Mason Producer – Jason Martin
