Unfortunately by this point David and The Giants were producing albums too regularly. This album while good feels like they just went into the studio to get another album out. The album is a good listen but there just aren’t any real stand out tracks. Probably the best track is “Perfect Love” which features harmonies from David’s daughter Kellye Huff. Of course CCM charts missed this entirely and picked “Show Them the Light” and “Strangers to the Night” as the charting singles. But while I think “Perfect Love” is a great track it’s not gonna make it onto my regular rotation. To sum up, it’s a good album but unfortunately not a great album.
Tracklist 1 – Celebrate His Power – 3:50 2 – Show Them the Light – 3:54 3 – Lively Stones – 4:22 4 – I’m Not Ashamed – 3:23 5 – Perfect Love – 4:28 6 – Restless – 5:30 7 – Strangers to the Night – 3:49 8 – No Compromise – 4:34 9 – I Believe in You – 3:48 10 – I Was the Nails – 3:40
Credits Backing Vocals – Dave Mullen, James Bolton, Karen Harding, Kellye Huff, Rick Florian Concept By, Design, Art Direction – P. R. Allen Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Keith Thibodeaux Engineer, Arranged By, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Rayborn Huff Engineer, Bass, Backing Vocals – Clayborn Huff Engineer, Engineer [Assistant Remix Engineer] – Terry Ostovich Mastered By – Denny Purcell Percussion – Lance Huff Producer, Arranged By, Backing Vocals – Tommy Sims Producer, Engineer, Mixed By [Remixed By], Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – David Huff Saxophone – Donnie “Sax” Sanders
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Giant Records (13) Copyright (c) – Giant Records (13) Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc. Recorded At – Huff Recording Studios Mixed At – Huff Recording Studios Mastered At – Georgetown Masters
A lot of stuff happened between 1984’s All Fall Down and Tom Tom Blues. Six other albums in fact, so the fact that this one stands stark against their 1980s style isn’t that strange. However, here at Real 80s CCM we really like the 80s stuff so I have to talk about it. I first discovered this album in the used CD bin at a local record shop in the mid-90s. I think someone else must have bought it expecting that cutting, pop-new wave and found something else instead. Not that this isn’t a good collection of songs, but it required seriously resetting some expectations. Having said that, I don’t like it as much as some of their other work, such as their self-titled album in 1987. This 1995 release isn’t what I would call grunge, but it came from the grunge era and in retrospect, that is probably the most noticeable influence on the sound. 77s do not really excel at the grunge sound. The lead track, Rocks In Your Head comes on strong, and may be the most memorable one here. Throughout the album there is a lot of rumbly bassline and gutsy guitar. It did make me think back to Ping Pong Over the Abyss with the guitar sound. If there is such a thing as new wave grunge, maybe this is it.
Tracklist 1 – Rocks In Your Head – 3:37 2 – Honesty – 6:21 3 – You Still Love Me – 5:22 4 – Outskirts – 4:42 5 – Flowers In The Sand – 4:51 6 – Don’t Leave Me Long – 4:21 7 – Gravy Chain – 3:17 8 – Five In The Nave – 1:01 9 – Earache – 6:06 10 – Deliverance – 8:53
Credits Band [Seventy Sevens Are], Bass, Backing Vocals, Other [Bottom] – Mark Harmon Band [Seventy Sevens Are], Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals, Other [Everything In Between] – Bruce Spencer Band [Seventy Sevens Are], Guitar [Guitars], Lead Vocals, Other [Top] – Michael Roe Cover, Illustration – Rachel Thornton Design Concept [Art Concept By], Design – Seventy Sevens Engineer [Engineered By] – Craig Long, Kirt Shearer, Scott Reams Engineer [Engineered By], Mixed By – Guy Niosi, John Flanagan Executive-Producer – Gene Eugene, Ojo Taylor Featuring, Percussion, Other [Cool Vibes] – Cary Avery Illustration [Inside B/W Illustration] – Kathryn Garcia Smith Mastered By – Michael Romanowski Photography By – Pat Johnson Producer [Produced By] – The 77’s Songwriter [All Songs Written By] – The 77’s
Right off the bat there is some confusion out there on this band. This is the New York Contender NOT the Illinois Contender. The Illinois version had 2 demos and this version does not have a demo out there I am aware of. Other than that I was unable to find out much about this one album band. The lead singer Eddie Villanueva apparently had some info on the band on MySpace but it’s long since been scrubbed. The album is a straight out Rock album. Some have classified it at Metal but in my opinion it’s Hard Rock. It’s a pretty good album but I feel it should have had a little more production. It was produced by the band and I am surprised that when Refuge picked it up they didn’t bring someone in to work on the album but it really looks like it went straight from studio to pressing. Too bad because I think had this had some better production it would have been a whole lot better known.
Tracklist 1 – I Won’t Give Up – 3:10 2 – You – 3:36 3 – Convenient Christianity – 4:04 4 – You’re There For Me – 4:10 5 – Fighting To Win – 4:03 6 – So I’m Singing – 3:53 7 – Cryin’ Over You – 3:31 8 – I Know You’re There – 4:27 9 – Pullin’ The Wool – 3:10 10 – I Believe In You – 4:19
Credits Bass – Rich McCarthy Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Paul Grimsland Guitar, Drums, Bass – Bob Vinsick Guitar, Keyboards, Drums, Bass, Backing Vocals – Steve Atwood Lead Vocals – Eddie Villanueva
You might be listening to this thinking you don’t know Keith Thomas but I can guarantee you’ve heard him or his songs. Keith was/is a prolific studio musician and song writer. He has worked for hundreds (yes I do mean hundreds). I’d offer some names here but there really are just too many but in the Christian market they include Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, and Carman plus many many more. This was his second and last album. Like so many high end studio musicians and writers they find great success right up until they try to release their own album. That said in this case Keith really should have had greater success. This album is fantastic and the quality is there through all 8 tracks. The album did have a CCM single with “It’s Only Natural” making it to #4 which is pretty darn good. The album is very synth heavy and at time has a cool funk feel. This is another one that if you missed it in the 80’s you need to give this one a listen now.
Tracklist 1 – Te Deum – 4:18 2 – It’s Only Natural – 3:54 3 – Pinwheel – 5:07 4 – Imagine – 4:31 5 – Home Away From Home – 3:58 6 – Arms Of Love – 4:04 7 – Suspicious Heart – 3:54 8 – Kaleidoscope – 5:55
Credits Art Direction, Design – Bill Brunt Backing Vocals – Donna McElroy, BeBe Winans, Greg Guidry, Lisa Bevill Bass – Mike Brignardello, Jimmie Lee Sloas Drum Programming – Mark Hammond Featuring – BeBe Winans, Donna McElroy, Greg Guidry Guitar – Jon Goin, Tom Hemby, James Hollihan Illustration – Jim Osborn Keyboards [Programming] – Brett Perry Lyrics By – Paul Smith, BeBe Winans, Brett Perry, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Greg Guidry, Keith Thomas Music By – Keith Thomas Photography By – Dean Dixon Producer – Keith Thomas Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding Saxophone – Mark Douthit Synthesizer – Keith Thomas Written-by – Keith Thomas
This was Greg’s 3rd solo album and his first on what I suspect is his own label “River Records”. I am actually quite impressed how well he did with a new label release. You can’t argue with an album with 4 top 20 CCM chart hits with “Waitin’ On Someday” doing the best making it to #5. Now we know that CCM chart hits do not translate into sales so I would love to hear some sales numbers for this album as it did struggle with distribution. Anyway let’s get to the album itself. Greg’s excellent vocals dominate as usual. CCM chart numbers mean nothing to me so I think the best track is “Gethsemane”. Unfortunately because it is 7:40 long it will not end up in my regular rotation as quite frankly I get bored with it at about the 5 minute mark. I feel I need to address the “Feelings” track as I can’t decide if it was intentionally quirky or just a bad musical decision. But that’s the end of my criticisms because this is a great album and is a must listen to.
Tracklist 1 – Walk Toward The Light – 4:51 2 – No Room In The Middle – 3:48 3 – Love Moves In A Different Circle – 4:13 4 – The Carpenter – 4:05 5 – I’m Yours – 5:58 6 – Servants And Witnesses – 5:05 7 – Feelings – 5:18 8 – Frontline – 4:19 9 – Gethsemane – 7:38 10 – Waitin’ On Someday – 5:46
Credits Arranged By – George Atwell, Michael Atwell Bass – Gary Lunn, Matt Pierson Co-producer – Greg X. Volz Design – Camille Engel Drums – Marvin Steinberg Guitar – Kirk Henderson, Paul Brannon, Tom Hemby Keyboards [Additional] – Jonathan David Brown Keyboards, Arranged By – Carl Marsh Mastered By – Ken Love Mixed By, Producer, Recorded By – Jonathan David Brown Photography By – Russ Harrington Saxophone – Mark Douthit Synthesizer – Joe Hogue Vocals – Greg X. Volz
Paul Smith is probably best known for his time as an Imperial. He replaced Russ Taff in 1981 when Russ left to pursue a solo career. Paul would follow that same path in 1986 with this album. There has been much discussion as to why lead singers fled the Imperials. My best guess (and it’s only a guess) is that it was money. A solo album contract is always better than a group contract. That said as many album as the Imperials were selling I kind of doubt Paul made as much as a solo artist. That said I can guarantee Russ Taff made more money as a solo artist than he did with the Imperials. But really that’s all speculation. Anyway Paul released this album in 1986 on Dayspring Records and it did very well. It had 4 singles on the CCM charts with Never Be Another doing the best climbing to #2. The others didn’t do quite as well but 4 singles on a first solo album is pretty darn good. But keep in mind his musical pedigree guaranteed the album would get noticed. The album is a solid AOR pop album and while a little on the easy listening side for me I still quite enjoyed it.
Tracklist 1 – Everlasting Joy – 4:03 2 – Live And Learn – 4:32 3 – Never Be Another – 3:51 4 – Keep The Light On – 4:05 5 – So Good To Know – 4:11 6 – Let Love Happen To You – 4:43 7 – A Holy Nation – 3:39 8 – Praisemaker – 3:49 9 – Beautiful The Dreamer – 4:00
Credits Art Direction – Buddy Jackson Backing Vocals – David Martin, Denny Henson, Greg Guidry, Keith Thomas, Lisa Bevill, Patti Morris, Paul Smith Bass – Jimmie Lee Sloas Drum Programming – Keith Thomas, Mark Hammond Drums – Mark Hammond Executive Producer – Neal Joseph Guitar – Jon Goin Keyboards – Keith Thomas Percussion – Terry McMillan Photography – Ron Keith, Scott Bonner Producer – Keith Thomas Saxophone – Jim Horn Synthesizer [Additional Programming] – Brett Perry
I guess this album was the result of “if you can’t beat them, join them.” Constantly compared to Paul McCartney during his career, why not just do a Beatles album? What was actually supposed to be a possible semi-regular group, Phil Keaggy & Sunday’s Child only ever released this one album. But what an album they created! Making up the rest of “Sunday’s Child” are Rick Cua on bass, Mike Mead on drums and Lynn Nichols on guitar and vocals. It also may go down in CCM history as the single nicest group of musicians to record a record together. There is this one odd thing about many Keaggy albums. Those with great songs have a tendency to lack the guitar prowess that many clamor for, while those with great guitar work have tendency to lack quality songwriting throughout. This album is all about the songwriting and is clearly some of Keaggy’s finest work in the regard. And true to form the album is not filled with blazing and intricate guitar work, though many tasteful and enjoyable examples can be found. There album is also the most “band” sounding in his career outside of the Crimson and Blue recordings. But that band is supported by a Hall of fame list of musicians including Steve Taylor, Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill, Alwyn Wall, Derri Daugherty, Russ Taff and the always impressive and often overlooked James Hollihan on guitar. Many of the guests also provided songwriting help. The Beatles comparisons are not subtle. They were clearly the inspiration and that adds to the sheer joy of the album. In fact, according to the liner notes, Ringer Starr’s drum kit was used on the recording. Older amps, instruments and recording processes were employed to give the album the rich, analog sound.
The album kicks off with the mid-tempo rocker, “Tell me How You Feel.” This tone setter reveals what will follow with the head side bopping beat and Keaggy’s higher end vocals at times reminiscent of McCartney with abandon. But there is also a clear nod to the Byrds here and throughout. The title track, co-written with Stonehill, was a hit, and for good reason. This song is memorable and smart at the same time. I believe I hear Stonehill’s vocals in there as well. The two released a wonderful album a year or so ago that employed some of the same musical stylings. A personal favorite, and one of the better rockers on the album is “I Always Do.” Starting slow before kicking halfway through the verse into a killer rocker that is more reminiscent of Glass Harp’s poppier side. The song also features one of the more upfront guitar solos and the best hook on the entire album. Without blazing fingers and extended riffs, Keaggy here shows the power of a well controlled, melodic and tasteful rock solo. It should be noted this is a Mark heard penned tune. “I’m Gonna Get You Now” is more early 70’s rock and sounds the least like the Beatles as any on the record, excepting the song that follows. But it should be noted that it also provides some of Keaggy’s best rock vocals. Co-written by Lynn Nichols, the songs edge gives Keaggy the change to explore some vocal styles he hadn’t previously. If someone mentioned that Steve Taylor co-wrote one of the songs, my guess would immediately be “Bless Be the Ties,” and that would be correct. More psychedelic than the rest of the album, this slower, dare I say darker (?) song remains one of the best as well. This Could Be the Moment” returns to the more fun rock and roll. This is a good old-fashioned, put the top down on the convertible and hit Pacific Highway. The chorus is a monster with some great harmonies. The instrumental break just pounds with Mead’s great driving beat and Keaggy’s subtle and building guitar work. Even Cua gets a short solo here! This was a great song live I should add as it was extended to include solos from everyone. Side Two kicks off with the loudest guitars and a song co-written by Stonehill called “Ain’t Got No.” But this Stonehill is Sandi, the then wife of Randy. Oddly enough, it sounds like something randy would have recorded himself. It’s hard to decide which song stands out as the “best” on such a great album, but “Somebody Loves You” would have to receive recognition. The acoustic driven rock song is pure Keaggy and one of the songs Keaggy penned entirely by himself. Keaggy here shows his guitar prowess is not just limited to electric and solo, but tasteful and smart acoustic rhythm work as well. This alone gives it more of a Byrds feel. Another of the darker feeling songs follows with “Big Eraser.” Another Nichols co-written tune, it is perfect fit for something on the Chagall Guevara debut. The vocals are clouded amongst a large rock vibe and huge drum sound. This would make sense given Nichols involvement with the group. The Mark Heard penned “Everything is Alright” is a true dichotomy. A dark and almost atmospheric verse structure followed by a pop and memorable hook driven chorus. This is also around the time of Ideola, and the style shows through. “I’ve Just Begun (Again)” brings the album back to the joyful musical expressions that dominate the vast majority of the album, while the following “Walk In Two Worlds” represents the darker, rougher edge. One would have hoped future releases would expand upon this sound as it worked so incredible well here. The album closes with a wonderful version of the traditional spiritual “Talk About Suffering.” Staring nearly in an acapella (drums only) before adding the band, this version is both beautiful and unforgettable. A fitting ending to a great album. This may be Keaggy’s finest hour as a songwriter, though another album of his will appear much later in the countdown, it is a real shame this ended up being only a one-off and no further collaborations between these men exists in this format.
Tracklist 1 – Tell Me How You Feel – 3:21 2 – Sunday’s Child – 3:57 3 – I Always Do – 4:50 4 – I’m Gonna Get You Now – 3:47 5 – Blessed Be the Ties – 3:56 6 – This Could Be the Moment – 3:48 7 – Ain’t Got No – 3:29 8 – Somebody Loves You – 4:05 9 – Big Eraser – 4:33 10 – Everything Is Alright – 4:19 11 – I’ve Just Begun (Again) – 3:00 12 – Walk In Two Worlds – 3:37 13 – Talk About Suffering – 4:50
Credits Robbie Buchanan – Organ B3 Lenny Castro – Percussion Rick Cua – Bass Derri Daugherty – Vocals Lance Demers – Songwriter Dave Hackbarth – Mixed Mark Heard – Songwriter, Engineer, Keyboards, Guitar, Vocals James Hollihan – Guitar Wade Jaynes – Mixed Eddie Keaggy – Mixed Phil Keaggy – Songwriter, Guitars, Bass, Percussion, Vocals Mike Mead – Drums Lynn Arthur Nichols – Producer, Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals A. Palladino – Songwriter Jack Joseph Puig – Mixed David Schober – Engineer Jimmie Lee Sloas – Vocals Bart Stevens – Mixed Randy Stonehill – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals Sandi Stonehill – Songwriter Russ Taff – Vocals Brian Tankersley – Engineer Steve Taylor – Songwriter, Percussion Rudy Valentine – Vocals Alwyn Wall – Vocals
Freedom is the sixth studio album by White Heart and their last with Sparrow Records though Sparrow would continue distribution under an arrangement between the Sparrow Records and Star Song labels. This was also the last album for Tommy Sims, Gordon Kennedy and Chris McHugh. I guess you could say this album marked a end of a chapter for the band. I read a few reviews of this album and some reviewers thought this was one of their best if not their best album. I don’t really fall in that camp of reviewers. It’s a pretty good album and there’s a track or two that will make it into my rotation but their best? Not really. The album is a nice mix of CCM singles with 3 making it to the charts and “The River Will Flow” doing the best at #13 There’s also a couple power tracks that are more my style. So my final rating is pretty darn good and has enough different style to satisfy most listeners.
Tracklist 1 – Bye Bye Babylon – 4:06 2 – Sing Your Freedom – 4:59 3 – Let the Kingdom Come – 5:04 4 – Over Me – 5:19 5 – Eighth Wonder – 4:25 6 – Power Tools – 4:20 7 – Invitation – 4:53 8 – The River Will Flow – 6:55 9 – Set the Bridge on Fire – 4:31 10 – Let It Go – 4:15 11 – I’ll Meet You There – 4:22
Credits Art Direction – Barbara Catanzaro-Hearn, Larry Vigon Backing Vocals – White Heart Band [White Heart Is] – Billy Smiley, Chris McHugh, Gordon Kennedy, Mark Gersmehl, Rikk Florian, Tommy Sims Design – Larry Vigon Studio Engineer [Additional Engineer] – Byron House Engineer [Assistant Engineers] – Carry Summers, Kevin Twit, Mark Nevers, Paula Montondo, Shawn McLean, Steve Bishir, Todd Moore Executive-Producer – Peter York Lead Vocals – Rikk Florian (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 to 11) Mastered By – Bob Ludwig Photography By – Mark Tucker Producer [Produced By] – Brown Bannister Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Occasionally I just take a day and root through a record company library to see what I find. This is one I found while rooting through the Refuge library. I’d never heard of the artist though actually he’s relatively well known for the period. Ben claims to have grown up as a child soldier in Nigeria. These stories don’t usually end well but his does as he was able to immigrate to the U.K. He was actually a well known artist in the anti apartheid movement and shared the stage with several prominent artists at that time. He has continued on with his somewhat unique style today. As for that style I would best describe it as pop oriented folk reggae. The industry refers to it as Afrikanese reggae but I don’t care for that description so I’ll go with mine.
Tracklist 1 – Wake Up – 4:38 2 – Got Me Running – 4:56 3 – Oke Na Ngwele – 2:55 4 – Man Of Sorrow – 4:28 5 – I Need Love – 5:17 6 – Raise Your Conscience – 5:10 7 – Filippino – 3:33 8 – World Gone Crazy – 3:57 9 – No Matter What It Is – 4:27 10 – Look Out – 2:34
Ordained Fate is odd in that 3 or the 4 members are female. The three girls started out the band in the mid 80’s under the name Cryptic Axe in Zion, IL. They started out as a secular metal band and even recorded a demo. The band became Christians in the late 80’s and went into the studio in 1989 to record a demo as Ordained Fate. The demo did fairly well and they recorded a second one in 1990. They were subsequently signed to a one album contract with Wonderland which was a sub label of Word. The album was well received but not widely available unfortunately. Wonderland/Word didn’t bring the band back in for a second album. They did however do a self produced effort in 1995 but of course with no distribution it was not widely available. This album is refreshing as it’s nice to hear some fairly hard metal from a female band. While not my style I was really surprised at the high quality of this release and I’m a little surprised it didn’t do better. I am guessing that it may not have been well promoted as Word really shouldn’t have been meddling in the Metal market as they knew nothing about it.
Tracklist 1 – Let’s Make A Deal – 4:33 2 – Gethsemane – 6:13 3 – Holy Wars – 4:45 4 – Wonderful Love – 4:15 5 – Gold Cross – 4:33 6 – Tame The Tongue – 5:23 7 – The Election – 3:53 8 – One Of The Insane – 5:19 9 – No Death – 4:26
Credits Bass, Vocals – Marge Curtner Design [Sleeve Design], Photography By – Lark Drums, Vocals – Terry Cvengros Engineer [2nd Engineer], Keyboards – Christopher Mosher Executive-Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, Peter Gavin Morkel Lead Guitar, Vocals – Anette Cvengros Lead Vocals, Guitar – Pam Scott Producer, Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski
