Category: Albums

Carman – The Champion – 1985

This Carman release from 1985 is one of his albums that stands out. Not so much because of the music but because of one song. The title track is more of a spoken word story than a song that people either loved or hated. Personally I was neither here nor there on it. The track did single at #28 but only stayed on the charts for 8weeks. The real single was Revive Us, Oh Lord which actually climbed to #2 and was on the charts for 24 weeks. Fear Not My Child also singled climbing to #24. There were a couple names on the backing vocals, Marty McCall from Fireworks and Paul Smith of the Imperials. The CD has a bonus track “Love Can” (included here). It was put as the second last track of the CD as I’m guessing they wanted the title track as the last track on both the CD and the Vinyl.

Tracklist
1 – Prepare To Die – 5:20
2 – Abundance Of Rain – 3:36
3 – Revive Us, Oh Lord – 3:47
4 – A Little Bit More Conviction – 4:34
5 – It Happened To Me – 3:24
6 – The Destination Is There – 3:57
7 – Fear Not My Child – 4:55
8 – Love Can – 5:40
9 – The Champion – 8:39

Credits
Arranged By [Strings] – Bruce Koblish (tracks: 7), Ronn Huff (tracks: 5, 9)
Art Direction, Design – Joan Tankersley
Backing Vocals – Bonnie Keen, Marty McCall, Melody Tunney*, Patti Morris, Paul Smith (22)
Bass – Jimmie Lee Sloas (tracks: 1), Mike Brignardello (tracks: 2 to 9)
Coordinator [Choir] – Dan Jones (tracks: 9)
Coordinator [Producer’s Assistant] – Brett Perry
Drum Programming [Linn Drum] – Mark Hammond
Drums – Mark Hammond
Engineer [Assistant] – Allan Henry, Bill Heath, Danny Mundhenk, Jeff Coppage, Ken Criblez
Executive-Producer – Lynn Nichols
Graphics – Lori Cooper
Guitar – Greg Jennings, Jon Goin
Guitar [Solos] – Jon Goin
Keyboards, Programmed By [Synth Programming] – Keith Thomas
Percussion – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Aaron Rapoport Photography
Producer, Arranged By – Keith Thomas
Programmed By [Emulator] – Neal Merick
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Sleeve [Logo Design] – Patrick Pollei
Strings – The Nashville String Machine

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word Communications Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Made By – JVC
Recorded At – Emerald Sound Studios
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Recorded At – Goldmine East, Brentwood, TN
Recorded At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN
Mixed At – Bullet Recording
Published By – Some-O-Dat Music
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Birdwing Music
Published By – Word Music

ApologetiX – That’s Too Bad – 2018

ApologetiX offer up another great album with a “Bad” theme. More great 80’s parodies and some 70’s and 90’s as well. Fun stuff as usual from these guys. Per the Band

“This CD ends with two football spoofs. One reimagines the story of the Good Samaritan; the other was written for a Steelers Christian men’s event we played in 2015. We hope you’ll take them in the humorous spirit in which they were intended. If not, you take sports more seriously than we do. And that’s too bad.”

Tracklist
1 – Bad Foreign Girls (Parody of “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen)
2 – She’s Got Cooties (Parody of “She’s a Beauty” by The Tubes)
3 – Dumb Questions (Parody of “Come Dancing” by The Kinks)
4 – Embarrassing Moments (Parody of “American Woman” by The Guess Who)
5 – Soakin’ in the Lord’s Book (Parody of “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” by Brownsville Station)
6 – The War in You (Parody of “The Warrior” by Scandal featuring Patty Smyth)
7 – Bad Things for a Good Time (Parody of “Nothin’ but a Good Time” by Poison)
8 – It’s a Long Way to the Dock (if You Wanna Stop in Rome) (Parody of “It’s a Long Way to the Top (if You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” by AC/DC
9 – Everybody Burps (Parody of “Everybody Hurts” by REM
10 – Campaign to Jehovah (Parody of “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis
11 – Bible O’Really (Parody of “Baba O’Riley” by The Who)
12 – On the Road Away from Home (Parody of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver
13 – Steelers Make it Tough (Parody of “Feel Like Makin’ Love”) by Bad Company

Undercover – Boys and Girls Renounce the World – 1984

Boys and Girls is the third album from Undercover and their style matured a bit. Personally I say this album leans far more New Wave than punk. This was Bill Walden’s last album with the band and in fact he did not tour in support of the album quitting shortly after it was recorded. In the recording sessions for this album there were actually some songs recorded that would later end up on Branded but the vocals were redone by Sim Wilson but Ojo says he has versions of these songs with Bill singing. The single for the album was “Boys And Girls” and strangely the album version had Bill singing but the 7″ for the song had Sim doing the vocals. I also noticed that Derri Daugherty (The Choir) actually helped Ojo mix the album.

Tracklist
1 – Boys And Girls – 3:37
2 – Talk To God – 2:49
3 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 1:45
4 – One Of These Days – 2:23
5 – Three Nails – 3:23
6 – The Anthem – 2:24
7 – He Lets Me Know – 2:00
8 – Glorified – 2:38
9 – Is Anyone Thirsty? – 3:05
10 – I’d Rather Stay – 3:05

Credits
Arranged By – Undercover
Artwork By – Debby Edwards
Backing Vocals – Undercover
Drums – Gary Olson
Engineer – Dan Willard, Gord Driver, O-Joe Taylor* Ron Leeper
Guitar – Neel Down
Keyboards – Turner Burn
Lead Vocals – Bill Walden
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Derri Daugherty, O-Joe Taylor
Photography – Ken Baley, Linda Dillon Baley
Producer – O-Joe Taylor
Saxophone – Bill Walden
Trumpet [Additional] – Dave Hackbarth

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Maranatha! Music
Copyright (c) – Maranatha! Music
Phonographic Copyright (p) – A&S Records
Copyright (c) – A&S Records
Recorded At – Sound Affair
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Mastered At – A&M Studios

Veil of Ashes – Pain – 1989

Veil of Ashes is an alternative band from Oakland, California that built a cult following in the California Christian music scene. Though they didn’t get a huge following in the CCM music scene they probably should have and their cult following had good taste. This is their first official album though they did have 2 previous demos one of which had good distribution. I was reading all of their reviews and all of them tried comparing the band to someone but I’m going to resist that. I believe they had a sound that was all their own. I really wish I would have heard this one back in the day but I have it now and it’s on my regular MP3 rotation. Oh and the Bob Dylan cover is pretty darn good too.

Tracklist
1 – The Times They Are A Changin’ – 3:56
2 – And They Call It Love – 3:45
3 – Without Eyes – 3:20
4 – Corpse – 4:35
5 – Suicide – 3:25
6 – She – 3:29
7 – Take My Hand – 4:04
8 – Testimony – 5:09
9 – The Cross Was His Own – 3:29
10 – Hide Me – 4:22
11 – Come Unto Me – 5:20

Credits
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Backing Vocals – Derri Daugherty (tracks: 1), Steve Hindalong (tracks: 1)
Bass – Sterling
Drums – Phil Meads
Engineer [Additional Technical Assistance] – Dave Jahnsen, Steve Hindalong
Keyboards, Electric Piano [Hammond B-3], Piano, Lead Guitar [Electric], Acoustic Guitar – Lance Harris
Percussion – Joseph Linn
Piano – Gene Eugene (tracks: 11)
Producer, Recorded By – Gene Eugene
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harmonica, Voice [Poet] – Sean Doty

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Graceland
Copyright (c) – Graceland
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab

Ruscha – Come Alive – 1988

The Pankratz brothers changed the name of the band to Ruscha for this album. They had two previous albums as “The Russians”. If you don’t know the brothers are/were Siberian emigrants who defected from Russia in the early 80’s. It was really this album that broke the brothers into the main stream. They were featured on many newscasts and did a speaking tour in connection with the album tour. The Pop album had a mainstream feel and in fact they were negotiating with several major labels but alas as happened so often none of them took up the band and they stayed on Pan-Trax Records. This was it from the brothers but the rest of the band went on to become Legend Seven and released an album in 1993.

Tracklist
1 – Come Alive – 4:49
2 – Someone Listening – 3:38
3 – Broken Heart – 4:06
4 – Holy And True – 3:38
5 – Come Home – 4:21
6 – The Word Stands Forever – 4:42
7 – Burning Bridges – 4:20
8 – Exalt The Name – 3:41
9 – Do You Care? – 3:49
10 – Lord Of The Impossible – 3:15

Credits
Nikolai Pankratz – rhythm guitar, keyboard programming, bgvs
Peter Pankratz – bass guitar, bgvs, lead vocals
Andy Denton – lead vocals, bgvs
Billy Williams – drums, percussion programming
Lance Batchelder – keyboard
Michael Jackson – keyboards, bgvs, vocoder vocal, keyboard programming, string programming
Michael Jacobs – lead guitar, background vocals

Studio Credits
Produced by: Nikolai R. Pankratz & Bubba Smith
Executive Producer: Nikolai R. Pankratz
Mike Radovsky – drums
Duncan Mullins – bass, drum programming
Tom Hemby – guitar
Phil Naish – keyboards, bass programming
Tim Akers – keyboards
George Cocchini – guitar
Mark Douthit – sax
Jeff Teague – drums
Bubba Smith – cymbals
Recorded at: Gold Mine, Omni, Bullet, & Stage III studios
Mixed at: Woodland Studio

Saint – Too Late For Living – 1988

This is the third studio album from Saint. The style is a continuation of their previous two albums although a little more matured. There is nothing of particular note on the album which is not to say it’s not a good album, it’s just that it is more of what Saint fans loved. There are a couple notable personnel situations on the album however. Dee Harrington took over guitar work on this album taking over from John Mahan. Strangely John was credited on the album but apparently did not actually do any work on the album. Personally after listening to albums from bot John and Dee I believe Dee is a better guitarist. Just my opinion. John Perrine took over drumming duties from Brian Willis and I believe this was just a trade off as neither drummer stood out to me. I’m not saying that either isn’t a good drummer just that I didn’t find anything on either album that allowed them to show their skills.

Tracklist
1 – Too Late For Living – 3:57
2 – Star Pilot – 3:29
3 – Accuser – 2:00
4 – The Rock – 2:50
5 – On The Street – 3:38
6 – Returning – 4:48
7 – The Path – 3:48
8 – Through The Sky – 3:49
9 – The War Is Over – 3:16

Credits
Bass – Richard Lynch
Drums – John Perrine
Executive-Producer – Gavin Morkel
Guitar – Dee Harrington, John Mahan
Producer – David Lohr, Richard Lynch
Vocals – Josh Kramer

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Lexicon/Spectra, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Pure Metal Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pure Metal Records
Published By – Refuge Music Group

The Archers – Spreadin’ Like Wildfire – 1981

This album continued the transition of The Archers from the 70’s to the 80’s. They transitioned very easily and as CCM music grew in the 80’s so did the reach of The Archers. This album was released on MCA records and it was stacked with some very talented session musicians. The album did very very well and got a Grammy nomination for Best Gospel Performance, Contemporary. The Archers also performed at The Grammy Awards that year performing George Ratzlaff’s “Everyday I’ve Got To Sing Some”. This was really the peak of their career. They continued on very strong but successfully releasing on a secular record label with a Grammy nomination was kind of hard to top.

Tracklist
1 – Spreadin’ Like Wildfire – 4:01
2 – I Never Knew Love – 4:02
3 – Sooner Or Later – 4:22
4 – Back In Your Arms – 4:45
5 – Everyday – 4:11
6 – Runnin’ Too Long – 4:13
7 – Care – 4:33
8 – Nothing Can Separate Us – 4:15
9 – Merry-Go-Round – 5:19
10 – Never Say Goodbye – 3:53

Credits
Arranged By [Strings And Horns] – Buddy Skipper
Art Direction – George Osaki
Bass – Abraham Laboriel
Design – Randy Moses
Drums, Percussion – Alex Acuna, Larry London
Electric Guitar – Hadley Hockensmith
Engineer [Recording], Mixed By [Mixing Engineer] – George Michael Psanos, Warren Peterson
Horns – Buddy Skipper, Dennis Solee, George Tidwell, Roger Bissell
Keyboards – Dan Cutrona, Dony McGuire
Mandolin – Bill Kenner
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Photography By – Bob Duffy
Producer – Dony McGuire
Recorded By [Vocal Overdubs] – Willie Harlan
Saxophone [Solos] – Dennis Solee
Strings – Carl J. Gorodetzky, Conni L. Ellisor, Dennis W. Molchan, Gary Vanasdale, George Binkley, III, James R. Skipper, John David Boyle, Lenni Haight, Marvin D. Chantry, Roy Christiansen, Samuel Terranova, Sheldon Kurland, The Shelly Kurland Strings
Synthesizer – Dony McGuire, Shane Keister

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Sparrow Records
Pressed By – MCA Pressing Plant, Pinckneyville
Recorded At – MCA Whitney Recording Studios
Overdubbed At – International Automated Media
Remixed At – Sound Stage Studios
Mastered At – MCA Whitney Recording Studios

Larry Norman – (almost) So Long Ago The Garden (but not quite) and the MGM Singles – 1980

So Long Ago The garden was part 2 of Larry’s famous trilogy, set between Only Visiting This Planet and In Another Land.

In 1980, Phydeaux released something called “(almost) So Long Ago The Garden and the MGM singles”

This pressing has most of the same tracks as the original 1973 album, but there are a few differences:
1. “Up In Canada” is included, which was a radio single, but not part of the original album
2. “Christmastime” incldues a short intro by some sort of circus entertainer from the sound of it
3. The order of various tracks is changed. “Christmastime” leads of the album instead of “Fly Fly Fly”
3. “Peacepollutionrevolution” is included, which was not on the original album
4. “It’s The Same Old Story” is called “The Same Old Story” on this version
5. “The Same Old Story” is on both records, but with different lyrics
6. “Meet Me At The Airport (Fly Fly Fly)” is just called “Fly Fly Fly” on this version

 

Tracklist
1 – Christmastime
2 – Fly Fly Fly
3 – She’s A Dancer
4 – The Same Old Story
5 – Baroquen Spirits
6 – Up In Canada
7 – Be Careful What You Sign
8 – Lonely By Myself
9 – Peacepollutionrevolution
10 – Nightmare

Larry Norman – So Long Ago The Garden – 1973

This is the 20th anniversary edition of the CD, released in 1993. Being one of Larry’s seminal works, there were many versions of this album released, including at least two other CD releases with different bonus tracks. There were several vinyl versions released as well, including “Almost So Long Ago The Garden” which had only the highlights from this album, plus some other tracks added.

So Long Ago The Garden is part 2 of Larry’s trilogy, between Only Visiting This Planet and In Another Land. These three albums contain a big part of his life’s work, and we find that compilations and live albums tend to draw on these three heavily.

It opens with “Fly Fly Fly” which is a song about the jet-set lifestyle of a rock star, in which he talks about having to leave his wife while away on trips. “Fly Fly Fly / My baby gets me high / I spend too much time in taxicabs / Please don’t ask me why”

Truthfully, Larry didn’t like to be asked “why” on certain things, so this song is probably more honest than it seems in a few places.

It opens with “I took a plane to Minnesota / To see my lady love” but in a live recording, it was captured as “To see my Pamela,” which is a reference to his wife at the time. Perhaps this song was meant to be a reassurance to her.

Same Old Story has a few different versions floating around. There are different studio recordings of it with different lyrics, all released in the 1970s. The differences are from things like “You hope she doesn’t break your heart” changed to “You know she’s gonna break your heart.”

Lonely By Myself became a classic for a lot of fans. As the title suggests, it’s one that is easier to listen to alone.

Notably, Soul Survivor was one track that isn’t included on all versions of the vinyl pressing, but it is on the original and on the CD re-releases.

The cover of this album went through some revisions. It’s a cut-out of Larry, essentially a silhouette, but filled in with a lion lying down, and the colour of the lion scene was close enough to a skin tone that people decided this might be a nude picture. It’s not really a picture at all, it’s an outline, and anyway it’s only from the waist up. The cover was changed for the benefit of sales in Bible bookstores, and then eventually the re-issues used the original cover again.

This one is Larry in his prime, and should not be missed.

Tracklist
1 – Fly Fly Fly
2 – It’s The Same Old Story
3 – Lonely By Myself
4 – Be Careful What You Sign
5 – Baroquen Spirits
6 – Christmastime
7 – She’s A Dancer
8 – Soul Survivor
9 – Nightmare #71
CD Bonus Tracks
10 – If God Is My Father (Rough Mix)
11 – Up In Canada (1973 Single)
12 – Dear Malcolm, Dear Alwyn (Demo)

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Randy*
Acoustic Guitar [12 String Epiphone], Classical Guitar [Segovia], Piano [Steinway Piano], Electric Piano – Larry Norman
Backing Vocals – The Hollywood Street Choir
Bass – Dave*
Drums – Mike*
Guitar [Lead Guitar] – Mick*
Harmonica – Graham*
Percussion – Roger, Tony
Piano – Bob*
Piano [Steinway Piano], Organ [C3 Hammond Organ], Electric Piano [Wurlitzer Electric Piano], Clavinet [Hohner Clavinet], Synthesizer [Mini-moog Synthesizer] – Rod*
Producer – Jon Miller (4), Rod Edwards, Roger Hand
Saxophone – Malcolm, Roger
Violin – Graham*
Written-By – Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill (tracks: B1)

Randy Stonehill – Return To Paradise – 1989

Randy broke out the acoustic guitar for this release but It’s not an acoustic album it just appears he stuck to the acoustic guitar for most tracks. The title “Return To Paradise” is a reference to his 1979 album “Welcome To Paradise” . This album is full of great performers. Phil Keaggy plays guitar on a few tracks, Mark Heard not only produced the album but played tambourine on a track. Derri Daugherty was involved with the engineering and David Edwards even wrote one of the songs. The lead track “Starlings” was only on the CD and not the cassette or vinyl. If you like Randy you’ll love this album. Realistically Randy never did a bad album.

Tracklist
1 – Starlings – 5:00
2 – Stand Like Steel – 4:55
3 – I Don’t Ever Want To Live Without You – 4:10
4 – This Friend Of Old – 4:00
5 – You Can Still Walk Tall – 5:00
6 – True Blood – 5:02
7 – Strong Hand Of Love – 2:54
8 – Christmas At Denny’s – 5:53
9 – Love Tells No Lies – 4:20
10 – Weight Of The Sky – 3:28
11 – Ready To Go – 4:44

Credits
Acoustic Bass – David Miner
Acoustic Guitar – Randy Stonehill
Backing Vocals – Pam Dwinell, Randy Stonehill (tracks: 3)
Bass – Mark Heard (tracks: 2, 9), Tom Willett (tracks: 7)
Bass [Fretless] – Bill Batstone
Drums – Doug Mathews
Engineer [Second Engineers] – Dan Reed, Dave Hackbarth, Derri Daugherty, Gary Gerhart, Stephen Padgett
Executive-Producer – Tom Willett
Fiddle, Viola – Joe Weed
Guitar [Classical] – Phil Keaggy (tracks: 3)
Mandolin, Accordion, Electric Guitar – Mark Heard
Pedal Steel Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar – Greg Leisz
Percussion – David Baker
Photography – Linda Krikorian
Producer – Mark Heard, Randy Stonehill
Recorded By, Mixed By – Mark Heard
Tambourine – Mark Heard (tracks: 7)
Twelve-String Guitar – Phil Keaggy (tracks: 9)
Vocals – Randy Stonehill
Written-By – David Edwards (tracks: 4), Mark Heard (tracks: 7), Pierce Pettis (tracks: 3), Randy Stonehill (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 to 11)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Fingerprint Recorders
Mixed At – Fingerprint Recorders
Recorded At – Neverland
Published By – Stonehillian Music
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Ideola Music
Published By – Let’s Have Lunch Music
Published By – Pease Farm Produce