Category: Albums

Emerald – Armed for Battle – 1986

Emerald were a Metal group out of Southern California. They formed in 1978 but didn’t get a recording out until this EP in 1986. Somehow the band were able to save up (or were gifted) $13,000 to record this EP. The result is actually quite stunning for that budget. The album measures up to any Metal album of the time. In fact it is much better than many label based Metal albums. Normally I am terrified of self produced albums but not this one. But it’s not just the production that is good but these guys are really really good. As far as I can tell the album was self published and distributed. The number of pressings appears to be a matter of argument but suffice to say it was small with copies of the original pressing fetching in excess of $500 at the time of this writing. Luckily there has been several re-pressings and a CD version is available now. If you like Metal and you’ve never heard this EP you need to give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed.

Tracklist
1 – Armed For Battle – 4:10
2 – Teenage Suicide – 7:45
3 – We Attack – 3:52
4 – Look To The Stars – 5:07
5 – Winds Of Doom – 7:09
6 – Judgement Day – 4:14

Credits
Arranged By, Producer – Emerald
Bass – Joe Palma
Drums, Synthesizer – Kyle Morrett
Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Dave Enos
Lead Vocals – Larry Philips

Barren Cross – State Of Control – 1989

This is the third album from Barren Cross. The lineup was the same as their previous album Atomic Arena. This album is a well polished album with excellent production but with higher quality songs. The lyric quality was much better on this album as the band was obviously maturing. John and Dino Elefante stepped in again to provide production so the quality is there. A music video was produced for “Cryin’ Over You” but I personally didn’t think it was very good. Speaking of not very good the album cover was also questionable in my opinion. This playlist includes the CD bonus track “Escape In The Night”.

Tracklist
1 – State Of Control – 3:53
2 – Out Of Time – 4:09
3 – Cryin’ Over You – 4:53
4 – A Face In The Dark – 3:56
5 – The Stage Of Intensity – 6:36
6 – Hard Lies – 4:18
7 – Inner War – 4:09
8 – Love At Full Volume – 2:28
9 – Bigotry Man (Who Are You) – 4:42
10 – Two Thousand Years – 7:10
11 – Escape In The Night – 3:54

Credits
Art Direction – Regis Patoff
Bass Guitar, Synthesizer [MIDI Synthesizer Pedals], Backing Vocals – Jim LaVerde
Cover – Alex Remlin
Drums, Backing Vocals – Steve Whitaker
Engineer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante, Mike Mierau
Keyboards, Vocals [Additional] – John Elefante
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Mike Lee
Mastered By – Eddy Schreyer
Mixed By – Dino Elefante, Mike Mierau
Photography By – Jodi Summers
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Ray Parris

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Enigma Records
Copyright (c) – Enigma Records
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – Capitol Studios
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Chris Christian With Whiteheart – Live At Six Flags – 1986

When I started working on this album I was looking forward to it as I thought it was Whiteheart at Six Flags. FULL STOP!! It’s not. This is “Chris Christian” with Whiteheart – Live At Six Flags. I wonder how many people bought this album by mistake believing it was just Whiteheart. The album came out the same year so the confusion could be understood. If they did make the error I can only imagine their horror at what they had bought. Now this isn’t a bad album, in fact it’s a very good album but it’s just that it’s a more easy listening oriented album. Not anything at all you would expect from Whiteheart. I’m guessing it was recorded at the same concert as the Whiteheart album. This rather odd pairing came from the fact that Chris Christian did not have a regular band so I am guessing he talked Whiteheart into backing for him. Whiteheart were on the label that Christian owned, Home Sweet Home Records. Anyway, as I said it’s a good album best described as a slightly up tempo Easy Listening album.

Tracklist
1 – Put Your Trust – 3:18
2 – Make A Joyful Noise – 2:28
3 – Love Them While We Can – 3:26
4 – Mountain Top – 3:27
5 – Gospel Medley – 5:59
6 – Satisfaction Guaranteed – 2:57
7 – Praise The Lord – 3:05
8 – Second Chance – 3:12
9 – Look How Far You’ve Come – 3:03
10 – Pop Medley – 7:03
11 – Sail On – 2:28
12 – Get Back To The Bible – 4:45
13 – Why Does The Devil Have All The Good Music – 3:53

Bruce Hibbard – A Light Within – 1977

In the early 70’s Bruce toured as a support musician for artists such as The Amplified Version, The Paul Clark Band and Phil Keaggy. In the mid 70’s he decided to start doing his own music. This was his first album and he penned all the songs himself many of which went on to be covered by other artists making Bruce a well known song writer. This album is a staple in the West Coast AOR crowd.

Tracklist
1 – Questions – 3:24
2 – Rescue Me – 2:24
3 – All That I Want To Be – 3:49
4 – Given Myself Over – 4:10
5 – Only God (Can Put A Song In Your Heart) – 3:20
6 – Peace – 3:50
7 – A Nation’s Prayer – 3:34
8 – Hem Of His Garment – 3:23
9 – Lord Bless This Day – 5:06
10 – Make Me A Blessing – 3:19

Credits
Sherman Andrus – Background Vocals
Curt Bartlett – Guitars
Terry Blackwood – Background Vocals
Paul Clark – Producer
Bobby Cotton – Producer
Joe Davis – Horns
Keith Edwards – Percussion
Rick Gordon – Vocals
Sandra Halgendale – Oboe
Lanny Hansen – Drums
Bruce Hibbard – Songwriter, Keyboards, Piano, Guitars, Bass, Vocals
Marie Hibbard – Songwriter
Hadley Hockensmith – Guitars, Bass
Mel Lieb – French Horn
Bill Maxwell – Drums
Carol Morgan – Songwriter
Harlan Rogers – Keyboards, Piano
Fletch Wiley – String Arrangements, Horns, Flute
Kelly Willard – Vocals
Steve Wright – Drums

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Cool Sound Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Seed Records
Copyright (c) – Seed Records
Licensed Through – MJM Entertainment Group Inc.

Lifesavors – Us Kids – 1981

This was the first album from the Lifesavors. They hit the California scene and definitely made large splash. The lead vocalist for this album (they changed frequently) was Mark Krischak. His fake English accent gave us a cross of English Punk Bands and New Wave Bands. Throw in some 50’s groove and you have probably the best Christian album of 1981. Personally I think Mark Krischak was the best vocalist the band had and he wrote most the songs on this album with Chris Wimber. Strangely the album had 2 vinyl releases with the songs in different orders. The cover and sleeve however remained the same. It was re-released in 1999 on CD with 9 bonus tracks.

Tracklist
1 – Young
2 – Operation
3 – Where You Going
4 – Blue
5 – Oh Yeah
6 – I Am
7 – Take Me Over
8 – New
9 – Isa: 36
10 – Christianity
11 – Life
12 – Genocide
13 – Jetstream
14 – Us Kids

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals – Chris Wimber
Arranged By – The Lifesavors
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Kevin Annis
Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Mark Krischak
Producer, Mixed By, Recorded By – Thom Roy
Recorded By – Tim Vegvari
Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals – Mike Knott

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Mercy Publishing
Copyright (c) – Mercy Publishing
Distributed By – Grassroots Music Distribution

Mylon LeFevre & Broken Heart – Crack The Sky – 1987

The fifth album from Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart did not disappoint. They continued their trip through the 80’s with an album with a sound perfectly suited to 1987. The album had 3 CCM singles, Closer Than A Heartbeat, I Belong, and For My Growing. I swear if you want to know what tracks to skip on an album just look at the CCM charts. The rest of the album was excellent and played well on real Christian radio. The album also received a Dove Award for 1988 Rock Album.

Tracklist
1 – Crack The Sky – 4:00
2 – Love God, Hate Sin – 3:35
3 – Closer Than A Heartbeat – 3:41
4 – Give It Up – 3:01
5 – I Belong – 3:47
6 – Let Me Be The One – 3:45
7 – Reach For The Sky – 5:47
8 – Heart On Fire – 3:11
9 – For My Growing – 4:42

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Kenneth Bentley
Drums [Digital], Percussion – Ben Hewitt
Guitar, Vocals – Scott Allen, Trent Argante, Michael Tyrrell
Producer – Joe Hardy, Mylon LeFevre
Synthesizer, Vocals – Paul Joseph
Vocals, Guitar – Mylon LeFevre

Companies, etc.
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Recorded At – Ardent Studios

Charles McPheeters and the Bible Belt Boogie Band – Faces – 1980

Charles McPheeters was better known for starting the Holy Ghost Repair Service Street Ministry in Hollywood than he was his music. He did have an album in 1971 that was a little more serious but this one is just a fun album. This album is a collection of different style ranging from Lounge to fifties but mostly it’s just fun. Unfortunately Charles left this world in the early 80’s but it’s nice we have this collection to remember him by. Randy Matthews is thanked in the liner notes but I have no idea if he was involved in the album. This is the CD copy of the album with the Bonus Track “Eagles Fly”

Tracklist
1 – I Tried To Tell You – 2:26
2 – Practice What You Preach – 2:31
3 – Greasy Truth – 3:14
4 – More Than The Music – 3:06
5 – We Need Each Other (Love Song For The Church) – 3:42
6 – Ain’t Got No Time – 2:59
7 – Where Is The Love – 3:21
8 – There Ain’t Nobody – 2:48
9 – No More Tears At Night – 3:49
10 – First Church Of The Frigid-Air – 4:48
11- Eagles Fly – 4:29

One-Eighty – One Eighty – 1986

I don’t know much about 180 but I do know they came from Castro Valley, CA. They have this EP and a full length album. There is also a Demo I am hooping to get our hands on. The EP is a nice progressive sound that fit’s perfectly with 1986. Keyboardist Ralph Otteson continues making music to this day currently with a group called Time Horizon.

Tracklist
1 – Hold On – 3:48
2 – Search – 3:48
3 – When You Believe – 4:34
4 – It’s All I Need – 3:27

Credits
Rich Reif – vocals, keyboards
Ralph Otteson – keyboards, backing vocals
Todd Peterson – guitars, backing vocals
Allen White – bass, guitars
Don Walker – drums

Imperials – Priority – 1980

This was the final album from the Imperials with Russ Taff leading the group. A lot of fans believe he was the best the Imperials had to offer and among those people this album is generally thought to be his best. This album was actually fairly uptempo for the Imperials and personally I hadn’t listened to this album in 30 years so I was pleasantly surprised how good it actually was. It’s not my style but this is a good album. Most of the songs were written by the Omartians and Taff. Strangely the track “Into My Life” was written by Beeb Birtles (Little River Band) and appeared on his album released the same year.

Tracklist
1 – The Trumpet Of Jesus – 3:46
2 – Finish What You Started – 4:05
3 – I’d Rather Believe In You – 3:37
4 – Any Good Time At All – 4:02
5 – Be Still My Soul – 3:51
6 – There’s No Time Till You Take It – 4:09
7 – Pieces – 4:06
8 – Into My Life – 4:42
9 – Seek Ye First – 5:00

Credits
Artwork By [Layout] – Bob Anderson
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Marti McCall, Myrna Matthews, Stormie Omartian
Bass – Abraham Laboriel
Congas – Alex Acuña
Drums – Paul Leim
Engineer, Remix – John Guess
Guitar – Martin K. Walsh
Keyboards – Michael Omartian
Leader [Concertmaster] – Assa Drori
Mastered By [Mastering Engineer] – Ken Perry
Other [Production Coordinator] – Yvonne Garcia
Photography – Bob Anderson
Producer, Arranged By – Michael Omartian
Saxophone – Jackie Kelso, Kim Hutchcroft
Trombone – Dick Hyde, Lew McCreary
Trumpet – Chuck Findley, Steve Madaio
Vocals – Russ Taff
Written By [Lyrics] – Stormie Omartian (tracks: A1 to A4, B1, B2, B4)
Written By [Music] – Michael Omartian (tracks: A1 to A4, B1, B2, B4)

Fireworks – Shatter the Darkness – 1979

This is the second album from Fireworks. What strikes me as odd with this album is that the title is subtitled with “Featuring Marty McCall”. Marty was with the band for their previous album and all subsequent albums so I have no idea why for this album he got such special billing. He hadn’t really done anything before Fireworks so he wasn’t some well known singer from another band or anything either. Very strange. Sound wise this album is a nice progression from their previous album which was painfully easy listening and their next album which was quite upbeat. This album settles into the middle nicely so no matter which version of Fireworks you like you should like this album.

Tracklist
1 – Change My Heart – 2:59
2 – Beautiful Woman – 4:17
3 – After The Rain – 2:07
4 – Calling My Name – 3:55
5 – Rock Band – 3:24
6 – Like Children – 3:11
7 – I Know Power – 2:39
8 – Love You Tonight – 3:37
9 – Shatter The Darkness – 5:05
10 – The World – 3:50

Credits
Bass – Bob Sinkovic, Chris Harris
Drums – Lanny Avery
Guitar – Jerry Gaston, Mark Christian
Keyboards, Vocals – Marty McCall
Producer – Chris Christian

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Mastered At – Masterfonics