This is Garth’s offering for 1988 and this one like most of his albums in this period was only released in the U.K. I have heard that the few albums he did release in the U.S. just didn’t sell well but they sold well in the U.K. I don’t kind of understand why that would be but anyway lets get to the album. This album has several different styles. There’s some folk, some country, some pop, and even a Rock & Roll tune. This many different styles means the album doesn’t have a flow but they are well done and if you’re a fan of his I’m sure you don’t care about the flow of the album. This was the first album of his I listened too so the differing styles was a bit jarring.
Tracklist 1 – Namibia – 3:49 2 – Strange Weapons – 3:07 3 – Land Of Palestine – 3:11 4 – Johnny Cash – 2:55 5 – Our Silent Eyes – 3:22 6 – Tears Of God – 2:44 7 – Peace Like A Phoenix – 3:44 8 – Amusing Ourselves – 3:06 9 – 32 Years – 3:46 10 – The Sky That Wouldn’t Weep – 3:54 11 – Polish Winter – 4:30 12 – Get Up And Dance – 3:37 13 – Jesus Of The Scars – 2:54
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Doyle Grisham, Tom Blades Backing Vocals – Barb Smith, Billy Bob Shane, Craig Wiseman, Darryl Adams, Gilly Sue Blades, Jan Pulsford Bass – Jimmy Carter Design – James Kessell Drums – Craig Wiseman Electric Guitar – Tom ‘Razor’ Blades, Walt Houston Engineer – Lori Larsen, Roger Holmes Fiddle – Hank Singer Harmonica – Garth Hewitt Keyboards – Howard Duck Keyboards [Additional] – Jan Pulsford Lead Vocals – Garth Hewitt Mandolin – Hank Singer Photography – Michael Rock Steel Guitar – Cal Freeman
OVTP is part 1 of Larry’s trilogy, which contains his iconic songs that lasted throughout his career. He never stopped performing “Reader’s Digest” and “The Outlaw” in concerts. Also included is the second studio release of “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” which is his most famous song for people who don’t know who Larry was. The first was on Upon This Rock, released through Capitol Records before he started releasing music through his own channels. In its original form, these are protest songs and relationship songs intertwined. The setting is 1972 and Larry went into the studio with the ideas that were floating in the air in California. Larry’s desire to be as counter-cultural as the hippy movement, but as a Christian drives the content. The songs are highly contemporary musically, ranging from folky in “The Outlaw” to rock in “I Am The Six O’Clock News.” The content gets deeply personal in songs like “I’ve Got To Learn To Live Without You,” and “Pardon Me.” These songs were confusing for Christian music fans because they did not talk about Jesus. The refreshing part here was that Larry was actually willing to talk about human problems. This extended into his political and social protests in the rest of the songs. Larry makes no attempt to hide the Gospel in his music, but also makes no attempt to pretend that human issues don’t need to be addressed, spoken about, preached about and sung about. This is truly what made Larry stand out as an artist.
Tracklist 1 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus – 4:03 2 – The Outlaw – 3:55 3 – I’ve Got To Learn To Live Without You – 3:36 4 – Without Love You Are Nothing – 3:33 5 – I Wish We’d All Been Ready – 5:21 6 – Six O’Clock News – 6:06 7 – Great American Novel – 4:31 8 – Pardon Me – 3:38 9 – Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music – 2:40 10 – Readers Digest – 2:42 11 – Oh, How I Love You –
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Gordon Giltrap, Roger Hand Arranged By [String Arrangements] – Chris Gunning Backing Vocals – Rod Edwards, Roger Hand Bass – John Wetton Drums – Keith Smart Engineer – Bill Price Lead Guitar – Mickey Keen Photography By – Pam Norman Piano – Bob Brady, Larry Norman, Rod Edwards Producer – Jon Miller, Rod Edwards, Roger Hand Written-By – Larry Norman
Companies, etc. Produced For – Triumvirate Productions Produced For – Street Level Productions, Inc. Phonographic Copyright ℗ – MGM Records, Inc. Pressed By – H.V. Waddell Co. Manufactured By – MGM Records, Inc. Published By – Strawbed Music Published By – Jace Love Music Pub. Co. Published By – Beechwood Music Corp.
This was the second studio album from Code of Ethics. For this album the lineup was Barry Blaze, Rick Brainer, Scot Kifer. Strangely Barry takes credit for every instrument on the album. I get the vibe he was difficult to work with but I don’t know that for sure. Anyway this is a very techno pop oriented album and is more in the style of an 80’s New Order. I actually really like this album but I absolutely love 80’s New Wave. Of course the problem is that they put this album out in 1993. But apparently it did very very well on Christian Radio even reportedly having a #1 hit with “Something Real” which has a bit of a Depeche Mode feel to me. It also probably helped that Ed DeGarmo was one of the Executive Producers. Anyway there is some real talent here and they were quite successful so my criticisms should probable be ignored.
Tracklist 1 – Eden – 0:23 2 – Freedom – 4:20 3 – True Love – 4:38 4 – Something Real – 4:30 5 – Without Reason – 3:36 6 – World Machine – 3:37 7 – Waiting – 4:19 8 – Satellite Babies – 4:35 9 – Follow On – 4:24 10 – Pain – 4:07 11 – Chasing The Dragon – 4:23 12 – Sands Of Time – 5:48
Credits Artwork – The Riordon Design Group Inc. Booking – Vision Artist Engineer [Assistant] – Darrin Smith, David Hall Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo Management, Booking – Artist Aid Management Mastered By – Ken Love Mixed By [Mix Engineer] – John Hiler, John Jaszcz Performer [Code Of Ethics] – Barry Blaze, Rick Brainer, Scot Kifer Photography By – Norma Jean Roy Producer – Barry Blaze Recorded By [Recording Engineer] – Ed Simmonton, Eugene Baker, Jeff Alford, Max Hsu, Steve Bisher Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drum Programming, Programmed By [Synth Programming], Percussion [Live] – Barry Blaze
Bruce Cockburn is the greatest songwriter of all time! OK…that may be an exaggeration…but not by much. Along with being intensely prolific, Cockburn is also incredibly intelligent, diverse, creative, original, stark, honest, transparent, intriguing… When I was first hired as a 16 year old at a local Christian Bookstore I was already a “music expert” of sorts. I had begun collecting Christian music much earlier, first as “hand me down” albums from my parents and older brother and sister, and then using my allowance or money from odd jobs to buy my own. Then as I could save money I would ask my parents to drive me to Maranatha Village or other Christian bookstores in town to pick up the most recent releases from Sweet Comfort, Daniel Amos and Darrell Mansfield. My Youth Pastor subscribed to CCM Magazine and I subscribed to Camus Life, both of which had a heavy impact on my growing love and appreciation for the genre. My first few days at my new job was primarily an education in how the store worked, my responsibilities and dealing with customers. But the owner’s daughter was a music fan, especially of more cutting edge and controversial artists. On one of those first few days she took an LP of “Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws” and placed on the in-store play system. As a fan of Bob Dylan I was immediately drawn to Cockburn’s nasally, borderline off-key vocals and compelling lyrical content. This birthed my fascination with Bruce Cockburn, an artist I have had the privilege of seeing in concert over 10 times and one of the few artists that I own every album he has released. My favorites remain those released between the mid-70′s and the mid-80′s. Cockburn had become a Christian at just about the time his solo career began despite being born and raised in an agnostic family setting. Cockburn’s Christianity would impact and influence his content from the earliest days. His brand of Christianity also informed his view of environmental and human rights issues. These two subjects, especially the latter, would be an integral part of his work. Like the previously discussed songwriter, Bill Mallonee, Cockburn has drawn criticism from evangelical circles for his subject matter and for his use of provocative language. But also like Mallonee there never appears to be an illicit purpose for the use of language, but rather an understandable inclusion of such language to express or prove a point. The subject matter, though, is quite often more provocative than certain linguistic choices. Leaning toward the political left, Cockburn has rubbed American evangelicalism the wrong way on more than one occasion. It should also be noted that Cockburn is quite the impressive musician. He is easily one of the finest acoustic guitar players around. His early work especially proved this point. One concert I attended was a solo concert in which 20 separate instruments were place behind him on the stage. That night he performed 20 songs using a different instrument for each song. I was later told be a friend that the following evening that the order of the songs remained the same but the placement and instrument choices on stage changed!
Contributor David Lowman – https://legacyccmsgreatestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Creation Dream – 4:00 2 – Hills Of Morning – 4:25 3 – Badlands Flashback – 6:12 4 – Northern Lights – 4:06 5 – After The Rain – 3:59 6 – Wondering Where The Lions Are – 3:42 7 – Incandescent Blue – 4:35 8 – No Footprints – 5:38
Credits Art Direction – Bart Schoales Bass – Robert Boucher Drums – Bob DiSalle Engineer – Gary Gray Engineer [Assisted By] – Frank Kitson Guitar, Voice, Chimes, Synthesizer, Dulcimer – Bruce Cockburn Lacquer Cut By – Cub Management [Direction] – The Finkelstein Fiedler Co. Painting [Cover] – Norval Morrisseau Photography By [Inside Photograph] – Christopher Dew Piano, Marimba – Pat Godfrey Producer – Eugene Martynec Translated By [Traduction Par] – Marcel Mousette Words By, Music By – Bruce Cockburn
Not much information out there on The Mighty Flyers. It looks like it was a David Rees project as he did vocals and produced the album. I stumbled on this one because it features Nick Brotherwood of The Alwyn Wall Band and After The Fire and also Norman Barratt of the Barratt Band and The Alwyn Wall Band. These were some of the top Christian artists of the period. The album is pretty good as it has a seventies folk sound and feel. I can’t find that David Rees did any other projects but there are 2 more albums from The Mighty Flyers which I’m looking forward to listening to soon.
Tracklist 1 – Egypt – 3:09 2 – Thinking of Mary Tonight – 3:16 3 – I Saw Heaven Open – 3:39 4 – Eyes Like Jewels – 2:51 5 – Love Like An Ocean – 4:22 6 – Let Me Die An Easy Death – 4:25 7 – The Thief’s Song – 4:33 8 – Four Score Years – 4:00 9 – Fair Weather Friends – 4:25 10 – Celebrate The Feast/Salute The King – 4:18 11 – I Looked Down – 1:02
Credits Bass – Martin Bunyar Drums – Nick Brotherwood Guitar – Norman Barratt Lead Guitar – Nick Stone Vocals, Producer, Written-By – David Rees
This may be the oldest album we’ve ever uploaded and while we hear time and time again that Larry Norman was the first Christian artist that simply isn’t true as Jesus Music was in full swing when he showed up on the scene and this album was part of that scene. Pauline falls in as a member of my After The Fire tentacles series. Well, kind of. Before ATF there was Narnia which had three future ATF members and also in Narnia was Pauline. So she’s not really a tentacle but perhaps one of the suction cups as she definitely has a place in the history of ATF. Anyway this is her one and only solo album and it came out several years before Narnia. It has a 70’s folk sound and I was actually quite surprised at how good it was. Track seven “Satisfied Mind” is a cover of a song that you are probably more familiar with as a Dylan track but it’s actually a cover of a Porter Wagoner song written by Jack Rhodes and Red Hayes in 1963. If you want to actually hear the origins of CCM music here’s a great place to start.
Tracklist 1 – A Day – 2:11 2 – Believe – 2:04 3 – Trouble – 2:16 4 – Loneliness – 2:01 5 – Tramp On The Street – 4:29 6 – Show Me A Rainbow – 3:35 7 – Satisfied Mind – 3:49 8 – Friday Street – 3:19 9 – Jigsaw – 4:05 10 – The Temptation – 3:21 11 – Amen – 1:58
Credits Artwork [Sleeve] – Celia Parratt Banjo, Harmonica – Jack Watson Bass, Guitar – Bill Pownall Clarinet – Brian Osmond Drums – Tim Anderson Flute – Brian Cresswell Guitar – Gordon Giltrap Harmonica – Bruce Duncan Liner Notes – Barron Antony Photography By – Clifford Shirley Written-By – Pauline Filby
This is the one and only album we got from Jane. It is on New Born records which is the sister label of legendary Canadian label Tunesmith. Being on a label in the Tunesmith family can be a blessing or a curse. A few great bands were able to get exposure on Tunesmith to real record companies while others had their album released and not even distributed properly. I believe this album falls in the cursed category as it is very very rare and I have no memory of it and my friends and I were constantly monitoring this label for hidden gems. Anyway on the internet it says she was a Canadian artist but I think people are just saying that because this is a Canadian label. The album was recorded in Nashville and Jane currently lives in Nashville so I doubt she is a Canadian artist. As for the album it’s pretty good. It has a light rock feel and I enjoyed it. It was produced by Al Perkins and Greg Nelson so there’s nothing wrong with the mix or the feel. Whoever picked the track order however did a disservice to the album by putting the best track last. Just my opinion.
Tracklist 1 – Down On My Knees – 2:50 2 – Happy Song – 3:08 3 – Drink Of Jesus Love (Prov. 25:25) – 3:45 4 – Deep Magic – 2:30 5 – I Wanna Testify – 3:45 6 – Hey There Stranger – 3:38 7 – Dedication Blues – 2:35 8 – Isaiah 33: 15 – 17 – 2:58 9 – Searchin’ – 2:46 10 – Follow His Calling – 2:58
Credits Arranged By – Greg Nelson, Richard Souther Backing Vocals – Bili Thedford, Dona Thedford, Donna McElroy, Jane Edward, Venetta Fields, Vicki Hampton, Yvonne Hodges Bass – David McKay, Ernie Collins Drums – Bob Mater, James Kehn Engineer – Scott Hendricks, Tom Trefethen Guitar – Brent Rowan, Peter York, Randy Mitchell Harmonica – Terry McMillan Keyboards – Mitch Humphries, Richard Souther Percussion – James Kehn Photography – Deberah Perkins, John Holcomb, John Holcomb Producer – Al Perkins, Greg Nelson Saxophone – Donald Sanders
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Peace In The Valley Recording Engineered At – Peace In The Valley Recording Mixed At – Peace In The Valley Recording Mastered At – Peace In The Valley Recording Recorded At – Glaser Bros. Studio, Nashville Engineered At – Glaser Bros. Studio, Nashville Mixed At – Glaser Bros. Studio, Nashville Mastered At – Glaser Bros. Studio, Nashville
Evie generally put out 2 or 3 albums a year 1979 was a year with 2 albums and of course this is one of them. I was very surprised to discover that this album contained Evie’s first ever CCM charting single. How did CCM magazine not recognize this artist earlier as her music was exactly what they loved. Anyway yes “Shine” made it to #17 on the CCM charts and it deserved to do better as it’s a pretty good song. Yes I said it was good because even though this isn’t my genre I know a good song when I hear one. Actually I’ve listened to a few Evie albums at this point and quite frankly this is the best one so far.
Tracklist 1 – Live For Jesus – 3:22 2 – Hold On – 3:45 3 – Special Delivery – 4:22 4 – Never The Same Again – 2:58 5 – This Life – 4:31 6 – Shine – 4:13 7 – At The River Of Jordan – 3:25 8 – Don’t Run From Reality – 3:57 9 – Home – 3:15 10 – You Have Everything In Your Hands / Jesus I Love You – 3:24
Credits Art Direction [Visual Consultant] – Anders Bühlund Backing Vocals – Christer Palm, Evie-Torngquist Karlsson, Inger Heinerborg, Pelle Karlsson Bass – Sam Bengtsson Cover – Dennis Hill Drums – Roger Palm Engineer – BBo-Göran Lundberg Flute – Björn J:Son Lindh Guitar – Hasse Rosén, Janne Schaffer, Lasse Westman, Pelle Karlsson Harmonica – Luciano Mosetti Keyboards – Kjell Ohman, Pelle Karlsson, Peter Ljung Lacquer Cut By – Ped Mandolin – Pelle Karlsson Oboe – Jan Holmgren Photography By – Labe Allwin Producer, Arranged By – Pelle Karlsson Steel Guitar – Janne Lindgren Strings [Members Of] – The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
While this album always lifts my spirits while I listen to it then I remember that this was it from the 80’s version of After The Fire. I’m not going on a long diatribe about why the band broke up as quite frankly I don’t think those types of reviews are fair as we weren’t in the band and we don’t know. In the end when these things happen I just prefer to say, “That’s Rock & Roll folks.” I spoke briefly with Peter about this album and he refereed to it saying “Batteries was our favourite album, despite it being short lived!”. There is some wrong information out there on this album so I will clarify. The singles were Rich Boys and Frozen Rivers and a music video was produced for Rich Boys. There is some info out there that Dancing In The Shadows was a single but it actually wasn’t, at least not in relation to this album. It was released as a single for the American release of the album Der Kommissar. The album did not do that well which is entirely baffling to me but again I just don’t agree with the choice of singles. To my 80’s DJ ears “Sometimes” is the obvious single. What do you think? Anyway love the band, love the album and luckily for us this would not be the last we heard from them, but it would take quite a few years. Album trivia…. there were versions of this album that used the album cover that would actually later be used on the U.S. release of Der Kommissar.
Tracklist 1 – Short Change – 3:19 2 – Frozen Rivers – 3:36 3 – Sometimes – 3:08 4 – Sailing Ship – 3:57 5 – I Don´t Understand Your Love – 2:53 6 – The Stranger – 2:50 7 – Rich Boys – 3:02 8 – Carry Me Home – 4:14 9 – Dancing In The Shadows – 3:02 10 – Space Walking – 3:17 11 – Gina – 1:39 12 – Stuck In Paris (Nowhere To Go) – 2:45 13 – Bright Lights – 3:36
Credits Bass – Andy Piercy Design [Cover] – Carlos Sapochnik Drums – Pete King Guitar – John Russell Keyboards – Peter Memory Banks Management – AMP Management Mastered By – Reinhold Mack, Nick Webb Mixed By [Assisted], Engineer [Assisted], Programmed By [Extra Synthesizers] – Stefan Wissnet Photography By [Back Cover Photo] – Peter Hince Producer, Mixed By, Engineer – Reinhold Mack
Chuck Girard’s Glow In The Dark album was one of the first CCM albums that my friends and I ever bought. We spent hours listening to Anthem and Somethin’ Supernatural. As such I always a special spot for Chuck but I’ll be honest, he lost me in the 80’s as his albums became meh. But this album is different. Though it’s in his usual style I really like this one. Perhaps it’s because Rob Watson was involved with the production but this album is actually a really good album. When I had to classify it into a style I actually chose Light Rock, up one level from Easy Listening where Chuck’s album normally reside. I really liked the drums on this album which were played by Burleigh Drummond of Ambrosia. So if you grew a little tired of Chuck through the 80’s take some time and listen to this one, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Tracklist 1 – Set The Trumpet To Your Mouth – 5:26 2 – Walls Of Praise – 3:58 3 – Follow the Light – 4:11 4 – Blessed In The City – 4:09 5 – Fresh Bread – 3:54 6 – Fill My Cup – 3:44 7 – Lift My Hands – 3:22 8 – O Holy Night – 4:46 9 – Be Enthroned O God – 4:05 10 – Talk To Me – 3:50 11 – Hearts Of Fire – 4:37 12 – Jesus Is Standing Here – 6:08 13 – Enter In – 4:10 14 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 5:09
Credits Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Bill Batstone, Chuck Girard, John Barbour Art Direction, Design – Antonio Lozano Art Direction, Design, Layout – John Schaffer Backing Vocals – Alisa Girard, Andy Allen, Bill Batstone, Chuck Girard, John Barbour Bass – Tim Chandler Drums, Percussion – Burleigh Drummond Edited By [Mix Down] – Brian Davis, Chuck Girard Engineer – Brian Davis Engineer [Assistant] – Andy Allen Engineer [Drums] – Doug Doyle Executive-Producer – Lewis McVay Guitar – Randy Mitchell Keyboards, Programmed By, Arranged By [String Arrangements] – Rob Watson Mixed By – Brian Davis, Chuck Girard, Rob Watson Photography By – Dianne McVay Producer, Arranged By – Chuck Girard, Rob Watson
