Category: Albums

Rick Elias and the Confessions – (self titled) – 1990

Rick Elias showed up on the CCM music scene in 1990 and wow did he make an entry.

His sound filled a huge empty spot in the CCM music scene. His Springsteen meets Mellencamp sound is done perfectly and yet he makes it his own sound.

The album is a mix of strong rock riffs and excellent acoustic guitar work. The harmonica gives the album a strong Springsteen feel. If you’ve not heard this album you need to listen to it now.

Rick went on to produce artists such as Amy Grant, Aaron Neville, and Michael W. Smith. He also went on to be a founding member of Rich Mullins and a Ragamuffin Band.

Track Listing:
1 – Confession Of Love – 4:04
2 – Streets Of Rome – 4:13
3 – Miles And Miles – 3:21
4 – Before The Fall – 3:33
5 – Someday – 6:14
6 – The Word Is Love – 4:41
7 – Riot (Comin’ On) – 3:20
8 – Without One Word – 5:58
9 – Stones – 5:13
10 – Stripped – 4:00

Credits:
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Bass – Danny O’Hanlon
Drums – Bob Sale
Engineer – Dave Jahnsen
Engineer [Additional] – Bill Baumgart
Guitar – Marc Intravaia, Rick Elias
Keyboards – Linda Elias, Rick Elias
Layout – Joe Potter
Mandolin – Marc Intravaia
Mastered By – Chris Bellman
Mixed By – Dave Jahnsen, Rick Elias
Percussion – Bob Sale, Linda Elias
Producer – Rick Elias
Vocals – Linda Elias, Marc Intravaia, Rick Elias
Written-By – Craig Krampf (tracks: 3,6), Rick Elias

The Holidays – Everything Is New – 1988

It is very difficult to find much information on this band and album. I do know that this is the first of 2 albums (there is a demo floating around too) the band put out.

I do know that 2 members went on to form a band called The Glimmer Stars but can’t find any info on them either. Though I have no info I will say is that this is a great album.

If you’re looking for CCM music with a new wave sound these guys are for you.

Track Listing:
1 – True Love
2 – Little Love
3 – This Night
4 – American Dream
5 – Grace on Grace
6 – Salvation
7 – Better Than Before
8 – Maybe Someday
9 – Breakaway
10 – I’m Just Another Boy
11 – Everything Is Now

Wayne Watson – Watercolor Ponies – 1987

This was Wayne Watson’s 5th album. Waynes is well known for his easy listening style and has received dozen Dove Awards. This is one of those easy listening albums.

Track Listing:
1 – I Still Believe – 4:45
2 – Material Magic – 4:04
3 – Watercolour Ponies – 4:41
4 – Friend Of A Wonded Heart – 5:23
5 – Is There No Harbor – 4:37
6 – The Hunger – 4:54
7 – Rose Colored Glasses – 4:53
8 – 2 Loves – 5:59
9 – Jesus Sings – 5:25
10 – Would I Know You – 3:47

Credits:
Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Kirk Whalum
Arranged By [Strings, Brass] – Paul Mills
Art Direction – Bill Brunt
Backing Vocals – Rick Crawford, Susan Rae Hill
Bass Guitar – Mike Brignardello
Cover [Co-ordination] – Terri Short
Drums, Synth [Percussion] – Dennis Holt
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jerry McPherson
Engineer – Paul Mills
Engineer [Assistant] – Chance Chambers, Joe Baldridge, Steve Dady
Executive-Producer – Neal Joseph
Illustration [Drawing] – Randal Martin
Keyboards [Additional], Programmed By [Synthesizer], Sampler – Paul Mills
Keyboards, Programmed By – Phil Naish
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Percussion – Bryan Lenox
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer, Arranged By – Paul Mills, Wayne Watson

Bloodgood – (self titled) – 1986

This was the first album from Bloodgood who were one of the early and biggest Heavy Metal bands in the Christian genre.

They were formed in Seattle in 1984 by Michael Bloodgood. They sold over 5000 copies of their self produced demo at concerts which attracted attention from new record label Frontline Records.

Darrell Mansfield was brought in to produce the album which ended up sounding very well engineered and produced.

Track Listing:
1 – Accept The Lamb – 3:47
2 – Stand In The Light – 3:41
3 – Demon On The Run – 3:56
4 – Anguish And Pain – 3:02
5 – Awake – 4:10
6 – Soldier Of Peace – 3:15
7 – You Lose – 2:53
8 – What’s Following The Grave – 5:00
9 – Killing The Beast – 4:41
10 – Black Snake – 2:53

Credits:
Bass, Backing Vocals – Michael Bloodgood
Drums – J.T. Taylor (2)
Engineer – Doug Doyle
Guitar, Backing Vocals – David Zaffiro
Lead Vocals – Les Carlsen
Producer – Darrell Mansfield

Mark Heard – Appalachian Melody – 1979

This was Mark’s second album and his first on Solid Rock Records.

As is typical on Solid Rock albums the whole gang is on the album. I’ve always wondered why Larry felt the need to sing backup on every album (ok almost all) he produced, but I digress.

The album is a fairly light rock affair but Mark does get closer to the Rock and Roll rank on a few tunes. This is an album that will likely grow on you if a first listening doesn’t really capture you.

Track Listing:
1 – On The Radio – 3:38
2 – Castaway – 3:26
3 – Bless My Soul – 4:04
4 – Here I Am (Once Again) – 3:54
5 – With The Setting Sun – 1:42
6 – Appalachian Melody – 4:17
7 – Happy Cornbread Aniversary – 1:48
8 – Two Trusting Jesus – 4:13
9 – Jonah’s Song – 5:26
10 – Sidewalk Soliloquy – 3:18
11 – The Last Time – 3:16
12 – The Saints – 0:22

And here are the bonus tracks from the 2009 CD release:

Credits:
Mark Heard – acoustic and electric guitars, piano, mandolin, hambone, vocals, harmonies, arranging, co-producer, mixing, photography, album artwork
Larry Norman – background vocals, producer, arranger, photography, album artwork
Randy Stonehill – background vocals
Tom Howard – Fender Rhodes, orchestration
Jon Linn – lead guitar
Flim Johnson – bass guitar
Peter Johnson – drums
Al Perkins – pedal steel guitar, dobro
Chuck Long – electric and acoustic guitars, additional photography
Alex MacDougall – percussion and congas
Janet Sue Heard – harmony, additional photography
Tom Howard String Ensemble conducted by Tom Howard

Ed Raetzloff – Drivin’ Wheels – 1981

This was the second of two albums from Ed Raetzloff. It was less rockin then his first offering but continued that Bob Seger late 70’s sound that was his trademark.

This album includes an excellent version of People Get Ready. Although more mellow there are still a few rockin tracks on this album.

Track Listing:
1 – Going Home – Written By – Turley Richards – 3:25
2 – People Get Ready – Written By – Curtis Mayfield – 3:57
3 – Keep The Big Wheels Turning – Written By – Dave Perkins – 3:26
4 – For You – Written By – Ed Raetzloff – 3:31
5 – Holy, Holy – Written By – Turley Richards – 3:34
6 – Hey There Stranger – Written By – Tim Sheppard – 3:45
7 – This New Love – Written By – Will McFarlane – 3:43
8 – What You Want For Me – Written By – Ed Raetzloff – 3:54
9 – You’ll Have It All – Written By – Will McFarlane – 3:25
10 – Drivin’Wheels – Written By – Ed Raetzloff – 3:40

Credits:
Arranged By – Turley Richards
Backing Vocals – Barry Dunaway, Ben Rappa, Bonnie Galley, Doug Bare, Freddie Weller, Sharon Scott, ‘Sharone’, Stan Henley, Steve Hardwick, Turley Richards
Bass – Barry Dunaway
Design – Bill Barnes
Design Concept – Bill Barnes
Drums – Ben Rappa
Engineer – Gene Eichelberger
Engineer [Assistant, Recording] – Bill Quinn
Engineer [Assistant, Remix] – Bob Clark
Guitar – Steve Hardwick
Harmony Vocals – Turley Richards
Illustration – Randy Martin
Keyboards – Doug Bare
Lead Guitar – John (Git) Goin, Randy Scruggs, Steve Hardwick
Lead Vocals – Ed Raetzloff
Photography By – Bill Barnes, Matt Barnes
Producer – Turley Richards
Typography [Lettering] – Deb Mahalanobis

DeGarmo & Key – Communication – 1984

This 1984 release from DeGarmo & Key featured more of what we expected from them.

Strong guitar tracks with keyboard support are the sound they followed. This album, while good, did not particularly stand out from the others and is considered a “fill in” album by some.

Personally I think it was a good stand alone album. Strangely the album offered a cover of Are You Ready by Pacific Gas & Electric which actually works pretty good.

Point of trivia is that the album cover changed slightly between first and subsequent pressings with the lettering of the band name switching from white to black.

Track Listing:
1 – Are You Ready – 3:17
2 – Rejoice – 3:31
3 – It’s A Shame – 3:24
4 – Alleluia, Christ Is Coming – 2:43
5 – Everyday’s A Celebration – 2:42
6 – Blessed Messiah – 3:46
7 – Perfect Reflection – 3:45
8 – He Has Risen – 2:48
9 – Six, Six, Six – 3:49
10 – Man Of His Word – 3:46
11 – Dear Friend – 1:40

Credits:
Bass, Vocals – Tommy Cathey
Drums, Vocals – Greg Morrow
Producer, Guitar, Lead Vocals – Dana Key
Producer, Keyboards, Vocals – Eddie DeGarmo
Vocals [Kid] – Breckon DeGarmo, Brian Tarrell, Shannon DeGarmo
Written-By – E. Allen* (tracks: 1), D. Key* (tracks: 2 to 11), D. Robbins* (tracks: 8), E. DeGarmo* (tracks: 2 to 11), M. Hill* (tracks: 1)

Prodigal – (self titled) – 1982

Prodigal are a band out of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The vocals were shared by three members which was rather odd. Unfortunately vocalist and keyboard player Loyd Boldman has since passed away. The drummer Dave Workman was also a member of the early 80’s band Northbound.

This album is a notch up from easy listening with fairly strong guitar riffs on several tracks. This album was also re-released on CD in 2014 by the band who have somehow obtained the copyright to their own music. This is a pretty rare achievement in the music industry.

Track Listing:
1 – Invisible Man – 4:10
2 – Easy Street – 4:08
3 – Fire With Fire – 4:15
4 – Sleepwalker – 2:53
5 – Want You Back Again – 3:50
6 – Prodigal – 1:10
7 – I Don’t Know Who You Are – 2:35
8 – Need Somebody To Love – 4:02
9 – Busy Man – 3:40
10 – Hard Bargain – 4:00
11 – Prodigal (Part Two) – 0:46
12 – Sidewinder – 6:34

Credits:
Keys and Vocals – Loyd Boldman
Guitars and Vocals – Rick Fields
Bass – Mike Wilson
Drums and Vocals – Dave Workman
Artwork – Loyd Boldman
Engineer – Dana Cornock, Paul Thompson
Engineer [Assistant] – Steve Moller
Executive Producer – Matthew Hunt
Layout, Design – Scott Waters
Mastered By – Ron Lewter
Mixed By – Gary Platt
Mixed By, Engineer – Andy Deganahl
Producer – Jon Phelps
Remastered By – Rob Colwell

Urgent – No Secrets – 1984

This appears to be the only thing ever released from Urgent. It has a normal mid 80’s Rock/Pop sound with vocal flavours of Scandal.

While only 5 tracks long the album/ep has a nice feel and structure to it. I’m actually kind of surprised that a record label didn’t pick them up and do a full album. I know what was out at the time and this definitely ranked above some of the stuff I heard.

Track Listing:
1 – Not Ashamed Of Love
2 – No Secrets
3 – Hands From Heaven
4 – Don’t Run
5 – Counting The Days

Credits:
Producer – Russ Kirkland
David C. Brown – Drums
Kerwin Hickey – Guitar
Kristy Hickley – Vocals
Dennis Roberts – Bass
Glenn Winslow – Keys

Various – The Axemen – 1988

This is a 1988 sampler from Pure Metal Records (a division of Refuge Music Group). It features some of the best heavy metal bands of the late 80’s.

Track Listing:
1 – Whitecross – Shakedown – 4:13
2 – Bride – Hell No – 3:50
3 – Saint – Returning – 4:45
4 – Force 3 – Warrior Of Light – 5:32
5 – Lightforce – Babylon – 6:54
6 – Jerusalem – Covered By Blood – 3:34
7 – The Daniel Band – Party In Heaven – 2:57
8 – Rosanna’s Raiders – Serve Someone – 4:04
9 – Novella – Running Home – 4:49
10 – Scarlet Red – You Live Fast – 4:46
11 – Bjorn Stigsson – Come Together – 2:59