Category: Albums

Centerpoint Featuring Jeff Johnson – Poetry & Music For Christmas – 1990

This is Jeff’s first Christmas album. He has actually done several Christmas albums over the years. This one is spoken word of poetry by Keith Patman with a musical score written by Jeff. I’m not usually a fan of spoken poetry but I quite enjoyed this album. Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age or maybe it’s just that good. The poetry is pretty good and as usual with Jeff the music score is fantastic. This might be one you may want to add to your Christmas rotation.

Tracklist
1 – O Come, O Come Immanuel – 1:18
2 – Another Mystery I Pose – 0:48
3 – A Gallery Carol – 3:00
4 – The Bondage Of Corruption – 1:40
5 – While Shepherds Watched – 5:10
6 – Snow – 3:54
7 – Lord Of Green And Red – 1:43
8 – Judah’s Lion / Carol Of The Bells – 3:43
9 – Centerpoint – 2:04
10 – Oregon Carol – 2:14
11 – Inversion – 2:52
12 – The Heavens Declare / Wexford Carol – 3:08

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Paul Chasman
Artwork By, Photography By – Kathy Hastings
Bass [Fretless] – Rick Crittenden
Flute – Brian Dunning
Percussion, Sound Designer [Ambience] – Roger Hadley
Producer, Keyboards, Music By, Arranged By, Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Johnson
Read By – Dallas McKennon
Written-By [Poetry By] – Keith Patman

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Ark Records
Copyright © – Sola Scriptura Songs
Mastered At – K Disc Mastering
Distributed By – Sparrow/Star Song Distribution
Recorded At – The Ark, Camano Island, WA
Recorded At – The Ark Mobile
Mixed At – The Ark, Camano Island, WA

Asight Unseen – Circus Of Shame – 1991

Here’s everything I know about this band. They were out of Garden Grove, California, and this is the first of 3 albums they released. That’s it, that’s all I got. So let’s talk about the album. This is a fantastic album. It was released on New Breed which was a sublabel of Frontline. It was produced by Chris Wimber (The Lifesavors) and mixed by Jeff Dykehouse. These two gentlemen nailed this album. The mix is perfect and final production dead on. This may actually be one of the best produced albums I have heard in the Christian genre. The tracks vary in sound from, well, everything. There’s hint of rockabilly, and grunge but mostly the album is straight up Rock & Roll. Guest appearing on the album is Chris Lizotte with some harmonica and background vocals. Also appearing is Rob Watson on keyboards. Strangely HM Magazine rates this album as #99 on their Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of all time. I agree this is a good album, even great, but #99 of all time? No sorry it’s simply not that good but it is very good. There are definitely a few tracks going into my regular rotation especially Jimi Jones Boogie which is actually a very well written song highlighting the difference between religion and following Christ.

Tracklist
1 – Road To Bonoa
2 – The Purging
3 – The Gimmick
4 – Feel Fire
5 – Psychic Babylon
6 – Back Door
7 – Circus Of Shame
8 – Jimi Jones Boogie
9 – Raucous
10 – Electric Angel Blues
11 – Screamin’ For Glory
12 – God’s Ways

Credits
Artwork By [Dove Logo] – Dan Newmire
Bass – John Oliveira
Bongos – Shawn Tubbs
Design – Bob Payne
Drums, Cymbal, Percussion [Gadgets] – Bert Sanchez
Guitar, Vocals – Mike Longridge
Guitar, Vocals [Yelling], Slide Guitar [Pick Slides], Words By – Derek Bell
Harmonica, Backing Vocals – Chris Lizotte
Keyboards – Rob Watson
Lead Vocals, Whistle, Words By – Jason Lohrke
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Mixed By – Jeff Dykehouse
Music By – ASight Unseen
Painting [Cover] – Trevor Lohrke
Producer, Engineer – Chris Wimber
Slide Guitar [Pick Slide] – Glen Schroder
Trombone [T-Bone] – Mike Johnson
Trumpet – Frank Lendejas
Vocals – Alexandria, GeeGee, Stacey Berardino

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Vineyard Ministries International
Copyright © – Vineyard Ministries International
Distributed By – Frontline Distribution
Recorded At – Vineyard Studios
Mixed At – Vineyard Studios
Mastered At – Future Disc

Ascension – Follow The Path – 1986

This is a band out of Illinois that I can’t find much information on. In fact I can’t really find any. I checked with Christian Tape Underground (https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com)and not much info there either. As a result we’ll just discuss the album. I’ll start out by saying I really like this album. If I had a criticism for the album it’s that there is not a flow in the sound of the album. We’ve got some hard rock tracks, some alternative leaning tracks, and even some rock tracks with a new wave feel. Personally I love the variation and it works great for me. The reason I bring it up is because this was a demo and generally on demos you wanted to present your style a little more clearly. Then again I never worked at a record company so what do I know. If your preferred genre is Hard Rock this is definitely a must listen.

Tracklist
1 – Follow The Path – 3:40
2 – Tempted – 3:45
3 – The Lesson – 3:48
4 – What’s Mine – 4:29
5 – Tribulation Man – 4:43
6 – Proverbs 1:7 – 2:08
7 – Wisdom – 4:56
8 – Immortality – 4:30

Credits
Bass – Greg Smith
Drums, Percussion – Mike Kondourajian
Keyboards, Vocals – Glen Smith
Lead Guitar – Steve Stripling
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Gary Smith
Mixed By – Glen Smith, Greg Smith, Harry Heath
Producer, Recorded By – Gary Manuel
Recorded By – Dave Kingland, Tom McLaughlin

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Barnburner Studio

Dion – Kingdom In The Streets – 1985

This was Dion’s 5th Christian album and is actually my personal favourite. While Put Away My Idols was his big Christian album I actually think this is a better album. The Pop tracks are simple and fun which was actually Dion’s strength. It’s what made him big in 60’s and I’m glad he carried it through to most of his Christian albums. The album did have 2 CCM charting singles, “Still In The Spirit” made it to #5 and “He’s In You” made it to #24 so it was moderately successful but I think it should have done better. I am going to be a bit critical of Dion now however. I can’t see one artist on this album that was from the Christian music industry. All of the studio musicians are mainstream musicians. I’m not saying none of them were Christian because I never judge who is or isn’t a Christian but none of them were ever involved in the Christian music scene. Many people argue that Dion was jumping on the Christian bandwagon while it was hot, and he was not. I do understand their opinion because Dion just didn’t seem to be a part of the community. Strange bit of trivia about the album. Track 5 is called “Only God Can Change A Heart” an the jacket but is called “Only God Can Make A Change” on the label. Proofreading was a optional thing in the record industry. Anyway that aside I really enjoy this album and you should give it a listen if you enjoy the pop style.

Tracklist
1 – Still In The Spirit – 3:35
2 – Crazy Too (Fallen In Love) – 3:32
3 – He Hears Them All – 3:48
4 – He’s In You – 3:40
5 – Only God Can Change A Heart – 2:55
6 – Daddy Says – 2:50
7 – Come To The Cross – 3:43
8 – You Can Do All Things (Through Christ) – 4:23
9 – I’ve Come Too Far – 3:21
10 – You Only Go ‘Round Once – 4:02

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Dion DiMucci
Art Direction, Design – Jeffery Fey
Backing Vocals – Chuck Kirkpatrick, Doug Shawe, Johnny Sambataro, Kitty Woodson, Pamela Sessody, Paul Pettitt
Bass – Phil Chen
Electric Guitar – John Sambataro, Leslie West, Rick Hitchcock
Engineer [Assistant] – Jim Sessody, Stan Lambert, Ted Stein, Teresa Verplanck
Management [Artist Direction] – Zachary Glickman Artist Management
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Percussion – Joe Galdo
Photography By – Bill Tuohy
Producer – Dion DiMucci
Producer, Engineer – Eric Schilling
Producer, Keyboards, Organ, Synthesizer – Paul Harris
Saxophone, Soloist – Ed Calle
Synthesizer – Larry Dermer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Produced For – Salt Productions, Inc.
Designed At – Art Hotel
Recorded At – Criteria Recording Studios
Mixed At – New River Studios
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Pressed By – Electrosound Los Angeles – Δ26746

Jeff Johnson – Icons – 1984

Jeff Johnson was making “New Age” music before “New Age” was cool. In fact, he was making it before it existed at all. More progressive rock than many of his new age instrumental contemporaries Jeff Johnson has, over the years, created a monstrous library catalog of utterly brilliant, passionate and spiritually moving music that has unfortunately escaped the attention of many in the CCM world. When “New Age” instrumental music was all the rage in CCM during the mid-1980’s Johnson was a leading artist, but many missed out on his more creative, provocative and, dare I say, commercial vocal projects. Of those many overlooked albums comes “Icons,” an utterly brilliant, and completely unforgettable album that is a must own for any audiophile. Not quite as commercial or rock influenced as “Fallen Splendor,” Icons contains some of Johnson’s best vocal music and remains his most cohesive vocal driven project. It also contains “Closed, Please Call Again,” which is Johnson’s finest song. Opening with “Tesseract,” an instrumental opener inspired by the concept of space travel as described in Madeleine L’Engle’s classic novel, “A Wrinkle In Time.” The book may be the only time in this blog I ever use the term “BYSO!” Johnson’s musically explores the “feeling” expressed in the book as the main characters travel through space using the tesseract. The album includes more of Johnson’s early progressive rock influences than on any album that follow outside of Fallen Splendor. “People in Peril” starts with limited percussive sounds and accompanying synthesizer background that is added upon as the song grows. Johnson’s wonderful falsetto is offset by a distant backing vocal that seems to challenge or respond to the lead the vocal as the song fades. The previously mentioned “Closed, Please Call Again” musically explores the heart of one postponing a response to the call of the Gospel or closed off to any true human contact. The song features some of the finest saxophone work on any Christian album. The longing heart is musically portrayed through the instrumental work and the aching vocals make this song a sheer delight. The saxophone is introduced brilliantly with a vocal and instrument interplay. There is so much more to be said about this amazing album, but space limitations prohibit a deeper discussion. Suffice it to say this is clearly an AYSO and would serve as a great introduction to the artist for those unfamiliar with his amazing collection of work.

Contributor David Lowman – https://legacyccmsgreatestalbums.wordpress.com

Tracklist
1 – Tesseract – 2:30
2 – People In Peril – 6:22
3 – Selah – 1:55
4 – Closed, Please Call Again – 7:14
5 – Birth, Dreaming, Death – 6:02
6 – Remove The Mask – 4:32
7 – Agony And Ecstasy – 3:29
8 – Waiting For The End – 4:40
9 – Ancient Icons – 3:51
10 – Windemere – 7:08

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Sandy Simpson
Acoustic Guitar [Solo] – Paul Chasman
Artwork – David Hastings, Kathy Hastings
Backing Vocals – Sandy Simpson
Bass Guitar – Rick Crittenden
Bass [Oregon] – David Friesen
Bells – Roger Hadley
Caxixi – Roger Hadley
Cymbal – Roger Hadley
Drum Programming – Brian David Willis
Drums – Brian David Willis
Drums [Hand] – Roger Hadley
Drums [Heater] – Sandy Simpson
Electric Guitar – Sandy Simpson
Electric Piano – Jeff Johnson
Percussion – Roger Hadley, Sandy Simpson
Percussion [Shells] – Roger Hadley
Piano [Acoustic] – Jeff Johnson
Producer – Jeff Johnson, Sandy Simpson
Programmed By [Emulator] – Jeff Johnson
Saxophone – Susie May
Synthesizer – Jeff Johnson
Tabla – Roger Hadley
Vocals – Jeff Johnson
Wind Chimes – Roger Hadley
Written-By – Jeff Johnson

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Sparrow Records

Shirley Caesar – Live … In Chicago – 1988

This may be one of the best Soul Gospel albums of the 80’s. As I have said before I didn’t listen to this style of music in the 80’s which is a real pity. I know I would have loved this album. Now to be clear Pastor Shirley is the star of this album but special praise should go out to Joe Neil. Joe did the primary mix for the concert and final mix for the album. You may have heard of Sam’s Tape Truck which was used for recording live concerts and Joe was responsible for Sam’s Tape Truck. The mix for a live concert is not the same mix that usually makes it onto an album. While I never heard the concert mix I can tell that Joe laid down a fantastic mix for the album. I would argue that this is one of the best mixed live albums I have heard. Anyway let’s talk about the album. This album was one of the top Soul gospel albums of the time. It made it to #1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums charts and the single “Hold My Mule” made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart. It won the Dove award for Traditional Black Gospel Recorded Song of the Year and was nominated for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Female. As it stands today this is my favourite Live Soul album and I suspect it’ll be there for quite awhile.

Tracklist
1 – Never – 7:16
2 – His Blood – 6:16
3 – Feel The Spirit – 4:31
4 – Things Are Going To Get Better – 4:32
5 – Hold My Mule – 8:41
6 – Born Again – 5:02
7 – Yes Lord, Yes – 3:54
8 – Peace In The Midst Of The Storm – 4:51

Credits
Al Willis – Guitar
Albertina Walker – Guest Artist, Performer, Primary Artist
Ann Caesar-Price – Vocals (Background)
Bubba Smith – Agogo, Anvil, Bells, Producer, Tambourine
Darius Brooks – Composer, Piano, Synthesizer
Denis Solee – Sax (Tenor)
Doug Moffet – Sax (Baritone)
Hank Williams – Mastering
Jay Rabbitt – Engineer
Jim Whitmer – Photography
Joe Neil – Engineer, Mixing
Kevin Brunson – Drums
Larry Goode – Engineer
Lloyd Barry – Horn Arrangements, Trumpet
Loris Holland – Composer
Lynn Keesecker – Composer, Executive Producer
Michael E. Mathis – Composer, Organ, Piano, Vocals (Background)
Mike Haynes – Trumpet
Oliver Wells – Synthesizer
Pastor Donald Alford – Composer
Rev. Milton Brunson – Guest Artist
Richard Gibbs – Organ, Piano
Robert Butler – Executive Producer
Sam Levine – Sax (Baritone)
Sanchez Harley – Horn Arrangements
Shirley Caesar – Composer, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals
Steve Adams – Composer
Steve Huff – Bass
Tyrone Block – Vocals (Background)

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – A&M Records, Inc.
Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Christ Tabernacle Baptist Church
Published By – Simply Darius, Word Music, Snowfox Music, Jamdo Jamdo Music, Lors-chez Music, Don-Glo Music, Manna Music, Inc., Steve Adams Music
Mixed At – Doppler Studios
Mastered At – Master Mix
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.
Recorded By – Sam’s Tape Truck

Children Of The Consuming Fire – Come Home Phlubber – 1993

This is the 2nd and final album from Children Of The Consuming Fire. I still can not find out much about this great band so let’s just talk about the album. Personally I love this album but I don’t get a 1993 feel from the album. It would have fit much better in the mid to late 80’s but it doesn’t really matter to me because I prefer the 80’s era of music anyway. One of the things that stands out on this album for me is that so many tracks have a proper catchy intro. This is a technique that helps your mind recognize a track right away and is such good writing. “Swim” has a great Bass intro and essentially set’s up the bass to be the lead instrument for the song. This is not a common thing to do because it usually doesn’t work but it sure does work on this track. My favourite track is “One Small Step” which has a great 80’s alternative feel with great U2 feeling guitar track. All in all this is a great album and there’s a few tracks here that are going in my regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Come Home Phlubber – 2:58
2 – Swim, Swim, Swim – 3:31
3 – Hold This Child – 3:51
4 – Father Take Me – 2:48
5 – One Small Step – 3:13
6 – Say You Will – 4:26
7 – Taste And See – 3:52
8 – I See – 2:34
9 – Modern Pharisee – 3:36
10 – I Don’t Know Why – 3:56
11 – Love Like You Do – 3:31
12 – Phlubber’s Prayer – 3:24
13 – Bonus Track – 3:50

Credits
Backing Vocals – Andreana Arganda, Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick, Tim Curiel
Bass Guitar – Marc Rivera
Crew – Gabriel Aguirrie
Drums – Tim Curiel
Effects [Gun Shot] – John Wyrosdick
Finger Snaps – Andreana Arganda, Gabriel Aguirrie, Larry Hampton
Guitar – Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick
Keyboards – John Wyrosdick
Lead Vocals – Marc Rivera
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Percussion – Tim Curiel
Performer [The Children Are] – Skeddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick, Marc Rivera, Tim Curiel
Photography By – Albert D. Gonzales
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Chris Wimber
Sampler [Disco Drum Samples] – Chris Wimber
Sounds [Live Sound] – Danny McDonnell

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Vineyard Studios
Mixed At – Vineyard Studios
Mastered At – Future Disc

Barratt Band – Playin’ in the City – 1981

This is one of my personal favourites from the 80’s and easily resides in my top 100. It was released as Playing In The City in the U.K. and Playin’ in the City in North America. It also had 2 different album covers with the North American one coming in as the clear winner. The Strat will usually win. The Barratt Band was basically The Alwyn Wall band without Alwyn with Norman on vocals instead but with a more mainstream sound. There’s a bit of an After The Fire feel and they did have a connection as Bass player Tim Hatwell had been in the band Narnia with John Russell and Peter Banks. I also read somewhere that Tim did some work with ATF but I have not confirmed that with Peter Banks yet. Anyway these guys meshed really really well and the opening track sets the tone for a great rock pop album. If you missed this one in the day you need to give it a listen, you won’t be sorry.

Tracklist
1 – The Only One – 3:18
2 – Not The Way – 4:50
3 – Your Love – 5:40
4 – Playing In The City – 4:15
5 – Coming Of The Man – 1:55
6 – Bad Mean World – 2:37
7 – My Spirit’s Free – 4:15
8 – Voice In The Night – 6:54
9 – Never Seen Your Face – 6:30

Credits
Bass Guitar – Tim Hatwell
Drums – Russell Caldwell
Engineer – Paul Cobbold
Guitar – Norman Barratt
Keyboards – Dave Morris
Keyboards [Additional Keyboards] – Walter Bollard
Producer – Vic Coppersmith, Norman Barratt
Vocals – Norman Barratt
Written-By – Norman Barratt, Tim Hatwell

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Refuge Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Refuge Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company
Recorded At – Chapel Lane Studios
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Nedra Ross – Full Circle – 1978

This is the only Christian album we got from Nedra Ross (Nedra Talley-Ross). You may remember her as a member of the The Ronettes who had a huge hit with “Be My Baby”. While this is Nedra’s only solo album she did appear prominently on 2 of Ted Sandquist’s album with Phil Keaggy. Strangely this album was marketed as a soul album but it is not. In fact it is more in the style of Phil Keaggy of the era but that’s not surprising because Phil is all over this album. He wrote several of the tracks and played Guitar on the album. The stand out track for me is the cover of the Keith Green song “I Dont Want To Fall Away From You” with my second favourite track being a cover of the Phil Keaggy 1973 song “Sunrise To Sunset”. This really is a great album but I am guessing many people missed it because of wrong marketing. Usually I complain about poor marketing but this idea was even worse. Unfortunately like so many great Christian artists Nedra was unable to make a decent living in the industry so she moved on to a successful Real Estate career in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Tracklist
1 – Full Circle – 4:44
2 – You Write The Songs – 4:53
3 – Without Him – 4:18
4 – I Dont Want To Fall Away From You – 2:55
5 – Sunrise To Sunset – 3:48
6 – Gonna Keep My Mind (Stayed On You) – 4:46
7 – Unchanging Love For You – 4:07
8 – With Every Bit Of Strength – 4:00
9 – I Know I Love You – 3:41
10 – Lean On Me – 4:23

Credits
Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Bobby Schiff, Phil Keaggy
Backing Vocals – Bernadette Keaggy, Bonnie Booko, Doug Bonin, Nedra Ross, Phil Keaggy
Bass – Dennis Johnson
Engineer – Gary Hedden, Mal Davis
Guitar, Mandolin – Phil Keaggy
Keyboards – Bobby Schiff
Mixed By [Remixing] – Gary Hedden
Percussion – Tom Pabich, Tommy Radtke
Producer – Scott Ross
Steel Guitar – Bobbie Thomas
Strings, Horns – Bobby Schiff
Tom Tom [Syntom] – Tommy Radtke

Companies, etc.
Mastered At – Diskwerks
Distributed By – Jubilation Group
Copyright © – New Song Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – New Song Productions
Published By – Free Love Publishing
Published By – April-Blackwood

Recess – Discipline Of The Groove – 1990

The boys from Olivet Nazarene University are back with their second album. This one continues their Pop Hip Hop sound and has an almost identical feel to their first album. I’d love to tell you more but that’s all I really have. The album is good but there isn’t a track that reaches out to me to say “That’s my favourite track”. Maybe this is just one of those albums you listen to in it’s entirety and that’s it.

Tracklist
1 – Discipline Of The Groove – 4:56
2 – In That Number – 5:19
3 – That’s The Way He Planned It – 3:52
4 – Hands That Made The World – 5:29
5 – My Own Way – 4:32
6 – Last Call – 6:14
7 – Fun Tonight – 3:41
8 – Deceive And Destroy – 4:43
9 – Don’t Run Away – 5:52
10 – I Found Love – 3:46

Credits
Art Direction – Buddy Jackson
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Brenda Blonski, “Kuk” Harrell, Morris “Butch” Stewart
Bass – David Quinones
Co-producer – “Kuk” Harrell
Computer [Macintosh] – John Ovnik
Cover – D. Rhodes
Design – Stephen Walker
Drums – Mike Kondourajian
Engineer – “Kuk” Harrell, Morris “Butch” Stewart
Engineer [Second] – Derek Ware
Executive-Producer – Michael Blanton, Terry Hemmings
Guitar – David Quinones, Jerry Gassie, Tim McGuire
Keyboards – Tony Bobalik
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer – Morris “Butch” Stewart
Programmed By – “Kuk” Harrell, Morris “Butch” Stewart
Rap [Special Guest] – M.C. Microwave “Sean Hall”
Saxophone – David Carlson, Mark Colby
Vocals – David Quinones, Dianne Songer Gadberry, Tim McGuire
Voice [Dark Dude] – Jeff Morrow

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Reunion Records
Copyright © – Reunion Records
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Printed By – Player Print & Design
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus
Recorded At – Homeboy Recording Studio
Mastered At – Mastermix
Designed At – Jackson Design