Category: Albums

Vengeance Rising – Released Upon The Earth – 1992

This is the final album from Vengeance Rising and the last one I will be reviewing. I have listened to all 4 albums and I am done with it. Again the entire band turned over except for Roger Martinez. The album itself sounds just like the other ones and again I struggled to hear any of the lyrics so again I can not judge the lyrical quality of the album. Musically I do hear talent but I simply can’t stand this style of music. After this album Roger decided he was actually a satanist and then a few years later decided he was a atheist. I think we can face that he was struggling with some sort of mental illness. Martinez obtained the name of the band was planning on releasing a satanist then atheist album. Apparently he even successfully recorded an album called “Realms of Blasphemy”. Luckily it never made it out into the public. Sometime in the late 90’s Martinez began making death threats to individuals he claimed “stabbed him in the back” including his friend Steve Rowe of Mortification. Martinez passed away in 2025 and hopefully that will bring this whole mess to an end. All that aside if this is one you really enjoyed in the day we respect that and that is why we offer.

Tracklist
1 – Help Me – 6:17
2 – The Damnation Of Judas And The Salvation Of The Thief – 3:14
3 – Released Upon The Earth – 2:02
4 – Human Dark Potential – 4:15
5 – Instruments Of Death – 3:46
6 – Lest You Be Judged – 3:46
7 – Out Of Bounds – 3:27
8 – Bishop Of Souls – 5:24
9 – Tion – 2:59
10 – You Will Be Hated – 4:37

Credits
Backing Vocals – David Fuentes, David Portillo, David Vasquez, Gordon Martinez, Jimmy Brown*, Michael Kramer, Steve Rowe, Victor Macias
Bass – “Manic” Joe Monsorb’nik
Drums – Johnny Vasquez
Engineer – George Ochoa, Pat Woehl
Engineer [2nd] – Roger Milke, Thom Roy
Engineer [Drum Tracking] – Gil Morales
Lead Guitar – Jamie Mitchell
Mastered By – John Matousek
Mixed By – George Ochoa, Roger Martinez
Rhythm Guitar – Simon Dawg
Vocals, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Bass – Roger Martinez

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab
Recorded At – Micro Note Recording Studio
Mastered At – Soundworks West
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus

Randy Matthews – Now Do You Understand – 1975

Long scraggly hair and beard, John Lennon like spectacles and a silver jump suit cladded Matthews grabs just a guitar and microphone and makes his way through 70-minutes of song, story, humor and ministry. There sometimes appears to be as much talking as singing, but it works so incredibly well with Matthews. He is a master story teller whether in song or not. His rough edged, Joe Cocker like voice is pure gold on this project. the intimacy and genuineness of the performance simply pulls the listener into what is being said and sung. Sunny Day, Holy Band and Evacuation Day are just stellar. The 10 minute version of Country Faith – interrupted by stories and questions – is priceless. But, quite frankly, the song “Didn’t He” that closes the album is just mesmerizing and painful. This is one of those songs where artist and message collide to create something that will always be remembered. Simply, simply stunning!

Contributor – David Lowman https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – Intro – 0:50
2 – Holy Band – 2:45
3 – Quartet Rap – 3:30
4 – Dill Pickles – 2:00
5 – The Bad Has Made It Better – 2:20
6 – Guiding Light – 3:10
7 – The Deli – 1:15
8 – Sunny Day – 3:40
9 – Important Things – 2:30
10 – Love – 5:25
11 – Darling I’ll Be There – 2:20
12 – Where Were You? – 0:40
13 – Wounded Warrior – 2:50
14 – Country Faith – 10:00
15 – Christmas (White House Shuffle) – 0:55
16 – Pharoah’s Hand – 3:35
17 – Evacuation Day – 3:15
18 – Hands – 3:45
19 – Oh My – 2:45
20 – In The Morning – 4:10
21 – The Picnic – 3:50
22 – Didn’t He? – 3:50

Credits
Composed By – Randy Matthews
Engineer – Bob Clark (3)
Mixed By [Remix] – Lee Hazen
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Zap (15)
Producer, Liner Notes [Back Liner Notes], Management [Personal Management] – Wes Yoder

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Mixed At – Hazen’s Recording Studio
Mastered At – Artisan Sound Recorders

Mark Farner – Rock ‘n Roll Soul Live 1989 – 2023

Mark Farner did something really great for his fans with this one. Somehow he got the rights to the video and audio of his performance at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California as part of the “Woodstock 20 Years After” festival in 1989. He released a DVD with the full video, a CD with all the tracks, and a very cool coloured vinyl LP with limited tracks. Okay so lets set the background. This was a music festival that unofficially celebrated the 20 year anniversary of Woodstock. While that was strange enough even stranger Grand Funk Railroad never played at Woodstock as they had conflicting tour dates. To be clear this was a secular music festival but Mark didn’t let that get in the way and sang a great mix of his classics and current Christian music. Mark really was a treasure in the industry. He often leveraged his bands early success to minister to people. Mark practised what he preached and I always felt he never got the recognition he deserved for that. Now let’s talk about the album. The original recording of this concert was obviously not intended for an album release but I have to say the mix is pretty good. Mark’s team did a pretty good job in post production because a concert mix is nothing like an album mix. I of course never being satisfied did do some post production work myself so you may notice our copy is slightly more saturated than the original. Hat’s off to Mark for an excellent release and I’ll say this too, he didn’t do a kickstarter so it is likely he didn’t make much of anything off this release. I hope I’m wrong and he made some money but if you listen to it here he’ll get a few pennies from YouTube. Be sure to visit his website if you’re a fan as he is still releasing albums and they are available there including both the vinyl and CD version of this album signed. I doubt Mark will ever read this but hats off to you Mark for an excellent release.

Tracklist
1 – Are You Ready – 4:03
2 – Rock’n Roll Soul – 3:32
3 – Footstompin’ Music – 4:06
4 – Airborne Ranger – 4:39
5 – Judgement Day Blues – 4:45
6 – Some Kind Of Wonderful – 5:27
7 – Paranoid – 10:23
8 – Come To Jesus – 4:01
9 – Mean Mistreater – 4:38
10 – Must Have Been Love – 3:11
11 – Bad Time – 2:46
12 – I’m Your Captain/Closer To Home – 6:34
13 – Heartbreaker – 7:24
14 – Isn’t It Amazing – 5:08
15 – The Loco-motion – 4:27

Credits
Art Direction – Mark Kalmus
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Lawrence Buckner
Drums, Backing Vocals – Mike Maple
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Mike Blair
Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals – Mark Farner
Mastered By – Randy Perry
Photography – Fred B. Slinger
Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals – Arnie Vilches

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Liberation Hall – Lib – 5164

Michael Sweet – Demo – 1992

This was an early teaser release from Michael of 4 tracks from his future self titled album. These have completely different mixes/production than the album and I’ll be blunt…… these versions are better. Not just a little better but substantially better. I have no idea why these initial versions were rejected but it has just solidified my opinion that music industry people that make such decisions aren’t any better qualified to make those decisions than you and I. On the opening track “I Think You Hear Me Knockin'” is a single on the EP but on the album it’s just a good filler track. Anyway I’m glad I was encouraged to grab this one out of the stack for a listen. While I love Michael’s solo album I far prefer the tracks as they were produced here. The lesson for record companies that they will not listen to? Leave stuff alone, sometimes the best route of action is to just stop.

Tracklist
1 – I Think You Hear Me Knockin’ – 3:42
2 – All I Wanna Do Is Love You – 4:21
3 – Tomorrow, Tonight – 4:18
4 – Someday – 4:30

Credits
Written-By – Michael Sweet

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Sweet 2 C Music

Darrell Mansfield – Give Him Your Blues – 1992

This album from Darrell is actually a pretty important one. It usually gets lost in the shuffle of his many albums but this album would steer his direction for much of the rest of his career. The event was rather small but if you follow his next several albums the addition of Glenn Kaiser to this album is very important. It also helped shape Darrell sound on upcoming albums as he drifted away from traditional rock and concentrated on blues rock. He starts the album with “Never Been To The Seminary” at it sets the tone for the rest of the album both musically and lyrically. If you follow my writing you know I have a love for Darrell’s music and I have in the past counted him as a friend. One of the real standouts on this album for me was the drumming of Michael Fickling. This was his first album with Darrell and while he was a little known studio musician this album really displayed his skills. Unfortunately we lost Michael suddenly in March of 2018 at the age of 65. Listen for his work it really fits with Glenn’s guitar and Darrell’s harp. Oh and yes I know that track 7 is spelt wrong. Just as it was, so shall it be.

Tracklist
1 – Never Been To The Seminary – 4:22
2 – Beautiful City – 3:38
3 – Trimmed & Burnin’ – 2:28
4 – You Know It Ain’t Right – 3:39
5 – Ain’t No Need – 7:03
6 – God’s Radar – 3:45
7 – It Takes God To Built A Home – 3:18
8 – I Know Jesus Can – 4:15
9 – Swing Low – 4:17
10 – The Mission – 5:02
11 – Never Heard A Man – 4:16

Credits
Art Direction – Huurdeman, De Kemp
Backing Vocals – Darrell Mansfield
Bass – Matthew Chapman
Coordinator – Gerrit aan ‘t Goor
Design – Hotline
Drums – Michael Fickling
Guitar – Shawn Jones
Keyboards – Phil Kristianson
Lead Guitar [Additional] – Glenn Kaiser
Management [Booking Agent] – Crossbow Productions
Photography By – Florian Lem
Producer, Harmonica, Lead Vocals – Darrell Mansfield
Rhythm Guitar [Additional] – Glenn Kaiser
Technician – Heyke Noordhof

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – GMI Music Partners
Copyright © – GMI Music Partners
Recorded At – Studio Spitsbergen

Adrian Snell – Midnight Awake – 1983

This is Adrian’s 9th studio album but this one isn’t quite as easy listening as his previous albums. I would even venture to say there’s 4 or 5 AOR tracks on this album. We recently got the entire Snell record collection and I simply can not believe how many albums this guy did. But here’s my question. How does a guy who had over 24 albums on major labels, most of which are in the easy listening category…… how did he never have a CCM single? I mean mathematically should have had quite a few. Don’t tell me it’s because of talent because if he didn’t have any talent he wouldn’t have had record deals for over 20 albums. I can point to several artists who were talented who could only get a one album deal. This guy had over 20 record deals. I don’t know, I’m just baffled at this. I’ve asked a few artists about it and they had no idea and were quite surprised also. They had nothing but good to say about Adrian. Oh well back to the album I kind of like this one, I’m generally not a fan of his work because it’s not my style but this album has a couple really good tracks. If you prefer his easy listening worship oriented style there’s lots of that here too so let’s call this one a cross over album.

Tracklist
1 – Who’s Laughing Now – 3:20
2 – Still Your Heart – 4:50
3 – Light On The Road – 3:55
4 – Rejoice – 3:50
5 – Shelter From The Storm – 4:05
6 – Start Over – 3:00
7 – Heart Of The Father – 4:29
8 – Come In From The World – 2:57
9 – Midnight Awake – 3:22
10 – Fill My Life – 3:55

Credits
Arranged By [String & Track], Bass – Tim Smith
Arranged By [Track], Keyboards, Synthesizer – John Lawry
Backing Vocals – Alician McInnes, Barry Crompton, Mo Stanway, Tom Douglas
Design, Typography – Wagstaff Design Associates
Drums – Joe English
Electric Guitar – George Cocchini, Norman Barrett
Engineer [Overdubs & Vocals] – Colin Owen
Engineer [Overdubs & Vocals], Acoustic Guitar – Terry Rowley
Engineer [Tracks] – Joe Wilson
Executive-Producer, Backing Vocals – John Pac
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Adrian Snell
Mastered By – Jim Loyd
Mixed By – Bob Clark
Photography By – Slideffects
Producer – Ray Nenow
Saxophone – Donnie “Sax” Sanders

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pilgrim America Records
Copyright © – Pilgrim America Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Produced For – Primacy Productions
Recorded At – Master’s Touch
Mixed At – Great Circle Sound
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Kurt Howell – Kurt Howell – 1992

I going to guess that no one recognizes the name Kurt Howell so come on and head down the rabbit hole with me. In the mid to late 80’s there was a collection of Christian artist working in the studios around Nashville. Kurt was often in that community and the studio musicians on this album are almost all from that community. So while this is a secular album it’s a great group of Christian artists. Kurt was better known to some as a member of Southern Pacific who were together from 1983 to 1991 and actually were pretty successful including an appearance with Emmylou Harris at Farm Aid 1985 though Kurt didn’t join the band until after that. Once that band split Kurt cut this one solo album. This however was not a country album, this is a pop rock album that had the magic hands of Michael Omartian in the production booth. Strangely the next chapter in Kurt’s career was another country band, Burnin’ Daylight. I have no idea how this album came about but I really like it. I don’t know what the official single was but I pick “Do The Rubber Neck”. It’s a great tune that I think would have done well on the radio. I’m willing to guess very few of you have heard this one but I think you should give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Let’s Run With It – 3:51
2 – We’ll Find The Way – 4:14
3 – Does Love Not Open Your Eyes – 4:41
4 – I’m Over You – 4:39
5 – Dedicating Everything To You – 4:44
6 – Do The Rubber Neck – 4:44
7 – Labor Of Love – 4:40
8 – Keep Telling My Heart – 4:32
9 – Cold As A Stone – 4:09
10 – Don’t Throw Love Away – 5:23

Credits
Backing Vocals – Joe Pizzulo, Robert White Johnson, Tommy Funderburk
Drums – Paul Leim
Electric Guitar – Chris Rodrigues, Michael Landau, Neal Schon, Steve Lukather
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Dean Parks
Horns – Daniel Higgins, David Boruff, Jerry Hey, Kim Hutchcroft
Keyboards – Phil Naish
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Michael Omartian
Producer – Michael Omartian
Vocals, Keyboards – Kurt Howell

Paul Janz – Renegade Romantic – 1990

This is Paul Janz’s 3rd solo album. It was released in Canada, the U.S., and Europe but it only did well in Canada. At this point in his life he was generally putting out secular albums. That said the same year as this his family did put out a Christian album on their family label Janz Team that Paul sang on. The album did quite well in Canada with “Every Little Tear” peaking at #5 on the charts. “Rocket to My Heart” and “Stand” also charted in the teens. I am from Canada and remember the album well. Paul was one of the most popular Canadian artists of the period. This is a great 80’s Pop album and a must hear.

Tracklist
1 – Every Little Tear – 4:08
2 – Hold Me Tender – 4:44
3 – Rocket To My Heart – 3:44
4 – Almost Heaven – 4:22
5 – Stand – 4:56
6 – Stuck On You – 4:05
7 – Love Walks In – 4:14
8 – One Lovin’ Touch – 4:37
9 – Darling Drive – 3:30
10 – Saddle Up – 4:03

Credits
Art Direction – Richard Frankel
Bass – Mike Hill
Co-producer, Vocals, Synth Bass, Arranged By, Lyrics By, Music By, Written-By – Paul Janz
Design – Art Hotel, Inc., Brian Johnson
Drum Programming – Jim Bralower, Paul Janz
Drums – Michael Root
Engineer [Second Engineer] – Alex Rodriguez, Beemer, Brett Newman, Chris Puram, Chris Taylor, Leon Grandos, Marc Ramaer, Mike Tacci, Nick Els
Guitar – Tim McKenzie
Keyboards – Paul Janz, Phil Chanel, Rob Bailey
Management – Michael Godin Management
Mastered By – Howie Weinberg
Percussion – Jim McGillveray
Photography By – Graham Law
Producer – Bill Drescher
Programmed By – Rob Bailey
Recorded By, Mixed By – Bill Drescher, Patrick Glover
Saxophone – Tom Colclough

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – A&M Records, Inc.
Copyright © – A&M Records, Inc.
Distributed By – Columbia House – 783167T
Record Company – CBS Records Canada Ltd.
Manufactured By – Cinram
Recorded At – One On One Studios, Baby’O Recorders, Vancouver Studios, Ground Control Studios, Sound City Studios, Skip Saylor Recording
Mixed At – Skip Saylor Recording, Little Mountain Sound Studios
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Published By – Irving Music Of Canada Ltd., Zoological Music

Paul Field – Daybreak – 1983

This is Paul Field’s second solo album. While it was advertised as an Easter Musical I’ve listened to the album about 3 times now and I struggle with the “musical” part. Musically this album is all over the place. There are some almost worship oriented tracks that are just okay, a few upbeat tracks that are pretty good, and one rock track, “Chasing Shadows” which is a great rock track, and I mean great. It really doesn’t even fit on the album. The album was only released in the U.K. so I’m guessing most of us this side of the pond have never even heard it. The album was rerecorded in 1986 by a group of Australian artists and it is often mistakenly attributed to Paul though he was not on the album. This is another great album that most of us missed so give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Daybreak – 4:08
2 – It’s You – 3:09
3 – Chasing Shadows – 2:47
4 – Walking Into The Wind – 3:44
5 – I Believe – 4:05
6 – Stony Ground – 4:15
7 – Make Me A Mountain – 3:20
8 – All Down To You – 6:33
9 – Peace Like A River – 2:43
10 – Grow In Grace – 3:06
11 – Daybreak (Reprise) – 1:20

Credits
Bass – John G. Perry
Design [Sleeve], Photography – Ian Dillon
Drums – Ian Moseley
Electric Guitar – Tom Blades
Engineer – Andy Geirus
Keyboards, Arranged By – Dave Cooke
Vocals – Edwina Lawrie, John Daniels, Julie Moon, Mark Williamson
Written-By, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Arranged By, Liner Notes – Paul Field

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright © – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Recorded At – TMC Studios
Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse
Made By – Garrod & Lofthouse

RPM – RPM – 1982

RPM falls in the category of a band of Christians as opposed to a Christian band. The band consisted of Jimmie Lee Sloas (Dogs Of Peace & Imperials), Mark Gendel, Robert White Johnson, Tommy Wells (First Gear). Jimmie and Tommy had already been headliners in the Christian music industry while Robert & Mark had been studio musicians in the Christian industry. I have no idea how this album ended up getting backing from EMI records but all 4 were well established studio musicians so maybe they were one of those groups put together by the record company. That’s just a guess. The album was well received and the first single “A Legend Never Dies” apparently charted but I was unable to find the position. “Rendezvous” also singled but gained further recognition when covered by the British band Tygers of Pan Tang on their 1982 album The Cage who did a great version. Their first major live performance was at the KLOL Rockfest at Houston’s Astrodome complex before 20,000 fans. Apparently they had four encores which is pretty impressive. I can easily see why they would be so popular live. The album leans a little more AOR but as I understand it their live performances were far more rock oriented. I wish I had heard of and heard these guys back in the day but alas I missed them somehow. They did get a second album deal from Warner and that one is coming to our channel soon.

Tracklist
1 – A Legend Never Dies -4:13
2 – 2 + 2 -3:19
3 – It Don’t Feel The Same -4:08
4 – Rendezvous -3:28
5 – Envy -4:52
6 – You -3:46
7 – Firestarter -4:41
8 – Don’t Make It Hard -3:07
9 – Video Games -4:20
10 – I’m A Wreck -4:30

Credits
Art Direction – Bill Burks
Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Jimmie Lee Sloas
Cover, Design – Amy Nagasawa
Drums, Backing Vocals – Tommy Wells
Guitar, Guitar [Synthesizer], Backing Vocals – Mark Gendel
Lead Vocals – Bob Johnson
Management – Norman Epstein
Mastered By – Ken Perry
Photography By [Band] – Allan Messer
Photography By [Cover] – David Brandt
Producer, Engineer – Brent Maher
Synthesizer [Programming] – Kevin Kent

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – EMI America Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – EMI America Records
Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
Recorded At – Creative Workshop
Mastered At – Capitol Studios
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles