Geoff Mann is rapidly becoming one of my favourite 80’s artists that I didn’t even know existed in the 80’s. The information on this album is pretty scant and I don’t even know where it was released though I am assuming the UK. As for the album I guess it could be best described as conceptual New Wave though your description might be different. It only came out on LP but was re-released in 1994 on a compilation disc. Strangely the re-release was actually missing the track “Peacemeal” but it was included on the re-release of Chants Would be a Fine Thing in 2004. The album appears to be entirely Geoff and Dave Mortimer but we do know Steve Millie did step in to do the Bass track on “Creation”. So if you are a fan of New Wave and you missed this one in the 80’s I strongly suggest a listen to it now.
Credits Electric Guitar – Dave Mortimer Electronic Drums – Geoff Mann Guitar – Dave Mortimer Producer – Geoff Mann Synthesizer – Geoff Mann Voice – Geoff Mann
Companies, etc. Recorded – Pullman Studios, Manchester. Record Company – Wobbly Records
This was the one and only album from Chase from Upstate New York. It was released on Salt Incorporated Music,which was a sublabel of Rick Cua’s UCA Records Ltd. The album is best described as an AOR album with some Arena Rock tracks. It was very well produced thanks to Bill Baumgart who was one of the best producers in the CCM genre. The only real connection to the 80’s for this album is the sound. I know the album is a one off but these guys were great. I would love to hear more but this is all we get and none of the band members appear to have done any other projects. I guess my only concern with the album is that this sound might have been a little late for 1993 but I don’t care. Only have time for one track? Give “Don’t Shut Me Out” a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Keeping My Mind – 4:48 2 – Spectrum Of Emotion – 4:11 3 – I Am Living You – 4:23 4 – Love Is The Reason – 5:14 5 – Don’t Shut Me Out – 4:22 6 – Have You Got Some Time – 4:33 7 – Get It Right – 4:46 8 – In Your Arms – 4:19 9 – ‘Til The End Of Time – 4:25 10 – You Will Be The One – 4:20
Credits Art Direction – Mark Combs Bass – Ron Chase Co-producer, Engineer – David Johnsen Drums – Jay Corey Lead Guitar, Vocals – Virgil Burdick Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar – Scott Lowmaster Mastered By – Hoyt Dooley Photography By – Scott Miller Photography Producer – Bill Baugmart
This is the first album from Take 6 and I believe it’s the only A Capella album we’ve uploaded to YouTube. The group started out in 1980 when Claude McKnight started to assemble a group of singers who would be know as Gentleman’s Estates Quartet. Once the band was complete they changed their name to Alliance. When they signed with Reprise Records/Warner Bros. in 1987, it was discovered that there was another group with the same name. So the band sat down and picked a new name using the level of laughter as the deciding factor and Take 6 was born. The band won two Grammy awards for this album, Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group, and Best Soul Gospel Performance By A Duo, Group, Choir Or Chorus. Humorously the song that won Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group only made it to #25 on the CCM charts. If this isn’t proof of the idiocy that was the CCM charts then I don’t know what further proof I would need.
Tracklist 1 – Gold Mine – 3:52 2 – Spread Love – 3:29 3 – If We Never Needed The Lord Before (We Sure Do Need Him Now) – 4:59 4 – A Quiet Place – 2:43 5 – Mary – 3:31 6 – David And Goliath – 4:25 7 – Get Away, Jordan – 4:23 8 – He Never Sleeps – 3:10 9 – Milky-White Way – 4:47 10 – Let The Words – 0:55
Credits Arranged By – Mark Kibble, Mervyn Warren Art Direction, Design [Cover] – Kav Deluxe Engineer – Don Cobb Executive-Producer – Jim Ed Norman Hair – Jeffrey Johnson Lacquer Cut By – Denny Purcell Make-Up, Stylist [Wardrobe] – Vanessa Ware Management – C.H.O.I.C.E., Nashville Mastered By [Originally] – Denny Purcell Mixed By – C. McKnight, D. Cobb, M. Kibble, M. Warren Percussion [Finger Snaps], Effects [Sound] – David Humphries Photography By – Jeff Katz Producer – Claude V. McKnight III, Mark Kibble, Mervyn Warren Vocals – Alvin Chea, Cedric Dent, Claude V. McKnight III, David Thomas, Mark Kibble, Mervyn E. Warren
I’m going to start this review by saying, I don’t know anything about thrash, I don’t like thrash, and I don’t understand how it fit in the Christian genre of music. All that said I listened to the album and quite frankly I was left with more questions than answers. This album was released on Wonderland records which was a division of Word that I assumed Word opened so they could keep stuff like this off their main label. Now I just finished listening to a Towne Cryer album and I am mystified at how that band couldn’t get a record deal but these guys did. Did Word put someone in charge of this label that like me didn’t understand the genre? As for the album, this was their first release after rising from the ashes of a band called Marty. They had a 2 album run on Wonderland before self releasing two more albums. I hate to criticize the band as I struggle with this style of music but feel free to comment and let me know if they were good or bad. I just can’t tell.
Tracklist 1 – Renaissance By Death – 1:41 2 – The Invitation – 4:28 3 – Fallen Deceived – 3:50 4 – More Faith Than Me – 3:44 5 – Escaping The Alter – 9:06 6 – Assassins In The Midst – 4:56 7 – Mortal Flesh – 6:12 8 – Stroll Thru A Wicked Age – 6:45 9 – Prophets Of Baal – 4:08 10 – Plead The Blood – 5:16
Credits Bass – Jeff Lain Drums – Brian Meuse Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski Engineer, Keyboards – Christopher Mosher Guitar – Matt Maners Guitar, Backing Vocals – Marcus Colon Mastered By – Eddie Schryer Producer – Caesar Kalinowski Vocals – Chris Ackerman
Companies, etc. Recorded At – The Sonic Temple Mastered At – Future Disc
Here’s another band I had a difficult time finding any information on. They were from southern California and this is their first of two albums. It was the second release for New Breed records who were a sub label of Frontline Music Group. It was produced by Chris Wimber (The Lifesavors) who produced most of the releases for New Breed records. That’s it, that’s all I know. Okay so lets move onto the album. I really like it. It has an early 90’s late 80’s sound and was spot on style wise in 1990. I do have one nitpick though. They tried running many of the tracks together. This worked great on LP’s but in the world of CD’s and now MP3’s it just doesn’t work. I wish someone would have caught this at the time but hey it’s a pretty trivial thing so I shouldn’t make a big deal out of it. I can’t really pick a favourite track so my suggestion is to listen to the whole thing.
Tracklist 1 – Good Boy – 3:09 2 – Armed For Hostile World – 1:45 3 – Cry – 3:55 4 – Speed Metal Mariachis – 2:33 5 – Unlisted Track – 0:34 6 – Spirit Of Love – 4:13 7 – Burning Fire – 5:58 8 – She Said To Me – 3:48 9 – Pray For Rain – 2:36 10 – Flowers – 3:09 11 – Saved By Grace – 3:54 12 – Sad, Sad, Lonely World – 5:19 13 – We Must Become – 3:30
Credits Backing Vocals – Chris Lizotte, Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick, Shawn Tubbs, Tim Curiel, Todd Warlock Bass – Marc Rivera Drums – Tim Curiel Guitar – Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick Keyboards – Jon Bestwick, Rob Watson Lead Vocals – Marc Rivera Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Mixed By – Jeff Dykehouse Percussion – Shawn Tubbs, Tim Curiel Performer [The Children Are] – Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick, Marc Rivera, Tim Curiel Producer – Chris Wimber Saxophone – Greg Vale
This is Michael’s second album and at this point in his career he was still on secular label A&M. He actually was not that vocal about being a Christian until later but famed music critic (at the time record store employee) David Lowman figured it out. You need to read David’s story about Anderson either on our website or his “https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/” Anyway this is Michael’s second album and while I loved his first one I think I love this one even more. It just has that great commercial pop sound that we all heard on the radio. Often I get sick of that pop sound but when it’s done right I just love it and Michael does it right on this album. I think we can attribute part of that great sound to production by Michael Omartian. Point of trivia is that Rob Watson (Daniel Amos) contributed a guitar track to the song “True Love”
Tracklist 1 – True Love – 5:08 2 – Could You Ever Love Me Now – 4:51 3 – The Rose And The Fire – 4:46 4 – Heaven Help The Lonely – 5:35 5 – Heartbeat From Glory (Memorial Day) – 4:41 6 – Raymond Chandler Said – 5:20 7 – Slip Away – 3:55 8 – Flame In The Fire – 4:36 9 – In The Dark Tonight – 4:24 10 – Let It Rain – 6:53
Credits Art Direction – Chuck Beeson Backing Vocals – Jeff Rollings (tracks: 1 to 9), Michael Omartian (tracks: 1 to 9), Toni Anderson (4) (tracks: 1 to 9) Band, Bass – Taras Prodaniuk (tracks: 1 to 9) Band, Blues Harp [Harp], Horns – Jimmy Z (tracks: 1 to 9) Band, Drums – Dave Raven* (tracks: 1 to 9) Band, Guitar – Don Kirkpatrick (tracks: 1 to 9), Randy Mitchell (tracks: 1 to 9) Band, Guitar, Bass, Vocals – Michael Anderson (5) (tracks: 1 to 9) Band, Keyboards, Percussion, Other [Lunch] – Michael Omartian (tracks: 1 to 9) Choir [The Choir] – Alphinette Silas* (tracks: 1 to 9), Jeff Rollings (tracks: 1 to 9), Linda Tavani (tracks: 1 to 9), Michael Omartian (tracks: 1 to 9), Steve Tavani* (tracks: 1 to 9), Toni Anderson (4) Coordinator [Production Coordinator] – Janet Hinde (tracks: 1 to 9) Design – Rebecca Keeley Engineer [Assistant] – Kevin Becka (tracks: 1 to 9), Mick Higgins (tracks: 1 to 9) Mixed By [Remixed By] – Terry Christian (tracks: 10) Musician [Additional], Bass – “Memphis” Buck Silvertone* (tracks: 1 to 9) Musician [Additional], Guitar – Steve Lukather (tracks: 8,) Musician [Additional], Guitar, Backing Vocals – Dean Chamberlain Musician [Additional], Guitar, Other [Attitude (For Days)] – John Anderson (3) (tracks: 1 to 9) Musician [Additional], Keyboards – Rob Watson (tracks: 1) Musician [Additional], Soloist [Solo] – Michael Landau (tracks: 2) Musician [Players], Backing Vocals – Toni Anderson (4) (tracks: 10) Musician [Players], Drums – Dave Raven* (tracks: 10) Musician [Players], Guitar – Josh Sklair (tracks: 10) Musician [Players], Guitar, Backing Vocals – Jeff Rollings (tracks: 10) Musician [Players], Guitar, Bass, Vocals – Michael Anderson (5) (tracks: 10) Musician [Players], Keyboards – Michael Omartian (tracks: 10) Musician [Players], Percussion – Ian Wallace (tracks: 10) Musician [Players], Piano – Ian McLagan (tracks: 10) Photography By – Aaron Rapoport Producer – Michael Anderson (5) (tracks: 10), Michael Omartian (tracks: 1 to 9) Recorded By – Ernie Sheesley (tracks: 10) Recorded By, Mixed By – Terry Christian (tracks: 1 to 9)
This is an album from the Imperials that seemed to slip under the radar. I don’t even remember this one and we listened to the Imperials back in this era. Maybe we did hear it and just ignored it as it’s pretty worship oriented. This was the last album with Sherman Andrus and Terry Blackwood before they went on to their own duo act. Strangely Andrus is not credited on the album but he’s rather obviously there. It’s a little hard to believe this was done in error so there’s a story there for sure. As for the album it’s pretty standard fare for an early 70’s Imperials album. Nothing really stood out on it for me but if you like the Imperials form this era this album will satisfy your ears.
Tracklist 1 – Just Because He Loves You – 4:08 2 – Jesus Came Into My Life – 2:45 3 – Love, It Comes In All Colors – 2:47 4 – Sweet Jesus – 4:10 5 – He Made My Life Come Together – 5:10 6 – He’s Coming Back – 3:23 7 – He Loves Me So – 4:09 8 – David’s Psalm – 4:17 9 – Sunny Day – 4:02 10 – Sometimes Alleluia – 3:55
Credits Arranged By – Jack Williams Arranged By [Orchestral Arrangements By] – Buddy Skipper Arranged By [Track Arrangements] – Gary S. Paxton Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Terry Blackwood Art Direction – Bob McConnell Bass – Jack Williams, Steve Schaffer Design [Cover Design], Illustration – Michael Harris Drums – Kenny Malone, Larri London Engineer – Bob Clark Guitar – Bobby Thompson, Steve Gibson Keyboards – Buddy Skipper, Pig Robbins, Ron Oates, Shane Keister Percussion – Farrell Morris Photography [Cover Photography] – Dill Beaty Producer – Phil Johnson
This is Chris’s first album. I believe his second album to be one of the best Christian albums of all time and is probably in my top 25. This album we can here Chris warming up for that album. This album has a variety of styles but his vocals are what sell this album for me. He simply is one of the best vocalists in the CCM genre. I was trying to pick a best track for you to listen to if you have limited time and wow was that a tough choice. Musically the best track is “Amy’s Song” but it’s an acoustic track and you need to hear Chris’s vocals so I settled on “Cuts Inside”. Hey who is Shawn Tubbs that plays guitar on this album? His work is fantastic and I see he had an album in 1998 so I’m off to find that one. Crystal Lewis appears on the track “I Pledge My All” and while it’s not my favourite track on the album it definitely deserves a listen as Crystal shines on it. As an aside the engineering and production of the album is fantastic and we have Chris Wimber (The Lifesavors) to thank for that.
Tracklist 1 – All That I Need Is You – 3:58 2 – Cuts Inside – 4:07 3 – I Pledge My All – 4:32 4 – You Won’t Cry Anymore – 5:24 5 – Separation – 3:51 6 – Precious Lord – 4:47 7 – Thick And Thin – 3:50 8 – Someone To Believe In – 4:01 9 – In My Quiet Place – 3:14 10 – Amy’s Song – 3:20 11 – Till I’m Gone – 4:04 12 – The Lord’s Prayer – 4:32
Credits Chris Lizotte – Songwriter, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals Maxi Anderson – Background Vocals Stephen Anderson – Engineer, Lap Steel Vicki Bacon Anglin – Background Vocals Karise Buhler – Background Vocals Jeff Dykehouse – Mixed Brian Eichler – Drums Jamie Eichler – Background Vocals Audra Freselli – Background Vocals Bernie Grundman – Mastered Jeff Harvey – Songwriter, Mandolin, Fiddle Maria Irey – Background Vocals Crystal Lewis – Vocals Paul Martin – Bass Debbie McClendon – Background Vocals Linda McCrary – Background Vocals Larry Meyers – Fiddle Michael J. Pritzl – Background Vocals Lonnie Tubbs – Drums, Percussion, Tambourine Shawn Tubbs – Songwriter, Cello Arranger, Electric and Acoustic Guitars Carla White – Cello Arranger, Background Vocals Gary Williams – Background Vocals Chris Wimber – Producer, Engineer Randy Wright – B-3, Piano
This is the second album from the German/Canadian version of Deliverance. While I am a huge fan of the 2 albums subsequent to this one I didn’t like this one as much as it is way too 70’s for me. I’m not saying it’s a bad album in fact I think it’s a great album but it just didn’t strike a chord with me. The back of the album cover features a testimonial by Joe Moscheo of The Imperials who holds the band in some very high esteem. If your a fan of the Jesus music movement then this is an album you must listen to and if you’re a fan of their later work I’d still suggest a listen but temper your expectations.
Tracklist 1 – Give It A Try – 5:37 2 – Why Cant They Realize? – 2:32 3 – Judgement – 3:18 4 – I Got You – 2:50 5 – How Can I Know? – 2:25 6 – Ive Often Wondered – 2:52 7 – Who Are You? – 4:56 8 – Im Going Away – 3:54 9 – Memories In F # Minor – 9:42
Credits Paul Janz Herb Rempel Vern Giesbrecht Paul Barnard Ken Janz Danny Janz
Companies, etc. Manufactured By – Word Records Limited
You are probably aware of the group One Truth but you may not be aware of them when they changed their name to Ipso Facto. I was kind of wondering why they would use a different name for this EP but I think it’s because they wanted to do an album with an 80’s Pop sound without having their previous sound hung around their necks. But I’m left bewildered at why they self produced and released this EP and couldn’t find a label to release it. These guys were established musicians in the industry and should have had no problem with finding someone to release this album. They were previously with Greentree Records and while this album wasn’t the style of album Greentree were releasing at that point in the 80’s but they were owned by Benson who had all sorts of labels that could have released this album. Oh well anyway you should give this EP a quick listen, it has a solid 80’s sound and the track “Michael” will be going into my regular rotation.
Tracklist 1 – Michael – 5:20 2 – Who Will You Blame – 4:50 3 – Heartmaker – 3:37 4 – Multiple Choice – 5:56
Credits Bass – Glen Holmen Bass, Vocals – Andrew Osbrink Drums, Percussion, Vocals – William Dragoo Guitar, Vocals – David John Etzen Keyboards – Smitty Price Lead Vocals, Guitar – Randall Butler Piano, Vocals – Terry Butler
