Category: Albums

Bobby Michaels – I Have A Reason – 1985

So often when a new album wanders into the studio I do some research on it before processing it. I saw that someone in authority, looking at you Word Records, had categorized it as Ballad, Vocal, Synth-pop, That’s not a common classification so I was thinking maybe something like David Meece. The album cover said worship but I have learnt a long time ago not to trust album covers on this genre. Anyway came time to process it and surprise, it’s actually Easy Listening/Worship just like the cover implied. Of course that first listening didn’t go well because I was expecting something else. So I gave it a few days and came back to it today with no illusions on what I was going to hear. Now that I had that out of the way I was surprised how good this album is. Yes it’s not my style but I know good music when I hear it and this is a good album. I doubt any of it will end up in my regular rotation but I will say that this is a pretty darn good Easy Listening/Worship album.

Tracklist
1 – Shepherd Of My Heart – 3:45
2 – I Have A Reason – 2:45
3 – Celebrate The Lord – 2:58
4 – May I Call You Jesus – 4:10
5 – Messiah – 2:58
6 – Seek The Blesser, Not The Blessing – 2:22
7 – I Can – 3:04
8 – Praise Him Now – 3:51
9 – That’s Something Else – 3:46
10 – You Are Most Blest – 6:23

Credits
Arranged By – David Diggs
Backing Vocals – First Call Singers
Conductor, Producer – Kurt Kaiser
Design [Cover Design] – Dennis Hill
Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Eric Tomlinson
Engineer [Recording Engineer], Mixed By [Mixdown Engineer] – Bob Clark
Liner Notes – Kurt Kaiser
Photography By [Cover Photos] – Kenn Duncan

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Olympic Studios
Recorded At – EMI Studios
Recorded At – Great Circle Sound
Mixed At – Great Circle Sound
Published By – Manna Music
Published By – Coronation Music
Published By – Charlie Monk Music
Published By – Laurel Press
Published By – Yellow House Music
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Paragon Music
Published By – First Monday Music
Pressed By – Electrosound Los Angeles – △27033

Ivor Twidell – Waiting for the Sun – 1978

We’re a little confused at the crediting of this album. We have credited it to Ivor Twidell but it may actually be instead the name of the band, Waiting For The Sun. We also apologize for the low quality of these songs but the fact that we got a copy at all was exciting as this is pretty rare album. Anyway this is the first appearance of Ivor (Iva) in the music scene and came out right when he joined After The Fire. It has a folksy seventies sound and is nothing like his later work. We tried to look into Ivor’s history before this album but we were unable to find out anything. This album has been re-released on CD in 2015 but so far we can’t find a copy but we are looking.

Tracklist
01 – Waiting For The Sun – 3:51
02 – Dear Lord – 3:03
03 – I Want To Dance – 2:21
04 – Old Fashioned Dreamer – 3:12
05 – Come Up Smiling – 2:54
06 – I Can’t Take – 4:02
07 – This Thing’s Gone On Long Enough – 3:41
08 – The Carpenter’s Son – 4:01
09 – Maybe I’m A Fool – 3:18
10 – Come To Me – 4:26
11 – Safe With Me – 3:02

Credits
Bass – Robert Michael
Drums – Ivor Twidell
Electric Guitar – Dusty Miller
Flute – Ivor Twidell, Tamsin Ginger
Guitar – Ivor Twidell
Lacquer Cut By – Spikey
Percussion – Ivor Twidell
Synthesizer – Ivor Twidell
Violin – Nick Battle
Vocals – Ivor Twidell, Nick Battle

Rick Riso – Shouting At The Walls – 1986

This is the second album I’ve covered by Rick. When I listened to the first album I really couldn’t find much info on Rick but since then I’ve learnt much more about him. While he only had 3 solo albums he also has 5 albums with his wife Cathy and I look forward to listening to them soon. He is also very active in the Christian community and still travels and sings in many sanctuaries. As for the album it’s a fun easy listening pop album which was the style of the day. The only charting single of the album, “Faithful” made it to #21 on the CCM charts and quite frankly there’s a few more tracks that could have singled in my opinion.

Tracklist
1 – Forever – 3:53
2 – Faithful – 4:05
3 – Even If – 4:34
4 – I Find Your Love Again – 4:00
5 – Sure Thing – 4:30
6 – Shouting At The Walls – 4:50
7 – No Fear Of Flying – 4:43
8 – Heart’s Desire – 4:25
9 – Edge Of Darkness – 4:35
10 – See The Light – 4:44

Credits
Artist – Rick Riso
Arranged By – Brad Cole
Composer – Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin, Randy Thoma
Engineer – Tim Jaquette
Executive Producer – Chris Christian
Producer – Rick Riso, Tim Jaquette

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Home Sweet Home Records
Copyright © – Home Sweet Home Records
Recorded At – Studio Masters
Mixed At – Studio Masters
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.

Talking Drums – Reassembly – 1985

I have a rather strange relationship with Talking Drums. I was a fan of theirs and played several tracks of theirs while I was a Disc Jockey outside of the Christina industry. Their albums were only available as imports but I fell in love with them. I had no idea they were a Christian band or band of Christians if you prefer. This is their first full length album and built on the success of their EP Courage. Between Courage and this album they actually released a very well produced demo that was very popular in the underground scene. Two tracks from that demo, Reassembly Of The Heart, and What Do You Want? were rerecorded (or possible just remixed) for this album.

Tracklist
1 – Pretend A Stranger – 3:34
2 – I Do Not Fret – 4:10
3 – You Do Cry A Lot – 3:13
4 – Reassembly Of The Heart – 4:13
5 – What Do You Want? – 2:16
6 – Tell Me – 3:37
7 – Much Too Much – 3:41
8 – Sweet July – 3:20
9 – Grown-Up Children – 3:33
10 – Innocent Love – 4:04

Credits
Engineer [Creative Engineering] – Rico Conning
Performer [Talking Drums:] – Carol Moore, Charlie Irvine, Dot Irvine
Producer [Production] – Steve Butler
Sleeve – Box
Written-By – Charlie Irvine

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Illegal Music Ltd.
Copyright © – Illegal Music Ltd.
Recorded At – Guerilla Studios
Recorded At – Utopia Studios

Petra – Beyond Belief – 1990

While many feel this was Petra’s best album personally I just think it was their more successful album but there are several I prefer. That said this album had the exact right sound for the time it was released and I do admit it is a great album. To say it was successful is an understatement. Here’s a list of it’s awards;

Won Grammy Award for Best Rock Gospel Album in 1991.
Won Dove Award for Long Form Music Video in 1990.
Won Dove Award for Rock Album in 1991.
Won Dove Award for Rock Recorded Song (“Beyond Belief”) in 1991.
Won Dove Award for Recorded Music Packaging in 1991.

That’s pretty darn good. Interestingly they also received a mini movie using several videos of tracks from the album. We have a copy and will likely release it on our videos channel. Anyway the album is probably one of the best produced albums in the CCM genre ever thanks to the Elefante brothers. I doubt you missed this one back in the day but if you did, give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Armed And Dangerous – 4:06
2 – I Am On The Rock – 4:34
3 – Creed – 4:35
4 – Beyond Belief – 5:02
5 – Love – 4:11
6 – Underground – 4:29
7 – Seen And Not Heard – 3:54
8 – Last Daze – 5:01
9 – What’s In A Name – 3:32
10 – Prayer – 4:14

Credits
Art Direction – Buddy Jackson, Buddy Jackson
Bass Guitar – Ronny Cates
Design – B. Middleworth
Drums – Louie Weaver
Engineer – Mike Mireau
Engineer [Assistant] – Jeff Simmons
Keyboards – John Lawry
Keyboards [Additional] – John Andrew Schreiner
Lead Guitar, Arranged By – Bob Hartman
Lead Vocals – John Schlitt
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Photography – Mark Tucker
Producer, Engineer, Arranged By – Dino Elefante, John Elefante

Companies, etc.
Published By – Petsong Publishing
Published By – Uncle Pitts Publishing
Copyright © – Petsong Publishing
Copyright © – Uncle Pitts Publishing
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Recorded At – Pakaderm West Studios
Made By – Player Print & Design
Printed By – Player Print & Design
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Pakaderm West Studios

Arlen Salte – Winner Like You – 1987

This is Arlen’s fourth album but you’ve probably never heard it or even heard him. Why have you never heard of him? Well it’s because his albums were never released outside of Canada. We’re not talking about someone who had one or two albums either. He had six albums in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s. The albums are for them main part great. Lot’s of good Rock & Roll and great lyrics. This album is no different it’s fantastic. The cover is horrible but it was his first release on label Image 7 and I have seen many times that a new label lobes to do a portrait cover for some reason. I’ve never understood it. So give this one a listen as I doubt you’ve ever heard it and it’s a great Pop Rock album.

Tracklist
1 – Hoping & Coping – 4:26
2 – Falling In Love Again – 4:11
3 – I’ve Been Hiding – 4:18
4 – Verdict – 3:46
5 – A Winner Like You – 4:13
6 – Sing Out His Name – 2:41
7 – Love Showed Us The Way – 3:19
8 – Outrageous – 3:35
9 – Let My Light Shine Bright – 3:13
10 – Rock On Which I Stand – 4:14

Giantkiller – Fire Coming Down – 1984

Unfortunately this was the last album from Giantkiller and is was only released in the UK. Their previous album was released in North America but I have read it didn’t sell well. I remember that album quite differently as It was great and we loved it and it seems to have done well in our circles. But the CCM industry was fickle and these guys seem to be just another victim of this. Anyway if you’re from North America you have likely not ever heard this album but I fully suggest you give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Fire Coming Down – 4:08
2 – New Jerusalem – 2:58
3 – Someone in My Life – 3:37
4 – Shadow of the Real Thing – 3:14
5 – Holding Out His Hand – 2:59
6 – Darkness in the Cities – 2:58
7 – Oh Brother Man – 3:14
8 – Valley of Decision – 3:27
9 – A Cry Within – 2:46
10 – Not Too Many Tears – 3:19
11 – The Ballad of the Toothless Lion – 3:10
12 – If We Have the Love – 1:13

Credits
Bass, Backing Vocals – Alan Hiscox
Drums – Steve Purton
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Paul Herbst
Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals – Pete Gilgan
Vocals – Richard Nicholson

Sure Conviction – Fightin’ The Battle – 1991

I’m a little hesitant about writing this review but I feel I should be honest. This is the bands first album and they self produced and released it so I give them credit for that. They shared vocal duties which is not something I usually care for because it makes for a disjointed album and this one suffers from that. My second complaint is that the vocals don’t suit the music. This is a hard rock album but the vocals almost have a worship tone to them. I feel like I’m listening to a church band who put out a rock album. But now onto the good. There is real musical skill here. The songs are well written and tight. In fact some of them are better than some published music. Now I understand they overcame these vocal issues on their next album and I can honestly say I’m looking forward to listening to that album as there is some real talent here.

Tracklist
1 – Fightin’ The Battle – 3:54
2 – Proclaiming – 3:21
3 – Time Will Tell – 3:45
4 – Turn Around – 2:56
5 – Shining Our Light – 3:33
6 – War – 2:56
7 – We Are The People – 3:31
8 – Not Ashamed – 3:46
9 – Keeping On – 3:48
10 – Bye Bye – 4:46

Credits
Matt Liffengren – rhythm and acoustic guitars
Paul Liffengren – keyboards, piano, backing vocals
Dewayne Holcomb – lead vocals on tracks 3 and 10, background vocals
Alonzo Martinez – lead vocals on tracks 6 and 8
Christopher Midgyette – backging vocals
Phil Milan – lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5 and 7, backing vocals
Karyn Rondeau – lead vocals on tracks 4 and 9, background vocals
Mark Siefert – backing vocals
Robert Berry – Arranged By, Instrumentation By
Mike Wible, Peter Roberts – Engineer
Peter Roberts, Robert Berry – Mixed By
Matt Liffengren, Paul Liffengren – Producer
Kelly Husted (tracks: 9), Matt Liffengren (tracks: 1 to 10), Paul Liffengren (tracks: 1 to 10) – Written-By

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Soundtek Studios, Campbell, CA

Tom Karlson – Living on the Edge – 1980

I seriously can not find a single piece of information about Tom Karlson. I can honestly say that this is the first time I have found absolutely nothing about an artist. So all we can talk about is the album itself. It’s a seventies style light rock album with a couple real rock tunes on it. I can hear a little early Larry on a few tracks but for the main part Tom makes this album his own. The album does have help from Benny Hester and Rick Crawford so this wasn’t a completely unknown project. The jacket is horrendous and does not let you know in any way that this is a rock album. There is zero chance we would have bought this in the day with that cover unless it was promoted as a rock album. It would appear it wasn’t promoted because I’ve never heard of it and I can’t find anyone else that ever heard of it either. That said it’s a pretty good album and I fully suggest giving it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Take ‘Em – 3:52
2 – Questions – 3:53
3 – Look For Love – 4:07
4 – Yesterday, Today, Forever – 4:54
5 – Living On The Edge – 3:40
6 – Service To The Son – 3:24
7 – Dead End Street – 3:55
8 – If I Love You – 3:18
9 – Right Thru The Heart – 3:21

Credits
Gary Arthur – Bass
Bubba Chambers – Background Vocals
Rick Crawford – Background Vocals
Benny Hester – Arrangements, Background Vocals
Greg Jerden – Engineer
Tom Karlson – Songwriter, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Jeff Lams – Keyboards
Jerry McPherson – Electric Guitar
Paul Mills – Assistant Engineer, Synthesizer
John Parenti – Percussion
Brian Tankersley – Producer, Engineer, Electric Guitar, Background Vocals
Rick Thigpen – Assistant Engineer
Bobby Walzel – Saxaphone
John Wickham – Electric Guitar

Kenny Marks – Another Friday Night – 1989

Well it’s time for another fantastic Kenny Marks album. Unfortunately by the time this album came out I had already abandoned the Christian music genre. Boy did I miss a great album. The album did fairly well on the CCM charts with “I’ll Be A Friend To You” making it to #5. Strangely it also has an excellent cover of Steve Forbert’s “Running On Love” and it may actually be better than the original. The best cut on the album though is the Rock track “Nobody Else But Jesus” which is strongly in the spirit of The Boss. The album includes part 3 of the “Jeannie and Johnny” tetralogy. Unfortunately in this chapter Johnny has abandoned Jeannie and his child and as such it’s a pretty sad song but it did make it to #25. All in all another great album from Kenny.

Tracklist
1 – Running On Love – 3:41
2 – Whisperin’ A Prayer – 3:40
3 – Hope For A Broken Heart – 4:22
4 – I’ll Be A Friend To You – 3:10
5 – Next Time You See Johnny – 5:51
6 – Nobody Else But Jesus – 4:37
7 – Graduation Day – 4:53
8 – Threshold Of Regret – 3:47
9 – Somebody Loves You – 4:12
10 – You Made A Difference For Me – 3:53

Credits
Arranged By – Phil Madeira
Art Direction, Design – Jackson Design
Backing Vocals – Chris Harris, Mark Heimermann, Michael Black
Bass – David Hungate, Randy Moore
Cover [Coordination] – Amy Linde
Drums – Doug Dimmel, Larrie Londin
Electric Guitar – Kenny Greenberg
Electric Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – George Cocchini
Engineer [Assistant] – John Kunz
Executive-Producer – Lynn Keesecker
Harmonica – Buddy Greene
Keyboards – Phil Madeira, Phil Naish
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By – Marc DeSisto
Mixed By [Assistant] – Dave Parker, David Boyer
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Phil Kristianson
Percussion – Eric Darken
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Bubba Smith
Recorded By, Tracking By [Overdubs] – James Kenneth (JB) Baird
Saxophone [Saxophones], Electronic Wind Instrument [Ewi] – Mark Douthit
Tracking By [Overdubs] – Brent King, Doug Sarrett, Greg Parker
Twelve-String Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jon Goin

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Digital Recorders
Recorded At – Recording Arts
Recorded At – Downstage Studio
Recorded At – Mastermix
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Mixed At – Sound Stage Studios
Mastered At – Mastermix