Category: Albums

Resurrection Band – Lament – 1995

After three decades of crafting memorable, significant and compelling blues and rock, Resurrection band created a swan song of the highest order. Due in part to reaching out beyond their normal Jesus People USA community for creative support and enlisting Kings X’s Ty Tabor, the band created their one and only “concept” album and it was a striking artistic success. It would be their last. The Kings X influence can be found in the creative process, the vocal delivery and the fuller and more diverse guitar sounds. The album would also feature less of vocalist Wendi Kaiser than any other project. Glenn kaiser takes the reins nearly exclusively and delivers some of his most emotionally compelling performances. Wendi’s limited appearances end up being her best since Mommy Don’t Love Daddy. Lyrically focusing on one man’s realization of the hopelessness around him as he recognizes the decaying world’s fall into the abyss. This leads him on a journey of spiritual awakening and realization of the exclusive hope found only in Christ. Similar to the Old testament Laments, the listener is not spared the descriptions of the ugliness of life. This darker introduction makes the brighter hope even more stunning. One stand out track that cannot be ignored is the impressive acoustic driven Lands End. Limited to a simply acoustic guitar and percussive musical support, Kaiser’s vocals soar above the Celtic leaning melody. A soft recorder’s subtle inclusion is flawless and stirring in its simplicity. The conceptual nature of the album forced the band to perform the album live in its entirety while touring in support of the album. This left some “older” fans longing for some of the earlier “hits,” but worked masterfully live. This would be the last tour in support of an album and now the band plays very limited dates, primarily exclusively at the Jesus People USA directed Cornerstone Festival.

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

Tracklist
1 – Parting Glance – 1:10
2 – Across These Fields – 4:20
3 – On The Move – 2:09
4 – Summerthrow – 4:12
5 – At Land’s End – 4:08
6 – Song And Dance – 4:46
7 – In Change – 3:15
8 – The Road – 3:49
9 – Dark Carnival – 2:54
10 – Mirror – 3:57
11 – Another Look – 0:35
12 – Surprised – 5:23
13 – Richest One – 4:07
14 – Across These Fields Reprise – 3:39

Credits
Artwork [Cover Art – Detail From Painting By] – Gaylen Stewart
Bass, Backing Vocals – Roy Montroy
Design – Cornerstone Graphics, Janet Cameron
Drums – John Herrin
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss
Engineer [Assistant] – Marty Phillips (2)
Engineer [Engineered By] – Brian “Full Slab” Garcia*, Ed Bialach, Roger Heiss
Executive-Producer – Tom Cameron
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Dulcimer, Harmonica – Glenn Kaiser
Musician [Additional], Panpipes – Eric Clayton
Musician [Additional], Percussion [Various Percussion] – Ed Bialach, Roger Heiss
Producer [Produced By] – Ty Tabor

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Grrr Records
Copyright © – Grrr Records
Pressed By – Disc Manufacturing, Inc., Huntsville – 104271
Published By – Grrr Music

Steve Taylor – Liver – 1995

We have a great live album from Steve here. While most live albums are a compilation of the best takes from several concerts this one was recorded in just one take in October 1994 in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Even the tracks are in the order played except for “Jim Morrison’s Grave” and “On The Fritz” which were switched around to allow for proper timing on the cassette. Steve even played a couple tracks from his Chagall Guevara band. The fire alarm incident that closes out the album actually occurred at Judson College and was dubbed in. As for the album there’s not much to say other than it’s another example of Steve’s live brilliance and is pretty well engineered for a live album.

Tracklist
1 – Jim Morrison’s Grave – 3:19
2 – The Lament Of Desmond R. G. Underwood-Frederick IV – 4:37
3 – I Want To Be A Clone – 2:05
4 – Escher’s World – 3:33
5 – On The Fritz – 6:31
6 – Bannerman – 3:19
7 – Hero – 5:14
8 – Jesus Is For Losers – 4:13
9 – The Finish Line – 5:41
10 – Violent Blue – 4:29

Credits
Art Direction – Buddy Jackson
Bass – Wade Jaynes
Drums – Chris Kearney
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Greg Wollan, Mark Townsend
Booking – Jeff Roberts & Associates
Crew [Driver] – Dave Fancey, Doug Rioux, Guy Johnson
Crew [Merchandise] – Curtis Swartzentruber
Design – Karinne Caulkins
Engineer [Engineered By], Engineer [Sound], Mixed By – Russ Long
Lighting [Design] – Scott Moore
Lighting [Operator] – Anthony Kordyjaka
Management – Proper Management
Management [Proper Management] – Amy Kyker, Glenda McNalley, Jeff Quistad, Nancy Kronemann, Norman Miller
Management [Road Manager] – Joe Nero
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Photography By – Ben Pearson
Producer – Russ Long, Steve Taylor
Production Manager – Mike Jones
Recorded By [Recording Assistance], Engineer [Monitor] – Marc Chevalier
Written-By – Steve Taylor

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Copyright © – Warner Bros. Records Inc., WEA International Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Warner Bros. Records Inc., WEA International Inc.
Manufactured By – WEA Manufacturing
Mixed At – The Carport
Mastered At – Mastermix
Designed At – Jackson Design
Published By – Soylent Tunes, Warner Alliance Music, Birdwing Music, Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company Inc., MCA Publishing, GMMI, Inc., C.A. Music
Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation

Randy Stonehill – The Lazarus Heart – 1994

Randy’s star studded 15th album is the one he has said is his proudest moment. It was also the start of his very short lived music label “Street Level Records”. Unfortunately the label didn’t work out and only had one other release from Julie Miller. Helping Randy with his album were Michael W. Smith, Phil Keaggy, Gary Chapman, Riki Michelle, Jerry Chamberlain, Rick Elias, Jerry McPherson, Phil Madeira, Cheri Keaggy, Charlie Peacock, and many others. What a great line up for a new label album. The album has excellent engineering and production and really is a memorable album and I think Randy’s writing and vocals on this albu might be his peak. The album is a little more mellow than I am used to by him but the writing is so good you should barely notice. Definitely a must listen. Editors note – We’ve removed the silence on the closing track so if it sounds different than you remember your memories are correct.

Tracklist
1 – A Promise Made Is A Promise Kept – 5:46
2 – I Turn To You – 3:28
3 – In Jesus’ Name – 4:27
4 – Under The Rug – 3:39
5 – Remember My Name – 4:56
6 – That’s Why We Don’t Love God – 5:17
7 – When I’m Afraid – 3:38
8 – Shadow Man – 3:35
9 – Zurich In The Snow – 0:19
10 – Troubles – 3:22
11 – The Lazarus Heart – 4:26

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Jerry McPherson, Randy Stonehill
Acoustic Guitar [Chet Atkins Solid Body Acoustic Guitar/Nylon String] – Randy Stonehill
Art Direction [Cover Art Direction], Design – Dietsch & Associates
Backing Vocals [Additional Background Vocals] – David Robertson, Gordon Kennedy, Jerry Chamberlain, Phil Madeira, Randy Stonehill, Rick Elias, Riki Michele, Sharon Chamberlain
Bass Guitar, Electric Piano [Wurlitzer] – Jimmie Lee Sloas
Bass [Fretless] – Mark Hill
Drums – Steve Brewster
Electric Guitar – Jerry McPherson, Phil Keaggy
Engineer [Engineered By] – Richie Biggs
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware
Layout [Insert Layout], Design – Michael Scanland Communications, Inc.
Mastered By – Ken Love
Mixed By – Craig Hansen, Richie Biggs
Musical Assistance [Production Assistance] – Chris Ross, Pam Kistler
Organ, Dobro, Accordion [Squeeze Box] – Phil Madeira
Percussion – Eric Darkin
Photography By [Cover Photography] – Thunder Image Group
Piano, Keyboards – Rick Elias
Producer [Produced By] – Jimmie Lee Sloas
Soprano Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Vocals – Randy Stonehill

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Street Level Records
Copyright © – Street Level Records
Distributed By – R.E.X. Music
Manufactured By – Disc Manufacturing, Inc., Huntsville – 101488
Recorded At – The Bennett House, The Green Room, The Boardroom, OmniSound Studios, Shakin Studio,The Dugout
Mixed At – The Dugout, Charlie Peacock Studios
Mastered At – Mastermix
Published By – Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc., Sparrow Song, Bases Loaded Music, Madeira Whine, Sky South Music Pub., Stonehillian Music

Poor Old Lu – Mindsize – 1993

One of the most influential and important bands of the 1990’s never really received all the recognition they clearly deserved. Check that: They didn’t reserve anywhere near the recognition they deserved. Borrowing a line from CS Lewis “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe,” the Seattle based quartet created some of the most significant and original music in CCM during their tenure. And no one album encapsulated that important edge quite like Mindsize. The teens that made up the band gave their demo to Randy Stonehill who passed it along to Terry Taylor. Taylor got it into the hands of Mike MacLane at Frontline Records who went after the band immediately. I remember Mike playing the demo for me in his office and I kept bugging him, asking when would the album be coming out! Part grunge, part alternative, part funk and all original and exceptional. From the riff to the last strum the band, with some creative production direction by Terry Scott Taylor, created a debut unlike any other from that era save Mortal’s debut. Someone still has to explain to me how a song like “All Pretty For the TV” can not make a serious ripple on college radio. Its retro funky grooves and alternative driven chorus are the stuff heroes are made of. Aaron Sprinkle guitar ranges from sleek and sexy to fuzzy and rough depending on the mood of the tune. Most often there’s a funky fuzz that dominates the lyrics of doubt, questions and searching. Christianese is limited as the songs (written by mere teenagers at the time) offer more insight than many of their contemporaries without the normal jargon associated with the genre. Is there a better and more fuzzy base line than the one found on “In Love With the Greenery?” The bass is so low at times it is felt more than heard. Utterly brilliant and fearless. “Sometimes Cry” is another song that deserved a wider hearing. Sprinkles weaving and swirling guitar drives one of the best chorus hooks on the entire album. Possibly the finest song on the album and in the entire Poor Old Lu catalog is “Cruciality.” The soulful groove and beautiful melody just works against the grungy guitar and plodding bass. Brilliant songwriting and execution. It is amazing that when one considers a good part of the group was still in their late teens that Taylor’s influence was not overpowering and they maintained their musical vision. This helped them create several more great albums and allowed them to be one of the great bands of the 90’s.

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

Tracklist
1 – More – 3:55
2 – All Pretty For The T.V. – 3:29
3 – So Good To See Me – 3:52
4 – In Love With The Greenery – 3:30
5 – Sometimes Cry – 3:47
6 – Do I? – 5:56
7 – Tried & True – 2:59
8 – Cruciality – 4:07
9 – To Be Awake – 4:21
10 – Tigger’s Daily Jog – 0:49
11 – Peapod – 3:54
12 – Shine – 4:11

Credits
A&R – Matthew Duffy
Arranged By – Poor Old Lu, Terry Taylor
Arranged By [Strings] – Aaron Sprinkle
Backing Vocals – Aaron Sprinkle, Brandon Thompson, Clark Leake, Derri Daugherty, Nick Barber, Terry Taylor
Bass – Nick Barber
Cello – Rick Rekedal
Design, Layout – Aaron Sprinkle, Marc Ludena
Drums, Percussion – Jesse Sprinkle
Engineer [Second Engineering] – John Goodmanson
Executive-Producer [Reissue] – Jeffrey Kotthoff
Guitar, Keyboards – Aaron Sprinkle
Lyrics By – Scott Hunter
Music By – Poor Old Lu
Percussion – Steve Hindalong
Photography By [Additional] – Lloyd McCracken
Photography By [Band Photography] – Anna Cardenas
Producer – Terry Taylor
Project Manager [Reissue Direction & Coordination] – Jeffrey Kotthoff, Scott Hunter
Recorded By, Mixed By – Derri Daugherty
Remastered By – Levi Seitz
Technician [Drum Technician] – Aaron Mlasko
Violin – Susan Jensen
Vocals – Scott Hunter

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – KMG Records
Copyright © – KMG Records
Record Company – Meis Music Group
Licensed To – Lo-Fidelity Records
Recorded At – Avast! Recording Co.
Recorded At – The Green Room
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab
Mixed At – The Mixing Lab
Remastered At – Black Belt Mastering
Published By – Carlotta Publishing
Manufactured By – Pirates Press
Pressed By – GZ Media – 184936E

Thomas Goodlunas And Panacea – Take Me Away – 1983

This is one of those albums that showed up in an obscure artist thread in our Facebook group. I had never heard it so I gave it a listen. Upon listening to it I just don’t understand why I never heard of this album. I mean it was produced by Steven Soles, Jan Eric Volz was involved, and Mike Roe played guitar on 2 tracks. This is a fantastic progressive rock album and is easily as good as anything the secular market was offering in this style at the time. It was the second album on the Exit Records label coming out at roughly the same time as the first 77’s album. This might be why it wasn’t very well promoted. I know Exit promoted that 77’s album pretty hard so maybe they didn’t have the money to promote this one too. Anyway this is a great debut album and if you like progressive rock I can almost guarantee you will love this album. Thomas had a few more albums over the years which I’m looking forward to hearing soon. He continues to make music and you can find out more about him at his webpage linked below.

Tracklist
1 – Take Me Away – 4:26
2 – Under The Sun – 5:25
3 – What Can I Say – 3:32
4 – Jordan – 4:35
5 – Last Train – 3:11
6 – When The Music Ends – 3:45
7 – Resurrection – 4:58
8 – Meditation – 5:32

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Jim Abegg, Mike Roe, Thomas Goodlunas
Backing Vocals – Charlene Rodriguez, Steve Griffith
Banjo – Dann Wick
Bass – Gary Landaker, Jim Abegg
Bongos, Congas, Percussion, Timbales, Triangle – Kenneth Nash
Coordinator [Executive Coordinator] – Jan Eric Volz
Cover, Illustration – Mark Swanson
Design – Andy Tipple, Nancy Barnet
Drums – Steve Griffith
Electric Guitar – Jim Abegg, David Mansfield
Engineer – Daryl Zachman, Larry Hirsch
Executive-Producer – Mary Neely
Gong, Percussion – Kenneth Nash
Guitar – Mike Roe, Jim Abegg
Guitar, Harmonica, Violin – Thomas Goodlunas
Lyrics By – Mary Nash, Mary Neely, Thomas Goodlunas
Mastered By – John Golden
Mixed By – Larry Hirsch
Music By – Jim Abegg*, Thomas Goodlunas
Percussion – Kenneth Nash
Photography By – Bob Jacobs
Piano – Thomas Goodlunas
Piano, Timpani [Tympani] – Thomas Goodlunas
Producer – Steven Soles
Saxophone, Flute – Michael Butera
Synthesizer – Frank Martin
Timpani – Thomas Goodlunas
Violin – David Mansfield, Thomas Goodlunas
Vocals – Thomas Goodlunas

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Sangre Productions
Mixed At – Paramount Recording Studios
Mastered At – K Disc Mastering
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co. – △25969
Copyright © – Word, Inc., Sangre Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Published By – Word, Inc., Sangre Productions
Lacquer Cut At – K Disc Mastering

Farrell And Farrell – Make Me Ready – 1981

The third album from Farrell & Farrell picks up nicely from where their second album left off. It has a slightly more pop sound but for the main part is very similar. Strangely all of their albums up to this point featured a cover photo of the two of them. I always found this odd. It is common for a first or second album to have a cover featuring the artist as the thinking goes you want the listener to identify the music with the artist themselves. But for your first 3 albums it’s a little strange. Also strangely this album didn’t have a CCM charting single which I find odd because it is definitely the same quality as their highly successful 2nd album. In 1991 this album and their second album were rereleased on CD. The CD had “He That Overcomes” left off entirely and even more strange was that “Only Love” was shortened and sped up. I can only guess this was a space issue so they could get both albums on one CD but still odd. Anyway pretty good album here and a nice blast form the past.

Tracklist
1 – Make Me Ready – 4:02
2 – Still Here – 3:27
3 – You’re The Heart Of Me – 4:11
4 – You Keep Me Holdin’ On – 3:35
5 – Old Friends – 4:05
6 – Sonata – 2:53
7 – Just In Time – 2:45
8 – To Know That I’m Loved By You – 3:07
9 – Lead Me On – 3:24
10 – Only Love – 4:24
11 – All That You’ve Done For Me – 3:29
12 – He That Overcomes – 3:01

Credits
Arranged By [Strings] – Alan Moore
Art Direction, Design – Bob McConnell, Michael Harris
Bass – Leon Gaer, Mike Brignordello
Drums – Lynn Williams (2), Paul Leim
Engineer [Rhythm Tracks] – Ron Capone
Flute, Saxophone – Dennis Sollee
Guitar – Billy Walker*, Jon Goin
Guitar, Synthesizer, Keyboards – Mike Demus
Overdubbed By, Remix – Brown Bannister
Percussion – Terry McMillan
Photography By – Mike Borum
Piano – Larry Muhoberac
Piano, Synthesizer, Keyboards – Shane Keister
Producer – Brown Bannister
Recorded By [Strings] – Mike Psanos
Strings – The Shelly Kurland Strings
Synthesizer, Keyboards – Eddie DeGarmo, Michael Smith

Companies, etc.
Published By – Paragon Music Corp., StraightWay Music, Five Flat Music, Brown Bannister, Addi Music, Lexicon Music
Recorded At – Westwind Studio, Ardent Recordings, Sound Stage Studios, Gold Mine Studio, The Bennett House

Earth, Wind & Fire – Touch The World – 1987

Kind of an interesting back story to this album. Philip Bailey started his solo career when Earth, Wind & Fire suddenly took a break in 1984. Some of Earth, Wind & Fire’s previous albums had lyrics that definitely did not jive with him being a Christian artist. This was of course because Maurice White (Lead band member) was not a Christian and had some questionable beliefs. Suddenly the band wants to make a return in 1987 but Philip was a full Christian artist at this point so how do they make a comeback? Voila a Christian album from Earth, Wind & Fire, problem solved. Personally I don’t care but it’s all very humorous. Anyway lets get into the most over produced album in the history of music. This album had 6 producers and 12 engineers. I discovered this as I listened to the album and became alarmed at the production so I checked the credits. Suddenly it all made sense. Now I just want to say that my favorite track on the album, “Money Tight”, is because of this overproduction. It has some great sampling and production which proves that overproduction is not always a bad thing. Most people and reviewers actually appeared to enjoy the production and I’m probably in the minority on this one. I’ve been a bit hard on the album but I actually quite liked it. The talent is there and the song writing is fantastic. But I think it would have been even better if it was a little more raw.

Tracklist
1 – System Of Survival – 4:59
2 – Evil Roy – 4:51
3 – Thinking Of You – 4:41
4 – You And I – 4:03
5 – New Horizons (Interlude) – 2:01
6 – Money Tight – 4:36
7 – Every Now And Then – 4:21
8 – Touch The World – 5:15
9 – Here Today And Gone Tomorrow – 3:59
10 – Victim Of The Modern Heart – 3:48

Credits

Band
Philip Bailey – lead vocals, backing vocals, synthesizer arrangements
Maurice White – lead vocals, backing vocals, vocoder, arrangements
Sheldon Reynolds – guitars, lead guitar
Andrew Woolfolk – saxophone solo

Additional musicians
Skylark – synthesizers, drum programming, backing vocals
Preston Glass – synthesizers, electric guitars, additional drum programming
Rhett Lawrence – Fairlight programming, drum programming, sequencing, Fairlight synthesizer, synthesizer programming, Moog bass, additional drums
Wayne Vaughn – sequencing
Bill Meyers – acoustic piano, arrangements, keyboards, synthesizer programming, drums
Larry Williams – additional keyboard programming, additional programming
Dan De Souza – keyboards, synthesizer programming, drums
Steve Lindsey – keyboards
Danny Sembello – synthesizer programming, drum programming
George Duke – acoustic piano, rhythm arrangements
Ian Prince – synthesizer programming, drums, arrangements
Attala Zane Giles – additional guitars, synth bass, percussion programming, additional backing vocals, arrangements
Ray Fuller – guitars
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars
Nathan East – bass
Jeff Porcaro – drums
Ricky Lawson – drum overdubs, drums
Marc Russo – horns
Wayne Wallace – horns
Gary Grant – horns
Jerry Hey – horns, horn arrangements
Dan Higgins – horns
Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns
Rev. Oliver Wells – arrangements, synthesizer arrangements
Wanda Vaughn – backing vocals
Jeanette Williams – backing vocals
The Hawkins Family – backing vocals
Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins and Lynette Hawkins Stephens – additional lead vocals

Production
Maurice White – producer
Preston Glass – producer
Philip Bailey – co-producer
Attala Zane Giles – additional production
Wayne Vaughn – co-producer
Bill Meyers – producer
Acar Key – engineer
Tom Lord-Alge – engineer, mixing
Dave Rideau – engineer, mixing
Paul Brown – engineer
Red Davidson – additional assistant engineer
Jeff Lorenzen – assistant engineer
Jim “Watts” Vereecke – assistant engineer
Les Cooper – assistant engineer
Mitch Zelezny – assistant engineer
Liz Cluse – assistant engineer
Jeff Woodruff – assistant engineer
Mark Slagle – assistant engineer
Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
Tony Lane – art direction
Nancy Donald – art direction
Max Aguilera Hellweg – photography

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – CBS Inc.
Copyright © – CBS Inc.
Made By – DADC Austria
Distributed By – CBS Records
Distributed By – CBS Disques S.A.
Recorded At – Studio Ultimo
Recorded At – Studio D, Sausalito, CA
Recorded At – Different Fur Studios
Mixed At – Larrabee Sound Studios
Mixed At – Lighthouse Studios
Produced For – Kalimba Productions

DC Talk – Freak Show Bonus Disc – 1997

This is the CD that came free with the “Welcome To The Freak Show” VHS. It features 4 tracks from the 1995 Jesus Freak album. 2 of them are live, 1 is a remix, and 1 is the album version. Not much to say here other than this was a great bonus to get with a VHS. I do have one thing to say however. Personally the production on the 2 live tracks make it sound like they are “liveified” version of studio cuts. Probably just some questionable production quality but they just don’t have an actual live feel. Anyway this one is from 1997 which is a little later than we usually go but it’s only 4 tracks so what the heck.

Tracklist
1 – In The Light (Live Version) – 5:15
2 – Day By Day (Live Version) – 4:42
3 – Colored People (Organic Mix) – 3:48
4 – What Have We Become (Album Version) – 5:36

Credits
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Kevin Max, Michael Tait, Toby McKeehan
Lyrics By [Additional] – Kevin Smith, Toby McKeehan
Producer – Mark Heimermann, Toby McKeehan
Remix – John Hampton, Toby McKeehan
Written-By – Charlie Peacock, George Cocchini, Kevin Smith, Mark Heimermann, Stephen Schwartz, Toby McKeehan

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.
Copyright © – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.
Distributed By – Chordant Distribution Group, CMC Distribution
Published By – Sparrow Song, Andi Beat Goes On Music, Range Road Music, Inc., Quartet Music Inc., New Cadenza Music Corp., Up In The Mix Music, Achtober Songs, Tigerback Music, Fun Attic Music, Blind Thief Publishing,
Glass Mastered At – EMI MFG.

Sammy Hall – If Nobody Loves You …Create The Demand – 1974

Sammy actually grew up in the church often accompanying his dad’s guitar with vocals on hymns. Unfortunately he slipped from the church and started what he called an alcohol addiction at 13 years old. At 17 years old his best friend died of alcohol poisoning at a party he and Sammy were drinking at. Sammy continued his music career and was in 60’s rock groups The Mor-loks and The Birdwatchers the latter group appeared in the 1967 youth exploitation film Wild Rebels. Those years were full of drug and alcohol addiction which led to 2 self deletion attempts. After his second attempt he came back to Christ and the Sammy Hall we know was born. He started a group called the Sammy Hall Singers and self released 10 albums with them. They sold these albums as they toured churches throughout the U.S. and Canada. In 1974 he started releasing albums as a solo act but he continued to tour churches playing and ministering. I believe this was his first album on a label though I’m not positive of this as the history of The Sammy Hall Singers is a little shaky. This album was released in the U.S. and Canada on Impact records and in the U.K. on Pilgrim records. I have to admit that I didn’t know anything about Sammy before starting this project but I have taken a real interest in his music. This is rather strange because he definitely doesn’t perform my style of music but I’m really drawn to his work for some reason. As for this album it’s relatively easy listening but the real highlight is his cover of “Cat’s In The Cradle” which is a fantastic version and I actually prefer it to the original. Anyway Sammy’s work is an overlooked part of CCM history and should be listened to.

Tracklist
1 – If Nobody Loves You Create The Demand – 2:14
2 – Guess Who Moved – 2:10
3 – If You’re Happy Notify Your Face – 2:14
4 – We’re Not Gettin’ Older (Just Closer To Home) – 3:30
5 – Jesus Is My Soul Supporter – 1:59
6 – No Shortage (On God’s Love) – 2:46
7 – The Days We Let Slip By – 2:49
8 – Cat’s In The Cradle – 3:38
9 – My Dependable Friend – 3:58
10 – We Have Become The People Our Parents Warned Us About – 3:30

Credits
Lead Vocals – Sammy Hall
Producer, Arranged By, Written-By – Gary S. Paxton

King’s X – Faith Hope Love – 1990

I have seen King’s X live on three occasions. I still have no idea how they pull off their sound live with just three guys. It is really impressive. Of course, one of the times I saw them they were the band for CCM pop artist Morgan Cryar. They played at the infamous “lighthouse” in Orange County. With their third release, Faith, Hope, Love, King’s X were positioned to become the next great rock band, and even though they have garnered a stellar track record and decent fan base, the world just some times doesn’t “get it” when it comes to great and significant rock. Possibly more “commercial” than the first two release, FHL, is still a rocking album and filled with the bands unique, creative and progressive rock music. The Beatlesque vocals married to big and heavy rock just seem to work so well, especially here. The single, “It’s Love” is a brilliant song that deserved even more radio support than it did. But like most King’s X projects it’s deeper into the album that the real gems shine though. “Fine Art of Friendship” has such a killer groove that sticks with you and a wonderful message of reconciliation. “We Were Born to Be Loved” just flat out rocks…hard! And the spoken vocal just works perfectly. Many prefer the debut because of it’s greater progressive and creative influence, but FHL delivers such a consistent and listenable sound that it bears more repeated listening.

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

Tracklist
1 – We Are Finding Who We Are – 4:39
2 – Its Love – 4:34
3 – Ill Never Get Tired Of You – 3:46
4 – Fine Art Of Friendship – 4:21
5 – Mr Wilson – 3:39
6 – Moanjam – 6:05
7 – Six Broken Soldiers – 3:32
8 – I Cant Help It – 3:53
9 – Talk To You – 4:36
10 – Everywhere I Go – 3:53
11 – We Were Born To Be Loved – 4:52
12 – Faith Hope Love – 9:23
13 – Legal Kill – 4:42

Credits
Art Direction – Derika Van Reenan
Artwork [Back Cover Illustration] – James McDermott
Artwork [Front Cover Illustration] – Randy Rogers
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Doug Pinnick
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Jerry Gaskill
Engineer, Recorded By – Steve Ames
Guitar, Sitar, Vocals – Ty Tabor
Management – Sam Taylor
Mastered By – Tony Dawsey
Photography By – George Craig
Producer – King’s X, Sam Taylor
Written-By – King’s X

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Megaforce Records, Inc.
Copyright © – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Copyright © – Jetydosa Music
Copyright © – Ackee Music
Recorded At – Rampart Studios
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Made By – WEA Manufacturing Inc.
Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation