Category: Albums

Bryan Duncan – Slow Revival – 1994

Slow Revival is the seventh album from Bryan Duncan. This one made it to #5 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Christian chart and had 3 #1 CCM chart hits. “Traces Of Heaven”, “Things Are Gonna Change”, and “United We Stand”. “Don’t Look Away” also made it to #3. 4 top 10 singles on one album is quite the achievement. It was also nominated in the Best Contemporary Album category at the 26th GMA Dove Awards but bizarrely lost out to Take 6. Having listened to both albums now I have no idea how the Dove’s came to that conclusion but whatever. Brian followed up the album with a tour and several people have written that this may have been his best tour.

Tracklist
1 – A Heavenly Light – 4:28
2 – United We Stand – 4:13
3 – Don’t Look Away – 4:32
4 – Your Love, My Saving Grace – 5:17
5 – Traces Of Heaven – 4:53
6 – My House – 4:17
7 – Lonely Tonight – 4:33
8 – Things Are Gonna Change – 5:43
9 – Wheels Of A Good Thing – 3:35
10 – Safe Harbor – 5:08

Credits
Arranged By – Michael Omartian, Peter Wolf, Robbie Buchanan
Arranged By [Strings] – John Darnall
Art Direction – Diana Barnes
Backing Vocals – Ann Bailey, Carol Perry, Dan Posthuma, Darrell Brown, David Pack, Lori Perry, Sharon Perry, Shawn Murphy, Tony Gillis
Bass – Cedric Lee, John Peano, Neil Stubenhaus
Co-producer – Michael Omartian
Design – Franke Design Company
Drums, Percussion – Carlos Vega, Curt Bisquera, Eric Darken, John Robinson, Steve Latanation
Engineer – Mike Mierau
Engineer [Additional] – Aaron Swihart, Anthony Thomas, Bert Stevens, Bryan Davis, Dan Garcia, Doug Bieden, Doug Sarrett, Paul Erickson, Ross Pallone, S. Husky Hoskulds, Terry Christian
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware
Guest, Vocals – Anointed
Guitar – Dann Huff, Gary Chapman
Keyboards [Additional] – Alan Pasqua, Randy Lee
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – Bill Schnee
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Alan Pasqua
Photography By – F. Scott Schafer
Producer – Dan Posthuma
Saxophone – David Lhebo
Strings – The Nashville String Machine
Technician – Eric Slaughter
Trombone – Dennis Good

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Myrrh
Copyright © – Myrrh
Manufactured By – Word Records & Music
Distributed By – Word Records & Music
Manufactured By – Nelson Word
Distributed By – Nelson Word
Manufactured By – Nelson/Word, UK
Distributed By – Nelson/Word, UK
Manufactured By – JVC
Recorded At – Embassy Studios, Simi Valley, CA
Recorded At – Tejas Recorders
Recorded At – Bunny Hop Studios
Recorded At – The Shelter Studio
Recorded At – Hollywood Sound Recorders
Recorded At – Studio 3319
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Recorded At – Pack’s Place
Mixed At – Bill Schnee Studios
Mastered At – Gateway Mastering
Glass Mastered At – JVC

Bruce Carroll – The Great Exchange – 1990

I have to say that this is a bit of a confusing album. It has some country tracks, a rock tracks and some AOR tracks. Now normally this would doom an album as changing styles on an album is not good for sales normally. But in this case it just works. This is a great album and I just loved it. Even with the differing styles they are so well done that I don’t care. The album is well produced and the order of the tracks makes the transition from style to style enjoyable. The album had 4 CCM top 10 singles which must make it one of the best CCM albums historically. “Who Will Be Jesus” made it to #1, “The Great Exchange” #2, “Living In The Pages” #5, and “Elm Street” made it to #9. “Average Joe”, my favourite track, also sneaked into the top 40 at #38. Also “Who Will Be Jesus” won The Dove award for “Inspirational recorded song of the year”. Now that’s a successful album.

Tracklist
1 – Living In The Pages – 4:34
2 – Lay It On Down – 2:47
3 – Elm Street – 4:08
4 – Who Will Be Jesus – 3:51
5 – Average Joe – 4:07
6 – The Great Exchange – 3:51
7 – Wake The Dead – 3:05
8 – I Can’t Love Without You – 2:55
9 – Moment Of Truth – 4:47
10 – You Never Know – 3:16

Credits
Bruce Carroll – Vocals
Eddie Bayers – Drums
Michael Black – Background Vocals
Sam Bush – Mandolin, Background Vocals
John Cowan – Bass, Background Vocals
Eric Darken – Percussion, Tambourine
Bela Fleck – Banjo
Pat Flynn – Acoustic Guitar
Kenny Greenberg – Guitars
Buddy Greene – Harmonica
Chris Harris – Background Vocals
David Hungate – Bass
Phil Keaggy – Electric Guitar Solo
Brent King – Mixed
Wayne Kirkpatrick – Background Vocals
Bruce Koblish – String Arranger
Paul Leim – Drums, Percussion
Dwight Liles – Songwriter
Phil Madeira – B-3 Organ
Kenny Malone – Drums
John Mays – Executive Producer
Jerry McPherson – Guitars
Duncan Mullins – Bass
Phil Naish – Keyboards
Nashville String Machine – Strings
Mark O’Connor – Fiddle
Don Potter – Guitars
Chris Rodriguez – Background Vocals
Brent Rowan – Guitars
Bubba Smith – Producer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Overdubbed At – Quad Studios
Overdubbed At – Nightingale Studio
Overdubbed At – Stargem Studios
Mixed At – Digital Recorders
Mastered At – Mastermix

Nicole – Don’t Let Me Go – 1991

There’s not much info on Nicole’s early life but this was her first album. While Nicole became very well known in and about 2000 she was little known at the time of her first album. The album has a great soul feel and while it leans easy listening it’s pretty darn good. I’ve been listening to a fair amount of Easy Listening albums lately and this one ranks pretty high among them. Cindy and Janie Cruse provided backing vocals on a couple tracks that Cindy actually wrote. Tim Miner assisted with engineering and production and I must say that the production of the album is excellent.

Tracklist
1 – On My Way Up – 4:32
2 – Mighty Groove – 3:45
3 – I Need To Know – 3:58
4 – I’ll Be Right There – 2:49
5 – My Everything – 4:11
6 – Don’t Let Me Go – 4:08
7 – Love Is Enough – 3:37
8 – All My Days – 4:31
9 – Oh Jesus Loves Me – 3:15
10 – Somewhere – 1:52

Credits
Angie Alan – Vocals (Background)
Margaret Bell – Vocals (Background)
Darren Bruce – Cymbals
Nicole Bruce – Vocals (Background)
Kim Bryant – Vocals (Background)
Paula Bryant – Vocals (Background)
Mark Cassimatis – Engineer
Cindy Cruse – Vocals (Background)
Janie Cruse – Vocals (Background)
Keith Davenport – Keyboards
David Ebensberger – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
Michelle Ford – Vocals (Background)
Ron Jones – Saxophone
Knightlight Studios – Engineer, Producer
Win Kutz – Mixing
MC Ge Gee – Rap
Ed McTaggart – Art Direction
Craig Miles – Vocals (Background)
Tim Miner – Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
Nicole C. Mullen – Vocals
Gregory O’Quin – Keyboards, Programming
Craig Penrod – Engineer
Karen Penrod – Vocals (Background)
Joe Potter – Layout Design
Kim Sipus – Vocals (Background)
Mark Stitts – Engineer, Vocals (Background)
Washington – Rap
Brenda Welcome – Vocals (Background)
Mike “Hitman” Wilson – Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
John Wirtz – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)

Terri Gibbs – Turnaround – 1987

You might know Terri Gibb better due to her top Pop hit “Somebody’s Knockin'”. She had a pretty good secular Pop/Country career but when it started to fail she decided to do Gospel music. I’m not saying anything negative but this is a trend we saw in the 80’s and admittedly it gave several artists a second run. She had a 3 album run in the Christian music industry and this is the first of those albums. Terri was a great artist so I was expecting a good album. I was not disappointed and while it is an Easy Listening album I quite liked it. I’ve been on a bit of a run lately with Easy Listening albums I quite like but I hope my taste in music isn’t changing because generally this isn’t my preferred genre.

Tracklist
1 – You Can Say It To Him – 3:32
2 – I Can See Heaven – 3:04
3 – Gettin’ Ready – 3:22
4 – Driving Nails – 3:44
5 – Turn Around – 4:22
6 – Run To You – 3:49
7 – What About Him – 4:22
8 – Have You Made Your Reservation – 4:18
9 – Already There – 3:16
10 – Merciful Lord – 3:25

Credits
Eddie Bayers – Drums
George Binkley III – Strings
Jonathan David Brown – Engineer
David Davidson – Strings
Connie Ellisor – Strings
Michael English – Background Vocals
Terri Gibbs – Vocals
Carl Gorodetzky – Strings
Richard Grosjean – Strings
Ron Hemby – Background Vocals
Jim Horn – Saxophone
Danny Johnston – Assistant Engineer
Ted Madsen – Strings
Carl Marsh – Fairlight
Bob Mason – Strings
Gary McSpadden – Producer
Laura Molyneaux – Strings
Farrell Morris – Percussion
Brent Rowan – Guitars
Gene Sisk – Keyboards
Elisabeth Small – Strings
Wendy Suits – Background Vocals
Dianne Tidwell – Background Vocals
Alan Umstead – Strings
D. Bergen White – Producer, Background Vocals
Bill Whittington – Assistant Engineer
Kristen Wilkinson – Strings
Hank Williams – Mastered
John C. Williams – Bass

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.

Tony Elenburg – First Things First – 1986

Tony is better known to those in the industry as a songwriter. He wrote Steven Curtis Chapman’s hit single “Waiting For Lightning” as well as several more. As is normal at some point he decided to do an album of his own. He actually had 3 albums but this is the only one on a label. Greentree stepped up to release the album and given that it’s on Greentree Records I’m pretty sure you’ve already figured out that it’s an easy listening album. I must admit however that I have listened to this album a few times now and I really like it. That’s not something you usually hear from me as Easy Listening is not my preferred genre. Maybe I was just in the mood for something easy listening but this album definitely hit a good spot for me.

Tracklist
1 – Count It All Joy – 2:43
2 – All The Time – 3:08
3 – Wash Their Feet – 4:06
4 – Our God Reigns – 3:56
5 – We Are One – 3:18
6 – Holy, Holy, Holy – 3:37
7 – Believe – 4:05
8 – The Righteous Shall Endure – 3:21
9 – First Things First – 4:19
10 – It’s Just The First Farewell – 3:46

Credits
Bass – Mike “The Duke” Brignardello
Executive-Producer – Greg Nelson
Graphics – Barnes & Company
Guitar – Jon Goin
Keyboards – Phil Naish
Photography By – Matt Barnes
Producer – Phil Naish
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Strings – The Nashville String Machine

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Produced For – 19th Street Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – 19th Street Productions, Inc.
Copyright © – Greentree Records
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio East
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio East
Recorded At – Treasure Isle Recorders
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Published By – John T. Benson Pub. Co.

One Truth – Playing For Keeps – 1980

This is the 3rd and last album from One Truth. Well they did release a 4 track EP in 1983 using the band name Ipso Facto so we did get one more bit form them later. Oh and just a quick note the EP is fantastic. After that EP several members went on to release solo projects but most of them were more in the Worship genre. This album has a great seventoes fell and is probably one of the better 70’s style (not Jesus music) lbums I’ve heard. There’s even a couple of good 70’s rockers on the album. The album jacket had a baseball theme and the album has a track called “Seventh Inning Stretch” featuring an organ playing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”. A bit strange but something different qhich I appreciate.

Tracklist
1 – I’ll Have Enough – 4:01
2 – Rock Or Sand – 5:12
3 – I’ve Never Been There Before – 2:47
4 – Teach Us To Forgive – 6:25
5 – Don’t Be Deceived – 3:40
6 – Satisfied – 3:22
7 – Lord My Desire – 4:17
8 – Seventh Inning Stretch – 0:49
9 – Gonna Run – 3:43
10 – Jesus Wants To Know Each One – 3:15

Credits
Greg Butler – Background Vocals
Randall Butler – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
Terry Butler – Songwriter, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Bob Clark – Engineer
Bill Dragoo – Drums
Dave Emerson – Songwriter
Dave Etzen – Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
Phil Johnson – Producer, Engineer, Background Vocals
Brent King – Engineer
Larrie Londin – Drums
Andy Osbrink – Bass, Background Vocals
Warren Peterson – Engineer
Smitty Price – Engineer, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Hank Williams – Mastered

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Sound House, North Hollywood, CA
Remixed At – Great Circle Sound
Mastered At – Masterfonics

Adam Again – Dig – 1992

This is the fourth album from Adam Again. I have read in about 3 reviews now that this band wasn’t all that successful. Of course we don’t have any access to sales numbers but I heard of these guys in the 90’s after I was done listening to Christian music. Obviously I heard it when I was listening to secular music so obviously it had some recognition there. There’s not too much info on the recording of this album in fact I can’t find anything about how this album came to be. As for the album lyrically it continues to have an R.E.M. feel thinks to Gene Eugene’s vocals but the music has a great 90’s feel. This is one of those albums that falls in the “I didn’t like it” but it is very good category. This was not my style of music but I know a good album when I hear it and this is a great album. Jars Of Clay did an excellent cover of Dig on their 2003 album “Furthermore: From The Studio/From The Stage”.

Tracklist
1 – Deep – 4:15
2 – It Is What It Is (What It Is) – 3:43
3 – Dig – 3:25
4 – Hopeless, Etc. – 4:53
5 – Songwork – 5:28
6 – Worldwide – 2:07
7 – Walk Between The Raindrops – 3:30
8 – Hidden, Hidden – 3:25
9 – River On Fire – 5:46
10 – So Long – 4:19

Credits
Art Direction, Design, Photography – Anna Cardenas
Bass – Paul Valadez
Drums – Jon Knox
Executive-Producer [Executive Producers] – Gene Eugene, Ojo Taylor
Guitar – Greg Lawless
Lyrics By [All Lyrics] – Gene Eugene
Mastered By – Brian Gardner
Producer [Additional Production] – Greg Lawless, Jon Knox, Paul Valadez, Riki Michele
Producer [Produced By], Recorded By – Gene Eugene
Vocals – Riki Michele
Vocals, Guitar, Electric Piano [Rhodes] – Gene Eugene

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Brainstorm Artists International
Copyright © – Brainstorm Artists International
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Mixing Lab A
Recorded At – Mixing Lab B
Recorded At – Steve McCrum’s House
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Published By – Chenka, Chenka Music
Manufactured By – U.S. Optical Disc

The Choir – Kissers And Killers – 1993

Once the Circle Slide tour was complete there were some pretty serious changes for The Choir. First and foremost the band either finished their contract with Myrrh or it expired. I’ve read the story both ways. The band also split up with Steve Hindalong going on to the production side of the industry. Dan Michaels produced a solo project and Derri Daugherty went on to form Lost Dogs. The band came back together in 1992 to record this album at Daugherty’s brand new Neverland Studio in Cerritos, California. The band released it as an independent release and apparently only 6300 copies were made between CD and Cassette. The album has a 90’s Rock sound and was well received by critics but I have heard it wasn’t as well received by fans. I think it would have been better received if fans had been able to buy it a little easier but that’s just one man’s opinion.

Tracklist
1 – Gripped – 4:25
2 – Amazing – 3:49
3 – Kissers And Killers3:00
4 – Weather Girl – 6:00
5 – Yellow Skies – 3:54
6 – Grace – 3:13
7 – Let The Sky Fall – 3:32
8 – Love Your Mind – 5:12

Credits
Art Direction, Photography By – Leiza Schmidt
Bass Guitar – Tim Chandler
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Steve Hindalong
Guitar, Lead Vocals – Derri Daugherty
Layout [Art Layout], Design [Assistance] – Gene Ray George
Mixed By – Jr. McNeely
Producer – Derri Daugherty, Steve Hindalong
Recorded By, Mixed By – David Hackbarth, Derri Daugherty
Saxophone, Lyricon – Dan Michaels

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Neverland Studios
Mixed At – Neverland Studios
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – Digital Brothers
Published By – Never Say Never Songs
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

4•4•1 – Sacrifice – 1988

There is kind of an interesting story behind this album. The band actually split in 1987 but John McNamara and Glenn Holland continued writing material. With the blessing of the departed members they came to an agreement with Ojo Taylor and Gene Eugene at Broken Records for a third album. Gene Eugene produced (assisted), mixed, and engineered the album. The new version of the band even did a small tour with Glenn’s brother Kenny on drums and John Gaudesi on guitar. As for the album well quite frankly it just isn’t the original version of the band. I did not know about all the personnel changes in the band before I listened to the album and thought it just didn’t sound right and after some research I discovered why. Really this album should be evaluated as a stand alone group. It’s a lot darker then their previous work but is a solid new wave album. I think it should definitely be given a listen but remember your listening to a very modified version of the band.

Tracklist
1 – Judas Kisses – 4:48
2 – Oh No – 4:33
3 – Push (These Walls Down) – 3:59
4 – Sacrifice – 3:58
5 – Beautiful Places – 3:10
6 – This Is Love – 3:16
7 – Death Of Innocence – 4:31
8 – Pray For Rain – 4:50
9 – Don’t Make Me Cry – 3:40
10 – What Am I To Do? – 3:20
11 – Standing On The Edge – 4:44
12 – Push (Reprise) – 1:39
13 – Untitled Hidden Track – 0:30

Credits
Arranged By [Additional Arrangement Ideas] – Gene Eugene
Art Direction, Design – Norman Fog
Bass, Keyboards – Glenn Holland
Drums – Kenny Holland
Mastered By – John Matousek
Photography By – Brian Ray
Producer [Produced By] – Gene Eugene, Glenn Holland, John McNamara
Recorded By [Additional Recording By] – Dave Hackbarth
Recorded By, Mixed By – Gene Eugene, Glenn Holland
Songwriter [All Songs Written By], Arranged By [All Songs Arranged By] – Glenn Holland, John McNamara
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – John McNamara

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Brainstorm Artists International Inc.
Copyright © – Brainstorm Artists International Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Records Limited
Recorded At – Neverland
Mixed At – Neverland
Mastered At – Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios
Published By – Brainstorm Artists
Published By – Leisure Boys Music
Published By – Maranatha! Music

David Mullen – Faded Blues – 1991

This is David’s second album and it is really really good. Now for a minute here I’m going to go on a rant about the CCM charts. I have often said they had no idea what they were doing on their charts but this album is the absolute proof. CCM magazine said this album had one single that only made it to #37 for 2 weeks, “To Be With You “. Meanwhile it won the Dove award for Best Rock Album and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Gospel Album. Obviously the rest of the industry saw something CCM Magazine didn’t. Anyway, this is a great AOR album and there’s actually a couple tracks on here that are pretty Rock & Roll and if we ever start a radio station there’s at least 2 tracks that will be in our regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Faded Blues – 3:50
2 – After The Hurricane – 5:14
3 – Libby – 4:23
4 – Functional Faith And Clothing – 1:28
5 – Papa – 3:50
6 – To Be With You – 4:24
7 – Under The Same Sun – 4:02
8 – Alone – 4:54
9 – Water Into Wine – 4:39
10 – Long Road – 5:13
11 – Solid As A Rock – 5:05
12 – Don’t Let It Go To Your Heart – 4:42

Credits
A&R – Danny Kee
Acoustic Guitar – Scott Denté
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Kevin Twit
Art Direction, Design – Elvis Wilson, Laura LiPuma
Backing Vocals – Chris Rodriguez, Kathy Burdick, Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton
Bass – Michael Rhodes
Drums – Mickey Curry
Electric Guitar – Kenny Greenberg
Electric Guitar, Soloist – Kevin Dukes
Engineer [Additional] – Jim Demain*
Horns – Jim Horn, Muscle Shoals Horns
Keyboards – Dennis Matkosky, Mike Lawler, Nick Glennie-Smith
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – David Mullen
Management – Mike Atkins
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Percussion – Scott MacLeod, Steve Brewster
Photography By – Chip Simons
Piano – Phil Kristenson
Producer, Mixed By, Guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Shaker, Backing Vocals – Justin Niebank
Slide Guitar, Soloist – Phil Keaggy

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Digital Recorders
Recorded At – Masterfonics