This is a sampler from Light Records. The album features the following artists and song as well as what album they originally appeared on;
1 – David Edwards – Diamond’s Lullaby – Dreams, Tales & Lullabies 2 – Karen Voegtlin – Into Your Hands – He’s My Leader 3 – Dan Burgess – Fill My Life – Fill My Life 4 – Larry Bryant – The Artist – The Artist 5 – Dino – Holy, Holy, Holy – Just Piano… Praise II 6 – The Winans – Tomorrow – Tomorrow 7 – Ralph Carmichael – A Quiet Place – I Looked For Love 8 – Dan Burgess – When We See Him – Dan Burgess With Songs You’ll Want To Sing 9 – Andraé Crouch – My Tribute – Andrae Crouch 10 – Rob Frazier – He Is All You Need – Cut It Away
Tracklist 1 – David Edwards – Diamond’s Lullaby – 5:01 2 – Karen Voegtlin – Into Your Hands – 4:26 3 – Dan Burgess – Fill My Life – 3:23 4 – Larry Bryant – The Artist – 4:03 5 – Dino – Holy, Holy, Holy – 3:29 6 – The Winans – Tomorrow – 4:12 7 – Ralph Carmichael – A Quiet Place – 2:50 8 – Dan Burgess – When We See Him – 3:45 9 – Andraé Crouch – My Tribute – 6:00 10 – Rob Frazier – He Is All You Need – 4:12
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Lexicon Music, Inc. Copyright (c) – Lexicon Music, Inc.
This is Eternal Ryte’s one and only on label album. They were yet another band out of the late 80’s California metal scene. They are known for doing the circuit of Secular bars that was considered trendy for Christian Metal bands at the end of the 80’s. As for the album it’s a pretty good metal album but is a little over produced in my opinion but you can still hear the skills of the band. Bobby Smith’s guitar stands out to me and also I found the writing to be a step up from most metal bands of the era. Unfortunately when Pure Metal was sold to Star Song Eternal Ryte is one of the bands that was released so we have to enjoy this album as other than their demo’s it is all we would get. Unfortunately the album is a little difficult to come by these days so it demands a bit of a premium.
Tracklist 1 – Tightrope Dancer – 3:53 2 – Requiem – 4:37 3 – Someone To Love – 4:42 4 – Say Hello – 4:20 5 – The Killer – 4:48 6 – Surrender – 3:07 7 – On The Line – 4:02 8 – You And Me – 3:42 9 – The King – 5:02 10 – No More Lies 5:15
Credits Bass, Vocals – Fred Gustafsson Percussion – Scott “Smash!” Earnest Written-By, Guitar – Bobby Smith (27) Written-By, Lead Vocals – Phil St. Vincent
Recently this album wandered into our studio and I was quite surprised by it. I was surprised because it a local guy from my home city of Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. I have never seen this album, I have never heard this album, and I have never heard of this performer. It was recorded about 5 blocks from where I currently live. Now the style of the album is decidedly AOR so I probably wouldn’t have listened to it much I definitely would have had it in my collection to support a local artist. One would have also thought I might have seen him in concert opening for bands. But no I never heard of him. Danny lives in my home city today and is still involved in the ministry. He had several albums after this one but they were released in Germany where Danny lived for several years. This however is his only 80’s CCM album.
Tracklist 1 – Hallowed Be – 3:00 2 – Halleluia – 3:20 3 – Water Of Life – 1:20 4 – Love That Is Pure – 2:27 5 – You Know What To Do – 4:38 6 – You’re The One – 3:30 7 – Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing – 2:24 8 – Willing Now To Die – 2:54 9 – Oh Sacred Head – 3:04 10 – Yo Te Amo (I Love You) – 3:32 11 – We Stand United – 5:17
Produced by Gary Brenner Lead vocals : Danny Plett Keyboards : Danny Plett, Gary Brenner Electric Guitar : Randy Hiebert Acoustic Guitar : Ari Lahdekorpi Bass Guitar : Paul Kelly Drums : Greg Black Percussion : Glen Matthews Background vocals : Danny Plett, Steve Bell, Dodi Bell, Paul Kelly, Angela Kelman Recorded & Mixed at Century 21 Recording Studios, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Engineered by Ralph Watts
By this point 2nd Chapter Of Acts was all done with studio work so Ward could concentrate on his solo career. Annie Herring from 2nd Chapter however does join Ward on the album. The album continues his more upbeat style and really several tracks on this album could easily be classified as Pop. The album had 3 singles. Far Behind made it to #10, Perfect Union to #3, and You Alone to #21. All in all a pretty successful album though it seems to get lost sometimes as his previous album, Armed & Dangerous, made quite a splash but this one didn’t seem as good of an album.
Tracklist 1 – Then I Realized – 4:32 2 – Racing For The Goal – 4:21 3 – You Alone – 3:42 4 – Show Them – 3:53 5 – Heart – 3:25 6 – So Many Are Lookin’ – 3:10 7 – Time Will Tell – 4:25 8 – Far Behind – 3:30 9 – Perfect Union – 4:38 10 – Fade To White – 4:26
Credits Arranged By [Musical Arrangements] – John Andrew Schreiner Art Direction, Design – Bradley Grose Backing Vocals – Annie Herring, Interdenominational Youth Choir Of Nachodoches, Kelly Willard (tracks: 5), Nelly Greisen Bass – Leon Gaer Classical Guitar – Frank Kimlico Drums – Mike Baird Engineer [Engineered By] – Greg Hunt Guitar – Michael Thompson Keyboards – John Andrew Schreiner Lyrics By – Matthew Ward Mastered By – Doug Saax Music By – Jim Tenneboe (tracks: 5, 6), John Andrew Schreiner (tracks: 1 to 10), Matthew Ward (tracks: 1 to 4, 6 to 10) Other [Make Up] – Ken Gonzales Photography By – Aaron Rapoport Photography By [Assistant] – Tracy Lamonica Producer [Produced By] – John Andrew Schreiner Programmed By [Synthesizer] – Gary Leach, John Andrew Schreiner
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Live Oak Records Copyright (c) – Live Oak Records Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Distributed By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – Rosewood Studio Mixed At – Rosewood Studio Mastered At – The Mastering Lab Published By – Megin’s College Fund Music Published By – JAS Music Published By – MIDI Mouse Music
San Francisco Bay Area’s Gideon’s Army got their start ministering in the prison system both juvenile and adult throughout California. After many years they finally put out this album in 1982. The album was released on Santa Ana’s Calvary Chapel’s own label “Asaph Records”. This was the second album on the label and as such was not well promoted or known outside of the local California area. Later this label would actually get much better known but in 1982 it was barely known. The band have a strong Late 70’s Southern Rock sound that I think was rather unique for the CCM market. One of the other strange things about the album is the length of some of the songs. There are 4 tracks over the 5 minute mark which was a little more common in the mid 70’s. Because of this the album is limited to only 8 tracks. This album is very unique and you should give it a listen if not just for the historical sound of it.
Tracklist 1 – Light – 6:17 2 – Dream – 4:28 3 – Lift Your Heart – 4:33 4 – What Is Love – 7:12 5 – Better Days – 6:35 6 – On The Move – 3:39 7 – New Man – 6:32 8 – Can You Still Turn Away? – 4:41
Credits Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Rob Carey Backing Vocals – Ron Davis Drums, Lead Vocals – Jerry Anderson Lead Guitar – Dave Angeles Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Mike Banke Lead Vocals, Bass – Mark Greves Organ, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Doug Naruo Percussion – Tom Long Trumpet – Jim Gabel, Rob Brockman
Throughout this exploration of the greatest music in Christian Music history, much has been said about the shame that it is one of CCM’s great realities: great bands don’t sell and disappear much too quickly. The greatest (worst?) example of this axiom if the band Prodigal. The great crime of CCM is that this amazing band only made three unbelievably impressive albums and then… …nothing! Their swan song was the impressive “Just Like real Life,” an album filled with so much great music and original concepts that any description will really not do it any justice. Ranging from hard “new wave” to American rock and roll there are ten fantastic tracks here. Production quality is through the roof fantastic for what was, I am sure, a minuscule budget. The vocals are as diverse as the music as three different lead vocalist shared the duties. the most notable is Loyd Boldman and his HUGE voice. Boldman always seemed to tackle the big rock numbers and so is often recognized as the lead vocalist though that is really not the case. It should be noted that quite often his songs are the most memorable. This is the case here. Future Now starts with a musical introduction that always reminds me of the soundtrack to movie St. Elmo’s Fire, especially the primary song, “Man in Motion.” “Safety in Numbers” starts off with a great guitar lick the harkens to Daniel Amos’ “I Love You #19.” Throughout the entire record great riffs and monster walls of sound permeate every song. What is truly impressive about the band, though, is their lyrical content. Not content to recite the normal CCM diatribes, Prodigal placed themselves directly into the songs and transparently admit their failings along with those around them. A constant theme is the alienation of the modern world and need for honest and actual relationships. Both with God and with one another.
Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Future Now – 3:55 2 – Push And Shove – 3:00 3 – Safety In Numbers – 2:52 4 – Answering Machine – 3:57 5 – Under The Gun – 3:47 6 – Jump Cut (Just Like Real Life) – 3:14 7 – Incommunicado – 2:50 8 – Next Big Thing – 2:44 9 – Burn It Up – 3:16 10 – The Big Sleep – 3:16 11 – Just Make Up Your Mind – 3:13
Credits Loyd Boldman – keyboards and vocals Rick Fields – guitars and vocals Mike Wilson – bass Dave Workman – drums and vocals Executive Producer – Jon Phelps Produced and Engineered by Gary Platt Arranged by Prodigal and Gary Platt Synthesizer Programming – Wes Boatman Synth Solo on “Push And Shove” – Wes Boatman Recorded at – Fifth Floor Studios, Cincinnati, OH, Boatman’s Ranch, New Richmond, OH, Starke Lake Studios, Ocoee, FL Assistant Engineer – Carol Burkart Assistant Engineer / Concert Sound – Steve Moller
Companies, etc. Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc. Copyright (c) – Heartland Records Company Phonographic Copyright (p) – Heartland Records Company Mastered At – Criteria Recording Studios Pressed By – Hub-Servall Record Mfg. Corp.
The Last Adam were a 70’s Rock band out of Clearwater, FL. This is one of those odd albums that was released on The Salvation Army’s own label. I couldn’t find out much about the band but at the time other than they did play in the church. Must have been some rocking going on there at the end of the 70’s. As for the album it has a very late 70’s rock feel and was probably on the edge of being outdated in 1980. Be careful not confuse the band with the 90’s band “Last Adam”. This album would have been right at home on the Tunesmith label but the church got to them first.
Tracklist 1 – Receive It – 5:12 2 – Resist The Devil – 3:48 3 – Any Old Music – 4:00 4 – Psalm 113 – 5:13 5 – Washed In The Blood – 3:40 6 – Dance Cloud – 5:52 7 – Letter To The Devil – 3:02 8 – More Much More – 3:54 9 – Trips – 3:51 10 – Remember That Name – 4:53
Credits Rick Tarquine – Guitar Buddy Fetz – Drums Patt Wadenpfuhl – Lead Vocals Ken Wadenpfuhl – Brass Fred Smith Jr. – Guitar Debbie Steitz – Keyboards
As the story goes Mike Stand was resting after a surgery and decided to break out his Tascam 4 track and listen to some recordings the band made in 91 & 93. For some reason back in the day the boys were unable to release these recordings. Mike decided to see if he could get these recordings released so he ran a kickstarter to raise funds for the album. They successfully raised over $23,000 so we are blessed with a new, old album. The sound of this album is classic Altar boys so any fan of them back then will be a fan of this album. It’s not that often a situation likes this comes so I found it to be a real treat.
Tracklist 1 – Rebel Rock – 4:37 2 – No Substitute – 4:00 3 – Let Me See Your Hands – 3:31 4 – Light Of Freedom – 4:01 5 – Outside In The Distance – 3:25 6 – History Comes Back – 5:18 7 – The Kids Cry – 3:58 8 – Surround Me – 4:33 9 – Thousand Miles – 4:27 10 – Devotion – 4:28 11 – Give Our Hearts – 4:16 12 – Revolution Of Love – 2:53
Credits Design [Artwork Design] – Ron Lara Mixed By, Mastered By – Keith Sorrells Performer [Altar Boys Are:] – Jeff Crandall, Mark Robertson, Mike Stand, Steve Pannier
Companies, etc. Mixed At – Project K Studios Copyright (c) – Lo-Fidelity Records Copyright (c) – Oh Oh Nancy Music
Brothers Dino and John Elefante returned with the other members of Mastedon to give us their second album in 1990. It was released on their own brand new label, Pakaderm Records. I’m a little unclear on their fascination with the elephant species but it’s kind of cute. The album actually has 4 lead vocalists, Dave Amato, Tom Bowes, John Elefante, and Dean Longacre. I don’t think I’ve seen 4 lead vocalists on an album before. As for the album it is somewhere in between metal and rock but I think it leans more metal so I’m categorizing it that way. You can actually hear Dino and John’s Kansas influence on a few tracks which is a nice bit of throwback.
Tracklist 1 – Holiest One – 4:50 2 – Life On The Line – 4:25 3 – Run To The Water – 4:30 4 – When It All Comes Down – 4:30 5 – Taken Down Below – 4:33 6 – Stampede – 2:27 7 – Living For You – 4:16 8 – Thief In The Night – 2:47 9 – People Of This Time – 4:54 10 – It Is Done – 3:43
Credits Arranged By – Dino Elefante, John Elefante Backing Vocals – Bob Carlisle, Dave Amato, John Elefante Bass – Dino Elefante, John Pierce Cover, Design, Illustration, Layout – Robert Fischer Drums – David Raven, Mac Jack, Phil Rowland Engineer – John Elefante, Mike Mireau Engineer [Additional] – Jeff Simmons Guitar – Dave Amato, Dino Elefante, Michael Thompson, Steph Burns, Tony Palacios Keyboards – John Andrew Schreiner, John Elefante Mastered By – Bob Ludwig Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante Vocals – Dave Amato, Dean Longacre, John Elefante, Tom Bowes
Companies, etc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Distributed By – Word, Inc. Mastered At – Masterdisk Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Benny Hester’s classic “Nobody Knows me Like You” is the very best Adult Contemporary pop album in the history of Christian Music! Hyperbole much? Nay! There will be other album that are classified as AC or pop higher on this list, but most of the albums were not really “current,” commercial vehicles. They appealed to a pop market, but were not actually purely pop music for the day. But NKMLY was in a class all by itself. All the while the CCM market was discovering they had a treasure in Benny Hester the artist, who, over the years, has not only delivered memorable songs, but actual classics that changed and shaped the CCM landscape. Most artists would be honoured to have one song that could be listed among the greatest in the history of the genre, while Hester has a handful! Long before he made a mockery of radio chart records with “When God Ran,” has had made a very potent career of not just brilliant hits, but overwhelming good albums within his genre. Borrowing liberally from the hit music makes of the late 70’s and early 80’s (Hall & Oates, Christopher Cross, Bee Gee’s, Elton John), Hester mastered his songwriting craft early and never slowed down. He was driven to be a recognized artist, all the while he was driven to express his faith in original and honest ways. Unlike the vast majority of his peers, Hester did not release an album every year like clockwork. Often there were a few years between releases and this gave him the opportunity to create great collections of well-written pop music. But no album would surpass his third (second CCM) album. With the album (and many albums like it) it is often the backstory that makes the album so intriguing and lasting. In the late 70’s Hester had record a series of songs and was getting nowhere with record labels. His debut (mainstream) release owns a tragic story and has become a collectors item of sorts. The label he was signed to folded and the warehouse holding the LP’s burned to the ground, destroying most known copies. Only a handful ever found there way into the hands of listeners. I am one those lucky few. Hester took those few songs and drove from Las Vegas to Canoga Park, CA and the then offices of Sparrow Records. Hester sat in the reception office until Bill Hearn (Sr.) finally agreed to meet with him. Hester played the songs for Hearn who signed him on the spot. Those songs and a few others were released as Hester’s “debut,” the self-titled Spirit Label release that was later knows as “Be a Receiver.” Soon after the release of the album, Hester found himself driving across the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. By the time he had crossed the bridge he had written the chorus to the song “Nobody Knows Me Like” without an instrument. He spent the rest of the day in San Francisco writing the song that he would forever attached to and that would make Hester one of the most popular CCM artists at the time. Hester went into the studio with a who’s who collection of musicians and emerged several months later with his classic. But the album took longer to get going because his new label (Myrrh) wanted Hester to work with producer, Michael Omartian. No one could blame Hester and the label for waiting to work with Omartian. But the time off also allowed Hester to fine tune his craft. It also gave the industry just enough time to forget who he was, and Hester and the label would have to start all over again and making Hester a known commodity.
Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Come Back – 4:14 2 – No Man’s Land – 4:13 3 – Rubber Canoe – 4:09 4 – Nobody Knows Me Like You – 4:44 5 – Step By Step – 4:53 6 – One More Time – 4:07 7 – Goodbye Salty – 4:39 8 – Real Change – 4:22 9 – You Loved Me – 4:04 10 – Christ The Solid Rock – 2:22
Credits Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Benny Hester Art Direction – Dennis Hill Artwork [Special Logo Design] – Tim Barela Backing Vocals – Jeff Lams, Michael Omartian, Tommy Funderburk Bass – Abraham Laboriel Concertmaster – Assa Drori Congas – Bobby LaKind Coordinator [Production Coordinator] – Yvonne Garcia Drums – Ron Tutt Electric Guitar – Martin K. Walsh Engineer [Second] – Ross Pallone, Steve Crimmel Engineer, Remix – John Guess Keyboards – Jeff Lams, Michael Omartian Mastered By – Ken Perry Photography By – Harry Langdon Producer – Michael Omartian Saxophone – Kim Hutchcroft
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Produced For – Rhema Productions Recorded At – Hollywood Sound Recorders Mastered At – Capitol Mastering Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.
