Category: Albums

The Newsboys – Read All About It – 1988

This was the first studio album from The Newsboys. They had got a deal from Refuge records but it would end up being a one album deal as this album was not well received. Lucky for the band Star Song picked them up so their career could continue. I’m actually quite surprised this album didn’t do better. It’s a pretty good pop album and certainly as good as most of the CCM stuff at the time. I suspect this may have been more of a problem with distribution and/or promotion. Like I say the talent was there and these guys went on to be one of the top CCM bands of all times as far as sold albums is concerned and they are still going strong today. This album included 4 tracks from their demo so if you had their demo this album wasn’t really a good deal but the songs were reworked.

Tracklist
1 – I Got Your Number – 4:45
2 – Listen For The Shout – 3:20
3 – Lighthouse – 3:16
4 – It’s Joy – 3:48
5 – You’re Still There – 3:06
6 – Read All About It – 4:46
7 – Hold On Tight – 3:57
8 – Never Surrender – 4:09
9 – The Big Time – 3:56
10 – He’s Coming Back – 3:48

Credits
Bass Guitar – Sean Taylor
Drums – Peter Furler
Guitar – Phil Yates
Lead Vocals – John James
Producer – Tommy Sims

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Rock Of Refuge

Barnabas – Approaching Light Speed – 1983

After two releases on Canada’s Tunesmith label that featured a very eclectic combination of punk, funk, metal and blues, Barnabas signed to Light Records (home of Sweet Comfort and Resurrection Band) and unleashed a fury of heavy metal onto the CCM world that was light years ahead of the industry. Young guitar virtuoso Brian Belew plays with a Van Halen flair and the music is pure heavy metal for fans of Triumph and Van Halen. Production was also superior for the time with real guitar mixes and a wall of sound type vocal production. This was very big sounding, especially for the day. Nancy Jo Mann’s vocal can be an acquired taste for some with a little Grace Slick with more passion and power, but on this album it works quite well. There are some very interesting musical interludes such in the case of “If Love Brings Love” that starts with just an acoustic piano and slowly builds into a huge wall of guitars and becomes a rock anthem in the truest sense of the term. The call of the Gosepl is proclaimed with brilliant clarity. Waiting for the Aliens is a 6-plus minute epic that, like many artists lyrics during the time, deals with a particular view of end times replete with Marks, Antichrists and a deception of the world that will cause everyone to believe aliens have taken over the world. This is borrowed from many popular prophecy prognosticators and was not a rare hypothesis. the song rocks though! The album ends with another epic that is more progressive rock in nature than the rest of the album with several musical and time signature changes. “Crucifixion” also features a bass solo, which is so “old school” that it’s almost shocking to hear now even though it was not the peculiar for the time. The songs is a wonderful, well arranged and powerful depiction of the passion in a borderline rock opera type setting. By the way…the album cover rocked!

Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – No Freedom – 4:30
2 – Stormclouds – 4:39
3 – If Love Brings Love – 4:03
4 – Waiting For The Aliens – 6:10
5 – Warrior – 3:55
6 – Never Felt Better – 3:20
7 – Subterfuge – 5:47
8 – Crucifixion – 5:59

Credits
Bass, Keyboards – Gary Mann
Cover [Cover Art] – Kernie Erickson
Drums, Percussion – Kris Klingensmith
Engineer – Tom Tucker
Engineer [Additional Technical Assistance] – John Hurst
Guitar – Brian Belew
Photography By – Dennis Mabie
Producer – Barnabas, Tom Tucker
Vocals – Nancy Jo Mann

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.
Published By – Lexicon Music, Inc.
Recorded At – Triad Studios, Des Moines
Mastered At – Future Disc

Imperials – One More Song For You – 1979

At this point in time the Imperials had the whole hit album thing down to a fine art and Dayspring/Word Records was in full profit mode even getting 2 albums out in 1979. The Russ Taff legacy was taking a strong foothold and they were churning out the radio hits. This album had 3 singles. The big one was “I’m Forgiven” which got stuck at #1 for an amazing 13 weeks. “What I Can Do For You” and “One More Song For You” peaked at #12 and #10 respectively. Of real note on this album is Michael Omartian coming on as producer and song writer. Personally this album just wasn’t that impressive to me. I really shouldn’t argue with radio success but at this point the guys could have put out an album of them all snoring and it would have been a #1 hit. CCM radio was only interested in playing tried and true performers and no one was more tried and true than the Imperials. That said I admit there was some good stuff coming on future albums when luckily they had to compete with up and coming acts that turned the electric guitar up past 3. That said to the normal Imperials fan this is a good album and I am sure they quite enjoyed it.

Tracklist
1 – What I Can Do For You – 2:59
2 – I’m Forgiven – 3:54
3 – All My Life – 3:24
4 – Living Without Your Love – 3:27
5 – Eagle Song – 3:14
6 – Closer Than Ever – 4:23
7 – One More Song For You – 4:38
8 – Higher Power – 4:20
9 – More Like You – 3:30

Credits
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Marti McCall, Myrna Matthews, Stormie Omartian
Bass – Abraham Laboriel
Concertmaster – Assa Drori
Congas – Victor Feldman
Design [Album Design], Photography By – Bob Anderson
Drums – Paul Leim
Engineer [Additional] – Jack Lees, John Banuelos
Engineer, Remix – John Guess
Guitar – Marty Walsh
Horns – Chuck Findley, Dick Hyde, Jackie Kelso, Steve Madaio
Horns, Soloist [Saxophone] – Kim Hutchcroft
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Performer – Armond Morales, David Will, Jim Murray, Russell Taff
Producer, Arranged By, Keyboards, Percussion – Michael Omartian

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Published By – See This House Music
Published By – Word Music, Inc.
Published By – Norman Clayton Publishing
Published By – I.A.M. Music
Recorded At – Jennifudy Studios
Recorded At – Hollywood Central Recorders
Mastered At – A&M Mastering Studios
Pressed By – Monarch Record Mfg. Co.

Bryan Duncan – Strong Medicine – 1989

This was Bryan’s last album on Modern Art Records which I think was his own label as he is pretty well the only artist on it. This is another strong pop album from him and falls in line with this album’s predecessors. I liked most the tracks but was a bit taken aback by “Don’t Ya Wanna Rap”. It reminded me of a Jazzy Jeff Rap song but after listening to it a few times I came to think it’s just a fun silly song and now I kind of like it. The album did very well on the charts with 4 singles. Strong Medicine made it to #2, Let Me Be Broken to #3, Stand In My Place to #5, and Wonderful barely edged on at #30. Pretty successful album which probably helped lead Bryan to a record deal with Word/Myrrh Records.

Tracklist
1 – Let Me Be Broken – 4:13
2 – Recognize A Lover From A Thief – 4:20
3 – Stand In My Place – 4:19
4 – Strong Medicine – 5:07
5 – Don’t Ya Wanna Rap – 3:55
6 – Inside Out – 4:25
7 – Lies Upon Lies – 3:00
8 – Hand It Over – 4:14
9 – Wonderful – 3:52

Credits
Backing Vocals [Obvious Female Vocals With Phyllis] – Edna Wright
Backing Vocals [Obvious Female Vocals] – Phyllis St. James
Co-producer, Keyboards, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Songwriter [Songwriting], Arranged By [Arrangements], Engineer [Additional Engineering “the Executioner”] – Chuck Barth
Creative Director [Creative Direction] – Jim Fitzgerald
Creative Director [Creative Direction], Art Direction – Gary Whitlock
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Jeff Park
Graphics – Gina Phelps
Management [Personal Management] – Ray Ware Artists
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Other [Stunt Double For Bryan] – Brad Duncan
Percussion – Dave Romero
Photography By – Stew Ivester
Producer, Engineer, Arranged By [Arrangements], Recorded By, Mixed By – Larry Brown
Programmed By [Additional Programming] – John Stenstrom
Songwriter [Songwriting], Arranged By [Arrangements], Other [Direction], Concept By [Album Concept], Keyboards – Bryan Duncan

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Modern Art Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Modern Art Records, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – 440 Sound Recorders
Mixed At – 440 Sound Recorders

Hope Sterling – The Way Things Are – 1988

I really can’t find much on Hope but I will summarize what I did find but with no claim of it’s accuracy. Hope was a Canadian artist who went into the studio in 1987 or 1988 to record this excellent album. It has a great female pop sound and quite frankly I am surprised I can’t find out more about it. The album was produced by Roy Salmond who produced some of the best Canadian artists at the time and had some good albums of his own. Apparently Hope toured with Sheila Walsh in on Walsh’s Canadian tour as well as African Sonrise and Connie Scott on various dates. That’s about all I can find but this is an excellent album so give it the love it deserved in 1988 when it came out.

Tracklist
1 – Love Comes Along – 3:52
2 – Can’t Give It (If You Don’t Have It) – 3:59
3 – Standing In The Shadows – 3:59
4 – You Will Not Leave Me – 3:08
5 – I Remember – 6:37
6 – Oh The Distance – 3:10
7 – The Way Things Are – 4:12
8 – Arms Up – 5:17
9 – Don’t Keep On Running – 4:37
10 – Never Let Us Go – 4:28

Credits
Backing Vocals – Hope, Roy
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Donny Hackett (tracks: 6), Gayle Salmond (tracks: 6)
Bass – Miles Hill (tracks: 7)
Design, Layout – Nancy Yeasting
Drums, Percussion – Daryl Bennett
Engineer – Gary Tole
Engineer, Mixed By – Dave Slagter
Executive-Producer – Bill Sterling, Mark Sterling
Guitar – Dane DeViller
Keyboards, Bass, Drum Programming [Drum And Percussion Programming], Guitar – Roy Salmond
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Photography By – Francis Cheng
Producer, Arranged By – Roy Salmond

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Inside Trak Studios
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering

Lewis McVay – Coming Attraction – 1984

Nearly a decade after releasing one of the most classic, definitive Jesus Music albums, Sail on Sailor, with his band Mustard Seed Faith and some six year since releasing his first solo album “Spirit of St. Lewis” Lewis McVay released an amazing record that was only hampered by being part of a label that was about to fold. From the creative cover to the phenomenal musicianship on the album, every song works and works well. Combining many different genres all within the framework of pop/rock with touches of new wave and soulful jazz, there is also a hint of the sounds also explored by labelmates Prodigal. Christian radio was very responsive to the mid-tempo ballad “Someday” which sounds nothing like the rest of the album and is uncanny how much it sounds like a David and the Giants ballad. It is also the only over the top syrupy CCM song on the entire album and seems like it was written just for the radio. That is really the ONLY song not up to par with the rest of the album. The rest of the album is really that good. There is not a weak song to be found anywhere. Highlights include the title track, Moon Eyes and You Can’t Fool Me. This is a serious AYSO and one can only hope to find one to own. You don’t want to know what I paid for mine 20 years later!

Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – Moon Eyes – 4:03
2 – Coming Attraction – 2:25
3 – Can’t Fool Me – 3:43
4 – It’s Real – 3:52
5 – Someday – 3:39
6 – I Need You – 3:34
7 – Running – 3:00
8 – Is Everything Possible? – 3:46
9 – Can’t Live Without Your Love – 3:56
10 – Working Man – 3:06

Credits
Backing Vocals – Bill Batstone, Darrell Cook, Jon Phelps, Kay Roebuck, Keith Edwards, Lewis McVay, Ronda Taff, Ted French
Bass – Darrell Cook, Greg McNelly
Co-producer – Lewis McVay
Drums – Keith Edwards, Larrie Londin
Electric Guitar – Bill Batstone, Jon Goin
Engineer – Greg McNeily, Jonathan David Brown
Engineer, Mixed By – Gary Platt
Keyboards – Jeff Lamms, John Shriner
Lead Guitar – James Cloke, Jon Goin, Wayne Braust
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Lewis McVay
Mastered By – Mike Fuller
Mixed By – Greg McNeily
Photography – Dianne McVay
Producer – Jon Phelps, Ted French (tracks: B4)
Saxophone – Ronnie Eades
Synthesizer – Loyd Boldman, Rob Watson, Shane Keister

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – McVay Publishing
Copyright (c) – Between The Lines Music

Ben Antell Band – Waters – 1982

Ben Antell Put together this Finnish band in 1980 and they set to learning and rehearsing several songs Ben had written. In 1981 they went into Rexi studio where they recorded this album. As they were paying for the studio time they kept it to two days but this meant that many songs had to be completely recorded “Live”. The album “Waters” was subsequently released in Sweden, Finland, and Canada. Unfortunately the studio burnt down so the only remaining copy of the studio recording was on 1/4 inch tape. They were able to remix it as best they could do and it has been re-released on Spotify and other locations. I would describe it as having a late 70’s sound with very strong lead guitars. This was all we got from them apart from a 2006 release but it’s worth taking the time to listen to.

Tracklist
1 – You’re So Real – 3:50
2 – Au 24 – 3:18
3 – Nardus Op2 – 7:42
4 – Waters – 6:39
5 – Quo – 4:31
6 – Always One – 4:38
7 – The Calling Of The Night-Bird – 7:21
8 – Mountain “I Am” – 6:04

Credits
Mikko Rintanen – Keyboards
Sixten Sandvik – Drums / Percussion
Henrik Berg – Bass
Heikki Koivisto – Lead Guitar
Ben Antell – Lead and Rhythm Guitar, Vocals

Crumbächer – Incandescent – 1985

Though often assumed to be a German band Crumbacher was actually a U.S. band whose lead singer’s name was Stephen Crumbächer. Incandescent was recorded as a short demo but when Broken Records heard it they requested the band cut a few more songs to make it a full length album. Crumbacher were probably the first synthpop band in the CCM genre. There’s really not much to say about this album, it had a German synthpop sound and was actually quite good for this style of music. Point of trivia is that the album was produced by Ojo Taylor from the band

Tracklist
1 – Understudy – 3:25
2 – Infrared/X-Ray Eyes – 4:16
3 – Glowing In The Dark – 5:12
4 – So Strange – 5:41
5 – It Don’t Matter – 4:45
6 – Jamie – 4:46
7 – Sweet By And By – 3:29
8 – Track You Down – 5:16

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dawn Wisner-Johnson, Jimmy Wisner, Stephen Crumbächer
Design [Cover], Layout – Ed McTaggart
Drums – Jimmy Wisner
Effects [Sepecial Effects Compositing] – Ken Baley
Guitar – Dan Hohulin
Keyboards – Dawn Wisner-Johnson, Stephen Crumbächer
Lead Vocals – Stephen Crumbächer
Mixed By – Chris Taylor
Photography By [Back Cover] – Rich La Salle
Photography By [Front Cover] – Bill Valenzuela
Producer – O-Joe Taylor

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Broken Records – 1985
Copyright (c) – Broken Records – 1985
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Sound Affair
Mixed At – Whitefield Studios

Messiah – Final Warning – 1984

This 1984 album is another example of early Christian metal. At the time the genre was still being downplayed by record companies and distributors. Because of this the vinyl version of this album is highly sought after due to it’s very short run. It is rumoured that the vinyl run was limited to 1000 copies so they can command up to $1000 now. Luckily Retroactive Records re-released the album on CD in 2010 so you can get a copy more easily. This was Messiah’s first official studio release though there had been demo’s. This is a true metal album and in my opinion was ahead of its time. While not my style this is a great band that knew what they were doing. The production on the album was a little weak but in a way that makes it sound even better.

Tracklist
1 – Who’s To Blame – 3:02
2 – Outta Control – 4:25
3 – Where Are You – 4:03
4 – The Choice – 3:37
5 – Heavenly Metal – 5:42
6 – Mistaken Identity – 4:50
7 – Keep Searching – 4:17
8 – Lucifer – 6:04
9 – Final Warning – 5:46

Credits
Bass – Pete Smoltz
Cover, Artwork, Layout, Illustration – Mike Demske
Engineer – George Hellow
Engineer [Assistant] – Chuck Reynolds
Keyboards – Dan Knowles
Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Scott Wood
Lead Vocals – Chuck Gugel
Management – Nutcracker Productions Co. Inc.
Percussion – Keith Behnke
Producer – Chuck Gugel, Scott Wood
Written-By – Chuck Gugel, Mike Lopez (tracks: B3, B4), Pete Smoltz (tracks: A2, A5), Scott Wood (tracks: A1 to B2)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Viniculum Music Publishing Inc.
Copyright (c) – Viniculum Music Publishing Inc.
Distributed By – Nutcracker Productions Co. Inc.
Produced For – IHM Records
Recorded At – Polaris Recording Studios

Amy Grant – In Concert Volume Two – 1981

This was the second of 2 albums featuring Amy Grant in concert released in 1981. It was recorded at Mabee Hall in Tulsa Oklahoma and Lloyd Noble Center in Norman Oklahoma. It featured four “new” songs: “I’m Gonna Fly”, “You Gave Me Love” which was a cover of a BJ Thomas song, “Fill Me With Your Love”, and “Nobody Loves Me Like You” which was a song by DeGarmo & Key and featured DeGarmo & Key. Wikipedia states “Although the two should have been issued as a double album, budget problems forced the two to be released separately.” This is absurd, there was no shortage of money at Myrrh and A&M for their gold mine performer so I’d love to hear the real reason.

Tracklist
1 – I’m Gonna Fly – 4:11
2 – Too Late – 4:41
3 – So Glad – 4:23
4 – You Gave Me Love – 3:17
5 – Fill Me With Your Love – 2:44
6 – What A Difference You’ve Made – 2:33
7 – If I Have To Die – 3:31
8 – That’s The Day – 3:29
9 – Look What Has Happened To Me – 3:12
10 – Keep It On Going – 1:03
11 – Nobody Loves Me Like You Do – 3:26

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Vocals – Billy Sprague
Backing Vocals – Dave Durham, Gary Pigg, Jan Harris, Teresa Ellis
Bass – Mike Brignardello
Drums – Gregg Morrow
Electric Guitar, Vocals – Dana Key
Engineer [Recording and Mix Engineer] – Jack Joseph Puig
Executive-Producer – Dan Harrell, Mike Blanton
Keyboards – Eddie DeGarmo
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Glen Wexler
Producer – Brown Bannister
Recorded By [Mobile Recording] – Malcolm Harper
Remastered By – Steve Hall
Synthesizer [Oberheim] – Gerry Peters

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Amy Grant Productions
Copyright (c) – Amy Grant Productions
Licensed To – Sparrow Records
Distributed By – EMI CMG Distribution
Recorded At – Mabee Center
Recorded At – Lloyd Noble Center, Norman
Remixed At – Mama Jo’s
Remastered At – Future Disc
Pressed By – Cinram, Richmond, IN