Category: Demo

Fighter – Live Mix (Demo) – 1990?

Apparently this is a copy of the tape sent out by the band to record labels. It is supposedly a direct copy of the original 1/4 reel demos. Girder later re engineered thee tapes and release them as The Fighter Demos in 2019. There is one track on here that didn’t make it to the Girder release and that is track 3 “If You Want Love”. I assume it is because the original copy was so bad quality that there was no saving it. Nothing wrong with the track but the original engineering on this track is distorted. Actually for the main part the engineering is poor at best but I have done what I can to save them and as a result you’re gonna hear the Real 80’s polish treatment.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCycC8iQL8ek

Tracklist
1 – Mr. Nice Guy – 4:07
2 – The Waiting – 3:31
3 – If You Want Love – 3:34
4 – I Saw Jesus Through Your Eyes – 3:49
5 – Running the Race – 4:06
6 – Stop Look Listen – 4:00
7 – Fighting Fire With Fire – 3:18
8 – Do What You Want – 3:34
9 – Star One – 4:33
10 – Jamie – 4:00

Credits
Backing Vocals – Amy Wolter, Billy Heller, Jim Wolter, Mark Pence, Sean Murphy
Bass – Jim Wolter
Drums – Sean Murphy
Guitar – Billy Heller
Keyboards – Mark Pence
Lead Vocals – Amy Wolter, Sean Murphy

The Cry – What it Means to Be – 1988

To say there is very little info on this release on the internet is putting it mildly. But for the gang over at Christian Tape Underground – (https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com/2019/04/13/the-cry-what-it-means-to-be/) I would know nothing about these guys. I discovered them as they were on Doug Van Pelt infamous sampler Cool Tunes. They were also on another infamous sampler, Light From The Underground Volume 1. I can’t find that anyone in the band went on to work on any other project except for lead vocalist Chris Wright who went on to do an album with secular band King Friday. Okay, let’s get onto the album. The album has obvious U2 and The Alarm influences and wow did they nail it. This is easily one of the best Demos I have heard lately. I would have loved to have seen these guys back in the day. CTU say he had a chance to see them in Austin TX which immediately caused much jealousy from me. I like the whole demo, but without a doubt, my favourite track is the lead track “There Is One”. I added this to my regular rotation before I even finished the first listen through. Yes, it’s that good. If you’re a fan of the U2/The Alarm sound you absolutely have to hear this one!!!!!

Tracklist
1 – There Is One – 3:32
2 – Just One Way – 3:18
3 – Distant Change – 4:59
4 – Greater Love – 4:09
5 – Walk Away – 3:35
6 – What It Means To Be – 5:30

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Melvyn Goveas
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Jim Echels
Keyboards, Vocals – Andy Koehl
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica – Chris Wright
Guitar solo Track 3 – Steve Becker

Sentry – Breakin’ Free – 1988

If you aren’t from the Massachusetts area you may not have heard of these guys but if you were around in the late 80’s in that area you knew these guys and probably loved them. Sentry we’re an Arena Rock band from Quincy, Massachusetts that got together in the early 80’s. The original members were Dave McCreary on lead vocals and guitar, Steve Knepper on bass, Tim Knepper on keys, and Tim Jenkins on drums. In 1985 Jeff Stewart, replaced Tim Jenkins on drums. The band played the live scene up and down the east coast and that arena rock sound sold well in nightclubs of the era. This is the first of 2 demo’s for them. It represents their sound very well and is well mixed and produced though held back a bit by the quality of the cassettes. It was re-released in 2026 as part of a band anthology thanks to Roxx Records and can be purchased on their website; https://roxxrecords.com/

Tracklist
1 – Shout The Word – 4:45
2 – Real Love – 4:37
3 – To Go My Own Way – 5:20
4 – Shattered Lives – 4:17

Credits
Bass – Steve Knepper
Drums, Backing Vocals – Jeffrey Stewart
Guitar, Lead Vocals – Dave McCreary
Keyboards – Tim Knepper

Michael Sweet – Demo – 1992

This was an early teaser release from Michael of 4 tracks from his future self titled album. These have completely different mixes/production than the album and I’ll be blunt…… these versions are better. Not just a little better but substantially better. I have no idea why these initial versions were rejected but it has just solidified my opinion that music industry people that make such decisions aren’t any better qualified to make those decisions than you and I. On the opening track “I Think You Hear Me Knockin'” is a single on the EP but on the album it’s just a good filler track. Anyway I’m glad I was encouraged to grab this one out of the stack for a listen. While I love Michael’s solo album I far prefer the tracks as they were produced here. The lesson for record companies that they will not listen to? Leave stuff alone, sometimes the best route of action is to just stop.

Tracklist
1 – I Think You Hear Me Knockin’ – 3:42
2 – All I Wanna Do Is Love You – 4:21
3 – Tomorrow, Tonight – 4:18
4 – Someday – 4:30

Credits
Written-By – Michael Sweet

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Sweet 2 C Music

Mortal Wish – Wish Fifteen – 1988

This is one of the early of many many demos from Mortal Wish who would become Mortal as we know them now. Many of these demo’s have the same tracks but with different mixes. Jerome Fontamillas and Jyro Xhan were serial recorders and cataloged the bands work over the years. This demo is more new wave than the industrial sound we would be used to hearing from them. This album has more a The Cure sound and I absolutely love it. In fact I far prefer this sound than their sound as Mortal. Now in fairness the new wave sound was getting pretty well played out by the time of their first Mortal album in 1992 so the decision to lean industrial metal was a good decision. But for me I love this sound and there’s not a bad track on this demo for me.

Tracklist
1 – Communion – 6:54
2 – Little-Mis-Obvious – 5:31
3 – Wish 15 (Secret Mix) – 5:16
4 – Somewhere Summer – 5:12
5 – Your Heart – 3:47
6 – Paper Plane – 5:15

Credits
Jerome Fontamillas
Jyro Xhan
Ray Tongpo
Wilson Peralta

White Ray – The First Sin – 1989

White Ray was the name for Killed By Cain before they were signed to their first record deal. They had a few demo’s and this is their second one. I don’t really know much about the history of the band but the guys over at Christian Tape Underground say they had connections with Bride and yes you can hear it here. I’ll be honest I far prefer this work to their Killed By Cain work. This has a throaty sound and is close to arena rock in some places. As I always say, this genre of music wasn’t for me but these guys were tight and knew what they were doing. There was so much talent in the Christian Metal genre it still surprises me as I never listened to it in the day. Matthew Hunt over at Retroactive Records released all of the White Ray demo’s on CD in 2019 so this recording is around in the used market. Anyway here’s some raw metal done right.

Images courtesy of – Christian Tape Underground

Tracklist
1 – The First Sin – 5:05
2 – Blood On My Hands – 4:38
3 – Charades Behind the Glass – 5:10
4 – To Die Is To Gain – 4:53

Credits
John Warren – Vocals
Anthony Bowling – Guitar
Steve Curtsinger – Bass
Shaun Hansbrough – Drums

Hoi Polloi – Only Flying – 1996

This is the last thing we got from Hoi Polloi after what I consider a great run. I’m pretty sure the sales numbers wouldn’t consider it a great run but I’m referring to the talent and the songs which I consider a great run. This demo is perfectly situated in 1996. I have heard these guys since their early days as Jamboree up until this album and they progressed over that time with the trends. Anyway so here we have a pretty guitar heavy grunge feel and while not my personal favourite style this album was perfect for the time and I only wish it would have lead to an album. But alas this was it for Hoi Polloi. Some trivia, per the guys over at Christian Tape Underground (https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com/) there is also a version of this demo simply entitled “Demo”. According to them “If I Was Juliet” and “Only Flying” are trimmed differently between the two releases. Thanks for the music Hoi Polloi.

Tracklist
1 – Simply Super – 4:14
2 – Only Flying – 3:55
3 – If I Was Juliet – 5:14

Credits
Bass – Andrew Horst
Drums – Matt McGuyer
Guitar – Troy Daugherty
Lead Vocals, Words By – Jenny Gullen

Say-So – Say-So (Demo) – 1986

This is yet another demo from Jim and Kim Thomas who were calling themselves Say-So at this point. As near as I can tell this is their second demo/album. The first one was using their real names so I think this is the first one with the Say-So name. That said I am not sure of this. Almost everything I know about these guys is from the crew over at Christian Tape Underground and even they aren’t too sure of all the demos/albums and if they don’t know for sure no one knows for sure. Be sure to check their website as they seem to know the most about these albums. https://christiantapeunderground.wordpress.com/tag/say-so/ As for the demo it is yet another very well engineered and produced demo. I can’t find any info on who engineered and produced it but it very professional as all their work really is. I actually can’t even find a list of who helped them in the studio for this one. Anyway this demo has a little less synth than some of their subsequent work but the vocals are very strong and I love all four tracks. No B sides here.

Tracklist
1 – Fire Song – 3:30
2 – Strengthening My Grip – 3:24
3 – Celebration Waiting – 3:44
4 – Say-So – 4:33

Malachia – Under The Blade – 1986

Malachia released this demo on vinyl in 1986. All the tracks, except for the narrative track, appeared on their first album released in 1987. There were only about 200 copies of this vinyl pressed so it’s a pretty rare piece of history. That said there are several copies available on Discogs today. The demo was re-released in 2021 on CD so a copy can be had pretty easily now. We’re posting this album as the versions of the songs here versus the album are different but I think they were actually re-mixed and not re-recorded for the 1987 album. If you want to learn a little more about the band read our review of the 1987 album here.

Malachia – Red Sunrise – 1987

Tracklist
1 – Narration – 0:15
2 – Heaven Or Hell – 3:22
3 – Mark Of The Beast – 3:41
4 – Master’s Call – 5:00
5 – Let It Go – 3:10
6 – Red Sunrise – 3:46
7 – In Christ We Rock – 4:55

Credits
Bass – Wade A.Little
Drums – Dave Devaughn
Executive Producer – Bill Bafford
Guitar – Jeffrey James
Keyboards – Steve Ayola
Producer – Wayde Production
Remastered By – Rob Colwell
Vocals, Guitar – Ken Pike

Force 3 – Opposing Forces – 1987

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Force 3 only had one album but they did have this demo. There is a lot of debate on when this demo was released but given all my reading I have settled with 1987.I could be entirely wrong however that’s pretty rare. As for the album it has 2 tracks that aren’t on their album and was released on a double sided cassette. There is not credits or year out there so I can’t tell you much more than that. If you’re a fan of Charlie Wilson here’s a couple bonus tracks for you.

Tracklist
1 – Opposing Forces – 6:32
2 – Devil In Disguise – 5:57

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