1986 – Page 3 – Real 80s CCM

Saint – Time’s End – 1986

The second album from Saint is often considered their best by their hardcore fans. They definitely turned up the Metal for this album. The only lineup change was the drummer with Brian Willis replacing Mike Lowery. Strangely the band went through a drummer every album for their first six albums. While I personally loved their first album, and consider it my favourite, most never even heard of it. Instead this was their first exposure to Saint. The album cover was a little controversial with it’s depiction of beasts but I believe they were trying to represent “Time’s End” visually with a depiction of the Antichrist, at least that’s my theory. The cover was well received by Christian Metal heads partly because it resembled a secular cover which is also just my theory. Anyway this was one of the original CCM metal albums and deserves a place in infamy because of that. The album was reissued several times over the years. The 2002 version contains Live Cornerstone tracks as a bonus and is apparently very well remixed.

Tracklist
1 – In The Night – 3:25
2 – Island Prisoner – 4:18
3 – Through You – 4:13
4 – Space Cruiser – 5:15
5 – Times End – 4:42
6 – Primed And Ready – 3:47
7 – Destroyers – 3:17
8 – Phantom Of The Galaxy – 2:34
9 – Steel Killer – 3:43

Credits
Bass, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Richard Lynch
Cover – Jeff Spencer
Drums – Brian Willis
Engineer – Dave “R” Lore
Guitar, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – John Mahan
Lead Vocals – Josh Kramer
Producer – John Mahan, Richard Lynch

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Nimbus, Virginia
Distributed By – Refuge Music Group
Recorded At – Falcon Studios
Published By – Snellsong

T-Bone Burnett – T-Bone Burnett – 1986

T-Bone changes it up a bit for this album. It’s essentially an acoustic guitar country album. That said T-Bone is one of those artists that it is difficult to squeeze into a particular style category. I categorize all music flowing through the studio here but in the end I have given up on categorizing T-Bone. Instead I have just categorized all his work as T-Bone. I had to do a similar thing with Larry Norman. So far that’s the only 2 artists I have done this with. The album has a bit of an odd label lineage. It was first rereleased on Dot Records which is a pretty oddball label but just the nest year it ended up on MCA Records. Finally it showed up on Universal which is just odd. Anyway if You’re a T-Bone fan you will like this one but if this is the first T-Bone album you have listened to I suspect you won’t enjoy it much and quite frankly it’s not really representative of his work so give a different album a listen before deciding if you like him or not.

Tracklist
1 – River Of Love – 3:30
2 – Poison Love – 2:33
3 – Shake Yourself Loose – 3:00
4 – No Love At All – 2:54
5 – Annabelle Lee – 5:01
6 – I Remember (Instrumental) – 2:21
7 – I Remember – 3:39
8 – Little Daughter – 3:29
9 – Oh No Darling – 3:49
10 – Time – 4:59
11 – Little Daughter (Instrumental) – 3:23
12 – Song To A Dead Man – 3:34
13 – Bird That I Held In My Hand – 3:04

Credits
Dobro, Lap Steel Guitar – Jerry Douglas
Double Bass [String Bass] – Jerry Scheff
Fiddle – Byron Berline
Guitar, Accordion, Vocals – David Hidalgo
Producer – David Miner
Recorded By – Rik Pekkonen
Snare – Steve Duncan
Vocals – Billy Swan

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – MCA Records, Inc.
Copyright (c) – MCA Records, Inc.
Manufactured By – MCA Records Canada
Distributed By – MCA Records Canada

Lone Justice – BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert – 1993

Though this album wasn’t released until 1993 it was recorded in 1986 shortly after the release of their album “Shelter”. I’m a little mystified as to why it took so long to release but perhaps it was just originally for airing on radio. But really that’s just a guess as I don’t know the history of these BBC radio concerts. I also found it odd the release was in 93 after the band had already slipped from the public eye. That said they had dedicated fans who must have been thrilled to see this album released. The album has live versions of 5 tracks from their first album, 2 tracks from Shelter, and most excitingly 4 previously unreleased tracks. Lone Justice were an excellent live band and I’m sure most of their dedicated fans hold this album as one of their favorites.

Tracklist
1 – Wait – 4:37
2 – Sweet, Sweet Baby – 5:24
3 – I Ain’t Got No Home In This World – 2:32
4 – The Gift – 4:19
5 – Wheels – 6:28
6 – Shelter – 5:07
7 – Belfry – 6:04
8 – I Found Love – 4:19
9 – Heaven – 6:28
10 – Inspiration – 3:52
11 – Sweet Jane – 9:03

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Gregg Sutton
Compiled By, Coordinator – Jo Bourhill
Drums – Rudy Richman
Guitar – Shane Fontaine
Keyboards – Bruce Brody
Liner Notes – Alan Gardiner
Producer – Pete Dauncey
Sleeve – Coles McConnell Design
Vocals, Guitar – Maria McKee

Companies, etc.
Record Company – BBC Enterprises Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – BBC
Copyright (c) – Windsong International
Published By – Warner/Chappell
Published By – MCA
Published By – BMG
Published By – Tro Essex Music Ltd.
Published By – Copyright Control
Published By – Screen Gems-EMI
Recorded At – The Town And Country Club, London
Glass Mastered At – Mayking Records

Gideon’s Army – Warrior Of Love – 1986

The second album from Gideon’s Army heard them stray from their 70’s influenced sound to a very pop oriented hard rock sound. I was actually surprised at their new sound. The first album was pretty good but nothing special but this album does have something special. Admittedly this is a very commercial sound but wow is it well done. This album would have fit in perfectly with the commercial radio Metal/Rock sound of the era. I’m actually kind of surprised I had never heard of these guy’s back in the 80’s. This album they switched over to A&R Records who were essentially a all in one place to record, produce, and press an album. I don’t believe they had any distribution deals for this album so I don’t know how widely it was heard. Luckily it was re-released in 2013 by Retroactive Records. I am assuming most of you missed this one in 1986 so today’s the day you should listen to it so you don’t miss out.

Tracklist
1 – Moment By Moment – 3:33
2 – It’s Your Love – 4:20
3 – Warriors Of Love – 4:26
4 – No Fun – 3:44
5 – I Know Someone – 4:18
6 – Runaway – 4:19
7 – I Know You Could See – 3:33
8 – Video – 4:55
9 – Backsliding Brother – 4:27
10 – Face To Face – 4:01

Credits
Jerry Anderson – Drums, Vocals
Dave Angeles – Lead Guitar
Ron Davis – Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Producer
Mark Greves – Bass, Blues Harp, Vocals
Joseph Linn – Percussion
Tom Long – Synthesizer
Doug Naruo – Piano, Hammond B-3, Percussion, Arp String, Oberheim, Sequential
Nor Sivad – Effects

Motherlode – The Sanctuary – 1986

Motherlode were another fantastic Rock & Roll band out of Sweden. Though referred to as a Metal band I would actually classify them as a Hard Rock band but I agree that Sonny Larsson’s vocals sound particularly Metal. I can not see that this album was released anywhere other than Sweden though strangely the band were big in Japan. This was the only album from the band as they broke up shortly after the albums release. In 2010 however Sonny Larsson and Tom Nilsson got back together and used the bands name for an album. After the 1987 dissolution of Motherlode and the dissolution of Björn Stigsson’s band Leviticus the two of them came together as XT. I will review that album in a few weeks. This album was released in the secular market but it has several Christian songs and they are good ones. This one really deserves a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Moving Emotion – 5:22
2 – He’s Coming Back – 3:30
3 – Wise Man – 4:38
4 – Downtown – 4:57
5 – The Rock Of Ages – 4:05
6 – Line Of Thought – 5:34
7 – (Singin’ About) Rock’n Roll – 4:25
8 – Father Of Lies – 7:57
9 – The Sanctuary – 2:11
10 – Live It Out – 3:35

Credits
Art Direction, Illustration – Rodney Matthews
Backing Vocals, Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Kit Woolven
Bass – Peter Rundström
Drums – Martin Hedberg
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Tom Nilsson
Engineer [Assistant] – Jonas Kuling
Keyboards – Johan Lindström, Mark Stanway
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Sonny Larsson
Management – Dennis Karlsson
Mastered By, Lacquer Cut By [Cutting] – Ian Cooper
Music By – Motherlode
Photography By – Anders Erkman, Göran Lindsjöö

Companies, etc.
Published By – Active Music Förlag
Published By – Sonet Music AB
Recorded At – Studio Kuling
Mixed At – Studio Kuling
Mastered At – The Town House
Lacquer Cut At – The Town House
Printed By – SIB-Tryck AB, Norsborg

Chris Eaton – Vision – 1986

One of the most important British imports to Christian music, Chris Eaton began his CCM career as a member of the band LYRIX with friend Mark Williamson. He stayed with the band as they changed their name to the Mark Williamson Band, but soon left to seek a songwriting and solo music career. His arrangement of “Little Town of Bethlehem” has been covered by Cliff Richard, Michael W Smith and Amy Grant. He also had songs recorded by Russ Taff, Susan Ashton and Margaret Becker. Eaton’s first solo record, Vision was a revelation of great blue eyed soul pop music infused with contemporary dance styles. This album would musically influence the world of CCM for the next few years including Russ Taff and Amy Grant as their musical style reflected similar style. In fact, the title track would become a hit for Taff on his monstrously popular Medals album. Great keyboard driven pop rock and sentimental ballads, very reminiscent of country mate Cliff Richard. Chris has gone on to a great and lengthy career as an artist and songwriter. In fact I saw him last year on tour with Amy Grant on her “Lead Me On” reunion tour and he was a good as ever.

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

Tracklist
1 – Vision – 4:07
2 – Don’t Underestimate My Love – 4:38
3 – When My Heart Breaks – 5:04
4 – Golden Rule – 4:31
5 – Hold Back The Tears – 4:24
6 – Love For The Common Man – 4:34
7 – Talk To Me – 4:13
8 – This Is For Real – 4:23
9 – Don’t Play Games – 4:40
10 – It Was Love – 5:20

Credits
Arranged By – Orion Crawford
Art Direction, Design – Kent Hunter, Thomas Ryan Design
Backing Vocals – Don Snow, Mark Williamson, Nick Glennie-Smith, Thom Kelly, Tommy Funderburk
Bass – Nathan East, Neil Stubenhaus, Pino Palladino
Drums – Carlos Vega, Charlie Morgan, Paul Leim
Executive-Producer – Dan Harrell, Michael Blanton, Stuart Ongley
Guitar – Dann Huff, Michael Landau, Paul Jackson, Phil Palmer
Horns – Mel Collins
Keyboards – Dave Cooke, Larry Williams, Rhett Lawrence, Robbie Buchanan, Robin Smith
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Mixed By – John Potoker
Percussion – Lenny Castro
Photography By – Larry Williams
Producer – Brown Bannister
Producer, Engineer – Jack Joseph Puig
Written-By, Backing Vocals – Chris Eaton

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Reunion Records
Copyright (c) – Reunion Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Recorded At – The Bennett House
Recorded At – Bullet Recording
Recorded At – Ridge Farm Studios
Recorded At – Snake Ranch
Recorded At – Paradise Studios
Recorded At – Marcus Recording Studios
Recorded At – Hot Nights Studios, London
Recorded At – Utopia Studios
Recorded At – Mayfair Studios
Mixed At – Blue Jay Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Pressed By – Electrosound Group Midwest, Inc.

Randy Stonehill – The Wild Frontier – 1986

In 1986 Randy woke up his recording sessions and brought us back to a sound he was always good at. Randy can create a rock concert just by showing up, and for the Wild Frontier, he showed up. Side 1 starts off with a slough of tracks that are almost Springsteen-esque but since we remember Randy’s roots from Welcome To Paradise in 1976, we know he was always capable of this. The Wild Frontier is in some ways a triumphant return. Side 2 is a little more of Randy’s personal style, but still much edgier than the two albums that he released before this one. DA’s Jerry Chamberlain provides guitar for this album, and a most of the other musicians are his familiar band-mates. Rick Cua plays bass on some tracks, as does Dave Perkins, who also produced the album. Tom Howard is on keys as usual, as well as Rob Watson.

Tracklist
1 – The Wild Frontier – 4:12
2 – Here Come The Big Guitars – 3:45
3 – The Dying Breed – 4:21
4 – Words On The Wind – 5:47
5 – What’s My Line – 3:13
6 – What Do You Want From Life – 3:54
7 – Get Together – 3:54
8 – Defender – 3:05
9 – Evangeline – 5:45
10 – Hope Of Glory – 4:55

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Dave Perkins, Randy Stonehill
Arranged By [Brass Arrangement] – Tom Howard
Art Direction [Cover Art Direction], Design – Roland Young
Backing Vocals – Chris Harris (2), Dave Perkins, Gary Chapman, Jerry Chamberlain, Peter Case, Peter Noone, Tonio K.
Bass Guitar – Dave Perkins, Rick Cua
Contractor [Horn Contractor] – John Lunden
Drums – Mike Mead
Electric Guitar – Dave Perkins, Jerry Chamberlain, Jerry McPherson, Randy Stonehill
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Malcolm Harper
Engineer [Engineered By] – Dave Perkins, Dave Schober
Engineer [Second Engineers] – Bob Salcedo, Casey McMackin, Dan Garcia, Gene Ford, Jon Ingoldsby, Matt Freeman
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware
Keyboards – Reese “Mr. B-3” Wynans
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Dave Perkins, David Schober, Randy Stonehill
Percussion – Alex MacDougall, Dave Perkins, Keith Edwards
Photography By [Cover Photography] – Howard Rosenberg
Producer [Produced By] – Dave Perkins
Programmed By [Programmer] – Peter Robb
Synthesizer – Dave Perkins, Rob Watson, Tom Howard
Vocals – Randy Stonehill

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Music Grinder Studios
Recorded At – The Reelsound Truck
Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s
Pressed By – DADC – DIDX-010665
Published By – Stonehillian Music
Published By – Word Music
Published By – Undone Tunes
Published By – Irving Music, Inc.

Daniel Band – Rise Up – 1986

Canada’s Daniel Band continue their Hard Rock sound on this 1986 release. One thing I like about Daniel Band is their consistency. There is a flow from album to album without any of them getting boring. That’s not an easy thing to do but I think they mastered it. This album is another Rock & Roll masterpiece. It dances on the edge of Heavy Metal but stay’s on the Hard Rock side. As I understand it this album did not sell that well which quite surprises me as to me it feels like one of their better albums but I guess other saw and heard it differently. Luckily this album was rereleased in 2012 by Retroactive Records and they included a fantastic bonus track. It’s a cover of Darrell Mansfield’s “That’s All Right” and it is done right. I have no idea when it was recorded as I can’t find any info on it but it’s there and it’s great and we have included it here. So as I so often say, if you missed this one in the 80’s give it a chance now, you won’t be disappointed.

Tracklist
1 – Bethel – 3:06
2 – Rise Up – 3:51
3 – Don’t Walk Away – 3:49
4 – Paradise – 4:05
5 – Fight Back – 4:34
6 – Call His Name – 3:37
7 – Rock You – 4:08
8 – My Children – 5:32
9 – Right Heart – 3:50
10 – That’s Alright – 3:19

Credits
Matt DelDuca – Drums
Bill Findlay – Songwriter, Rhythm Guitar, Strings, Synthesizer, Background Vocals
Raymond Howell – Songwriter
Dan McCabe – Songwriter, Bass and Fretless Bass, Vocal Harmonies, Lead Vocals
Tony Rossi – Songwriter, String Arranger, Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Electric 12 String, Acoustic Guitar, Lead and Background Vocals

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Refuge Music Group
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Refuge Records
Copyright (c) – Refuge Records

Daniel Amos – The Revelation – 1986

It’s actually a little tough to classify this album. What we have here is a complete remix of side 2 of DA’s 2nd album, Shotgun Angel with one additional track, “Soon”. In between and mixed into the tracks are readings of the Book of Revelation by Calvary Chapel (Costa Mesa) Pastor Chuck Smith. I guess you could say this is a bit of a conceptual album. Because of this I actually chose to upload the album as Side 1 and Side 2 as I felt breaking up the individual tracks actually interfered with the flow of the narration and as such the album. I think it’s best enjoyed as a whole rather than it’s parts. The remixes are actually very good but as a whole the idea didn’t work for me. I enjoyed listening to it once but found I didn’t want a round 2. That said it definitely deserves at least a one time listen through.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPcTOx34g9XTtot7Ztii3Tn2gn7WCwFSW

Tracklist

Side1
Finale: Bereshith Overture – 6:03
Lady Goodbye – 3:59
The Whistler – 5:23
He’s Gonna Do A Number On You – 2:29
Better – 6:49

Side 2
Sail Me Away – 6:28
Posse In The Sky – 6:23
Soon – 11:03

Credits
Accordion – Frank Marocco
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Artwork – Jon Fraze
Backing Vocals – Ed McTaggart, Jerry Chamberlain, Mark Cook, Marty Dieckmeyer, Terry Taylor
Bass Guitar – Marty Dieckmeyer
Compilation Producer – Terry Scott Taylor
Conductor – Jim Stipech
Drums – Ed McTaggart
Guitar – Jerry Chamberlain, Terry Taylor
Keyboards – Mark Cook
Keyboards [Album Segways] – Terry Taylor
Layout – Ed McTaggart
Lead Vocals – Jerry Chamberlain (tracks: A2), Mark Cook (tracks: A4), Terry Taylor
Mastered By – John Matousek
Narrator – Pastor Chuck Smith
Orchestrated By – Jim Stipech
Pedal Steel Guitar – Dom Franco
Percussion – Ed McTaggart
Percussion [Additional] – Alex MacDougall
Producer – Daniel Amos, Jonathan David Brown
Remix – Doug Doyle, Terry Taylor

Keith Thomas – Kaleidoscope – 1986

You might be listening to this thinking you don’t know Keith Thomas but I can guarantee you’ve heard him or his songs. Keith was/is a prolific studio musician and song writer. He has worked for hundreds (yes I do mean hundreds). I’d offer some names here but there really are just too many but in the Christian market they include Amy Grant, Sandi Patty, and Carman plus many many more. This was his second and last album. Like so many high end studio musicians and writers they find great success right up until they try to release their own album. That said in this case Keith really should have had greater success. This album is fantastic and the quality is there through all 8 tracks. The album did have a CCM single with “It’s Only Natural” making it to #4 which is pretty darn good. The album is very synth heavy and at time has a cool funk feel. This is another one that if you missed it in the 80’s you need to give this one a listen now.

Tracklist
1 – Te Deum – 4:18
2 – It’s Only Natural – 3:54
3 – Pinwheel – 5:07
4 – Imagine – 4:31
5 – Home Away From Home – 3:58
6 – Arms Of Love – 4:04
7 – Suspicious Heart – 3:54
8 – Kaleidoscope – 5:55

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Bill Brunt
Backing Vocals – Donna McElroy, BeBe Winans, Greg Guidry, Lisa Bevill
Bass – Mike Brignardello, Jimmie Lee Sloas
Drum Programming – Mark Hammond
Featuring – BeBe Winans, Donna McElroy, Greg Guidry
Guitar – Jon Goin, Tom Hemby, James Hollihan
Illustration – Jim Osborn
Keyboards [Programming] – Brett Perry
Lyrics By – Paul Smith, BeBe Winans, Brett Perry, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Greg Guidry, Keith Thomas
Music By – Keith Thomas
Photography By – Dean Dixon
Producer – Keith Thomas
Recorded By, Mixed By – Jeff Balding
Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Synthesizer – Keith Thomas
Written-by – Keith Thomas

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio
Designed At – Private Eye Studio