This was the final studio album from Daniel Band. While I prefer Straight Ahead this album probably comes 2nd for me. It is a quite heavy rock/metal album with a variety of sub styles through the album. I was actually a little surprised at the varying styles but it works. Now the one complaint about this album from everyone was the poor production quality. Luckily it was re-released in 2012 with new mastering and a bonus track. This upload is that version. In 1990 Toni Rossi put out a blues album “Love In The City”. In October 2011, the band was awarded the GMA (Gospel Music Association of Canada) Lifetime Achievement Award recognizing their influence on Christian rock. Anyway, if you like your metal with a strong commercial feel this is your kind of album.
Tracklist 1 – Black Or White – 3:02 2 – Sins Of The Heart – 3:22 3 – Hold On – 3:19 4 – Long Time – 5:11 5 – Party In Heaven – 2:58 6 – We Need Love – 3:50 7 – Greedy Little Hands – 3:50 8 – Things Are Changin’ – 4:03 9 – Running Out Of Time – 4:14 2012 Bonus Track 10 – One – 4:23
Credits Cover, Illustration – Mellissa McCarthy Drums – Matt DelDuca Layout – Jeff Spencer Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Tony Rossi Lead Vocals – Tony Rossi (tracks: B4) Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar, Harmony Vocals – Dan McCabe Mastered By – George Graves Producer – Daniel Band Producer, Engineer – Mark Wright Rhythm Guitar, Keyboards – Bill Findlay
Strangely of all the work Ojo did over the years this is his only solo album. Considering his name is on so many Christian albums I found this surprising. He put this album out while still working with Undercover and I’m a bit surprised he found the time. Also strange is that Michael Knott (Lifesavers) sang lead vocals on the track “The Witch Hunt” which some consider the proper single to the album though “Give Your Children Wisdom” was the official single. A side note that “The Witch Hunt” is not a cover of the Petra song by the same name. Also vocally interesting is that Terry Taylor sang lead on the “He Fell In The Water” track. I guess this is as good a place as any other to state that Ojo has left the faith and is now a Agnostic Professor. sigh Anyway this is a great New Wave album and sounds similar to what Undercover was doing at the time.
Tracklist 1 – (Give Me) A Moment Of Your Time – 5:55 2 – Animals And Trees – 4:30 3 – Sha Nu Mi – 5:20 4 – Box Of Treasures – 4:06 5 – The Fire Rising – 2:46 6 – The Witch Hunt – 3:56 7 – Give Your Children Wisdom – 3:38 8 – The Dance Of The Secret People – 5:04 9 – He Fell In The Water – 3:53 10 – Love In Wonder – 4:43
Credits Art Direction – Norman Fog Artwork By [Drawing] – Benjamin Taylor Backing Vocals – Dave Hackbarth (tracks: 6), Gary Olson (3) (tracks: 3, 6, 7), Gene Eugene (tracks: 2, 9), Inki Svensson (tracks: 1 to 3, 6, 7, 9, 10), Joey-Jon Taylor (Squid) (tracks: 9), Marie McGilvray (tracks: 1, 3, 7, 10), Mark Krischak (tracks: 7), Riki Michele (tracks: 1, 2, 7, 10), Skylar (7) (tracks: 1) Congas – Nathan Alford, Jr. (tracks: 8) Drums [Hand Drums With Joey] – Nathan Alford, Jr. (tracks: 4) Edited By, Mastered By – John Matousek Engineer [2nd Engineer] – Dave Hackbarth, Glenn Holland Engineer [Engineered By] – Gene, Joey Guitar – Gene Eugene (tracks: 9), Greg Lawless (tracks: 1 to 4, 7 to 10), Joey Taylor* (tracks: 2, 5, 6, 9) Guitar [Including The Lead] – Marky Schrock (tracks: 6) Percussion [Additional] – Nathan Alford, Jr. Photography By – Brian Ray Recorded By [Congas] – Mike Mierau Shaker, Bells [Jingle Bells], Percussion [Assorted Percussion] – Nathan Alford, Jr. (tracks: 3, 4, 6, 8) Written-By, Arranged By, Producer [Produced By], Performer [Performed By] – Joey Taylor
Companies, etc. Record Company – Broken Records Phonographic Copyright (p) – Brainstorm Artists International Inc. Copyright (c) – Brainstorm Artists International Inc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Distributed By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – Neverland Studios Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios Edited At – Hitsville Mastered At – Hitsville Pressed By – Discovery Systems Published By – B-1 Music
I had a difficult time finding out much about Ellen B. I was able to learn that they were from Sweden and this was their second album thus the Swedish name of the album “Två”. The album was initially released in Swedish (with some English songs) in 1987 and then released in the United States, U.K. and Australia using the title Prince Of Peace in 1988. Unfortunately this was the end of our exposure to them and I really think that’s too bad as there was a lot of talent here. We have uploaded both the Swedish and English version of this fantastic album.
Tracklist 1 – Don’t End The Night – 4:39 2 – Real Man – 3:10 3 – As Long As She’s Living – 6:31 4 – The Rainbow – 3:21 5 – Time’s Running Away – 4:48 6 – Prince Of Peace – 4:27 7 – Man With Many Names – 4:10 8 – Water Into Wine – 4:02 9 – No Forgetting You – 5:27 10 – Peace Of Mind – 4:49
Credits Bass, Vocals – Kenneth Eriksson Design – Carl Åkesson Drums, Percussion – Per Hedtjärn Engineer – Micke Lyander Guitar – Lasse Olsson Keyboards – Robert Wirensjö Management [Projektledning] – Lasse Petersson Mixed By – Christer Sjöblom, Kenneth Eriksson Photography By – Henrik Brundin Producer – Kenneth Eriksson Vocals – Lasse Nilsson Wihk
Companies, etc. Printed By – SIB-Tryck AB, Norsborg Lacquer Cut At – Polar Mastering Pressed By – Audiodisc AB Phonographic Copyright (p) – Cantio Records Copyright (c) – Cantio Records Copyright (c) – Gilmour Records Copyright (c) – Alarma Records Recorded At – Sandkvie Studio Mixed At – Supreme Studio
Michael W. Smith is back with his 5th album and wow what an album it was. Full disclaimer, I do not like AOR BUT even I think this is a fantastic album. It sold Platinum and was #1 on the Top Contemporary Christian charts. It actually had 7 top 10 singles including 2 #1’s and 2 #2’s. Here is all of them;
Pray For Me #1 The Throne #1 On The Other Side #2 Hand Of Providence #2 I Miss The Way #4 Live And Learn #7 I Hear Leesha #7
This album had a much younger feel than earlier albums but it was approaching the end of the 80’s and that was acceptable at this point in Christian AOR music. I’m not really going to get too deep into the album as I am guessing most of you either had it or listened to it. If not I do suggest you take the time to listen to it. Reading through the credits I noticed Dann Huff (White Heart) played guitar and here’s the real surprise, Michael Sweet & Oz Fox did some background vocals. I’m not really too sure what track they appeared on but I was pretty surprised to find them here.
Tracklist 1 – Hand Of Providence – 4:33 2 – Secret Ambition – 6:26 3 – On The Other Side – 3:40 4 – All You’re Missin’ Is A Heartache – 5:39 5 – I Miss The Way – 4:35 6 – Live And Learn – 6:17 7 – I Hear Leesha – 5:26 8 – Help You Find Your Way – 5:28 9 – Ashton – 3:17 10 – The Throne – 6:49 11 – Pray For Me – 3:52
Credits Michael W. Smith – keyboards, lead vocals, background vocals (2, 3, 6, 7, 10), horn arrangement (6), drum programming (9) Dann Huff – guitars (1–8) Chris Rodriguez – guitars (1, 3, 5, 6, 8), background vocals (4, 6, 8, 11) Jerry McPherson – guitars (2, 4, 9, 10), acoustic guitar (7) Billy Sprague – acoustic guitar (11) Tom Hemby – guitars (6, 8, 10, 11), bass guitar (9, 11) Mike Brignardello – bass guitar (1–5, 7, 8) Tommy Sims – bass guitar (6) Gary Lunn – bass guitar (10) Paul Leim – drums (1–4, 6, 7, 8, 10) Terry McMillan – percussion (1, 3, 5, 7, 8), harmonica (1) Mark Hammond – drum programming (11) Ronn Huff – string arrangements (5) Mark O’Connor – fiddles and mandolins (9) Wayne Kirkpatrick – background vocals (1–8, 10), acoustic guitar (3), drum programming (9) Chris Harris – background vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10), recitation (6) Mark Heimmerman – background vocals (2, 5) Billy Simon – background vocals (4) Michael Sweet – background vocals (4) Oz Fox – background vocals (4)
Companies, etc. Distributed By – MCA Distributing Corporation Copyright (c) – Reunion Records, Inc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Reunion Records, Inc. Recorded At – The Bennett House Recorded At – Deer Valley Studio, Franklin, TN Recorded At – The Castle Recording Studios Recorded At – OmniSound Studios Recorded At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound Mixed At – Masterfonics Mastered At – Mastermix Published By – O’Ryan Music, Inc. Published By – Emily Boothe, Inc. Published By – Riverstone Music, Inc. Published By – Whitney Katherine Music, Inc.
Torah were a 4 person Metal band out of Decatur IL and this is all we got from them. I can’t really find out much about them but they sound like a pretty good Metal band. The problem with 1988 is that there were a lot of Christian Metal bands at the time and I assume these guys got lost in the crowd. They did get the track “Pray for the Children” released on a Metal sampler “Big Rage! Volume 1” which I can not find a copy of. There are a few videos of them on YouTube and they do have an active Facebook group so good to see they are still around.
Tracklist 1 – Rock and Roll Warriors – 4:03 2 – Dreams – 3:33 3 – Don’t Reign on My Parade – 3:43 4 – Pray for the Children – 6:04
This was Greg’s second solo album and was well received but it wasn’t as strong as his first. I think Myrrh thought the same as he was dropped by the label after this album. The album did have 2 singles on the ACC charts. “Take Me To The End” and “Will You Take Me Back?”. Both only made it to #29 on the charts. That said I will make the point again that an albums representation on this chart has nothing to do with whether it was a good album or not but usually was closer connected to home many easy listening tracks the album had. All that aside I think this is a pretty good album. I like the Pop leaning Rock tracks but the slow tracks are probably the stronger part of the album.
Tracklist 1 – I Come Out Fighting – 3:34 2 – I Don’t Know Why – 4:01 3 – Take Me To The End – 4:51 4 – Let The Mountains Fall – 4:14 5 – Dream On – 5:11 6 – What Will Remain – 4:16 7 – Back Burner – 4:44 8 – Will You Take Me Back? – 4:11 9 – I Know You By Heart – 3:24 10 – Up To The Mountain – 3:34
Credits Arranged By [Track Arrangements] – George Atwell, Greg X. Volz, Michael Atwell, Mike Schmitz Arranged By [Vocal Arrangements] – Greg X. Volz Art Direction – Camille Engle Booking [Concert] – Jeff Roberts Design – Barbara Keller, Camille Engle Drums, Drum Programming – Michael Atwell Engineer – Andy de Ganhal, Dana W. Cornock, Jonathan David Brown Guitar – Kirk Henderson Keyboards – George Atwell, Michael Atwell Management [Personal] – Ron C. Volz Mastered By – Chris Bellman Other [Hair And Grooming] – Michelle Kebre Photography By, Illustration – Empire Studio Producer – George Atwell, Greg X. Volz, Michael Atwell Programmed By [Fairlight And Bass Programming] – Michael Atwell Programmed By [Synclavier Programming] – Michael Atwell, Rich Head Tape Op [Tape Transfers] – Gary Platt, Robert Knox Typography [Typesetting] – D&T Typesetting Vocals, Backing Vocals – Greg X. Volz
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – Rare Form Studio Recorded At – Wolf’s Head Studios Recorded At – Parc Studios Recorded At – Starke Lake Studios Overdubbed At – OmniSound Studios Overdubbed At – The Pond Mixed At – Parc Studios Mixed At – Criteria Recording Studios Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
This was the final album from Joshua and it was probably their best. It is reported that the album took a better part of a year to record with a $700,000 budget. Strangely after RCA invested this time and money they actually dropped the band reportedly because they included the phrase “This album is dedicated to the Glory of God” in the liner notes. I have no idea how the album went over but wow is that a dumb reason to drop a band but that’s record companies for you. They do some really stupid things. Unfortunately this silliness probably played a part in the band splitting up. Rob Rock, Greg Shultz, and Emil Lech went on to form the band Driver and Joshua Perahia changed the name of the band to Jaguar. Unfortunately neither band had any commercial success. Back to the album though, it is a very good Hard Rock/Metal album and you can hear the dollars spent in the production and engineering. This album absolutely sounds as good as anything released commercially at the time and it’s a pity it was not better received in North America because it really deserved to be.
Tracklist 1 – Reach Up – 4:43 2 – I’ve Been Waiting – 4:27 3 – Only Yesterday – 3:38 4 – Crying Out For Love – 4:16 5 – Living On The Edge – 4:10 6 – Tearing At My Heart – 3:47 7 – Remembering You – 5:06 8 – Look To The Sky – 4:21 9 – Don’t You Know – 4:09 10 – Stand Alone – 5:02
Credits Arranged By – Frank Mono, Joshua Perahia Bass – Emil Lech Cover [Illustration] – Norbert Lösche Drums – Tim Gehrt Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Uli Baronowsky Guitar, Backing Vocals – Joshua Perahia Keyboards [Programming] – Jimmy Waldo Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Greg Shultz Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Rob Rock (tracks: 3 to 10) Mixed By – Pete Woodroffe Mixed By [Mix Assited By] – Uwe Sabirowsky Producer, Engineer – Frank Mono Programmed By – Al Topo, Uwe Sabirowsky Vocals [Uncredited] – Ken Tamplin (tracks: 1, 2)
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – BMG Ariola Hamburg GmbH Copyright (c) – BMG Ariola Hamburg GmbH Produced For – Breeze Music GmbH Recorded At – Dierks Studios Mixed At – Dierks Studios Mastered At – Townhouse 3 Pressed By – Sonopress – C-4181 Published By – Breeze Music GmbH
This was Larry’s second and last album. He turned it way up for this album from his previous AOR release. This is a solid Pop/Rock album and is very well done. It was produced by Joe Huffman and this may be the most Rock & Roll album he ever produced as he regularly produced Jimmy Swaggart albums. The memorable track on this album is “Frog In A Box” and while a very quirky name it’s actually a pretty good song. I kind of wonder why I hadn’t heard it before listening to this album just recently. This is another one I missed in the 80’s but I’m very happy I discovered it now.
Tracklist 1 – Frog In A Box – 5:42 2 – Once You Give Your Heart Away – 4:11 3 – Mighty Love – 4:09 4 – Silent Movies – 5:22 5 – Life Goes On – 3:55 6 – Won By One – 3:14 7 – Let The Praise Begin – 3:10 8 – Sometimes I’m Samson – 3:40 9 – East and West – 3:53 10 – My Soul Waits In Silence – 5:05
Credits Reed Arvin – Synclavier/Extra Keyboards, String and Horn Arrangements Larry Bryant – Songwriter, Vocals, Piano, Background Vocals John Bryant – Background Vocals Kimber D. Cherry – Songwriter Jon Goin – Guitars Mark Hammond – Drums Joe Huffman – Producer Gary Lunn – Bass Marty McCall – Background Vocals Niki Mikals – Engineer Phil Naish – Keyboards Mike Psanos – Re-mix Engineer Lisa Whitford – Songwriter
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
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
