The absolute joy of this project is stumbling on an album that we never heard of or ever even heard of. It’s even a better surprise when you stumble across a great album. This is one of those times. I literally have no idea how we came across this album. I have about 250 albums sitting in a folder waiting for me to get to and quite honestly I haven’t even listened to half of them. This once ended up at the top of the list and wow is it great. This is an 80’s style Pop/New Wave album and is really really well engineered. Not perfect but that might be because it was released on cassette so we’re kind of at the mercy of whomever dubbed it over. As the album says all instruments and voices by Andy and Joy Clark who are a husband and wife team out of the U.K. I say are because they are still making music. It appears all their albums (there are several) were/are self released which was no easy feat in the late 80’s. They still appear to be heavily involved in the ministry and you can read their updates at https://andyjoy.wordpress.com/ which is their blog. If you missed this one back in the day, which I strongly suspect you did, and you like new wave sounding pop this is a MUST listen.
Tracklist 1 – Cold 2 – Strike Back 3 – No Way 4 – I Don’t Understand 5 – Go For It 6 – Don’t Stay Away 7 – Forgive Me 8 – So Badly 9 – Wake Up (It’s Obvious) 10 – Start Over
Credits All instruments and voices by Andy and Joy Clark
This is another “Our favorite artists do their favourite hymns” projects. I certainly wasn’t the target audience for these projects but they did sell well as some people really enjoyed these albums. For those of you looking for anything vaguely rock The Petra track is pretty good but for the main part this is a pretty easy listening affair. Good, but easy listening.
Tracklist 1 – Michael W. Smith – Holy, Holy, Holy – 4:57 2 – Amy Grant – ‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus – 4:05 3 – Bruce Carroll – More Love To Thee – 3:22 4 – Kim Boyce – I Must Tell Jesus – 3:52 5 – Russ Taff – Near The Cross / My Jesus I Love Thee / Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus – 5:04 6 – Phil Keaggy – Prelude: Bach’s Bourrée / O God, Our Help In Ages Past – 7:02 7 – First Call – O Sacred Head, Now Wounded – 5:12 8 – Wayne Watson – It Is Well With My Soul – 4:37 9 – Take 6 – The Saviour Is Waiting – 4:09 10 – Petra – Onward, Christian Soldiers – 3:48
Credits Art Direction, Design – Buddy Jackson Coordinator [Album Coordination] – Mary Gross Executive-Producer – Loren Balman, Michael Blanton Photography By – Mark Tucker
This is a rather mystifying album as I can’t find any record of it anywhere. Yes she had 2 more albums that are well documented but this one not so much. I understand her next 2 albums have a more pop sound but this album is decidedly in the worship album style. I really can’t find any info on Cindy either. I find that odd as she did have 3 albums and I understand they are pretty good. So we’ll just have to let the past go and enjoy this one for what it is. While not my style, it is very good, and I look forward to listening to her next 2 albums.
Tracklist 1 – The Spirit Of the Lord is Upon Me – 5:02 2 – He Is My Defense – 5:09 3 – The Lord is So Good – 3:16 4 – All Creatures Of Our God and King – 4:05 5 – We Being Many – 3:26 6 – My Jesus I Love Thee – 4:14 7 – Now It Has Begun – 3:16 8 – My Eyes Are Open – 2:00 9 – Take My Life, and Let It Be – 4:32 10 – Instrument – 4:32 11 – How Excellent is Your Name – 4:43 12 – Behold My Servant – 7:11
The boys from Quincy Massachusetts are back with an EP to follow up their self released album. While it picks up right where the previous ep left off I think the previous ep was better. For this release I’m just not sold on the vocals and I think I would have pitch shifted them down a bit. I also think many of the tracks are just too long. This is a common mistake by new bands as they often have a verse that a later producer will remove. Most of my criticisms are related to them being a young band and not yet getting proper direction from a industry producer. Lets be clear about one thing however I am sold on Dave McCreary’s guitar work. He’s obviously a talented axe player and I really wish the band had been picked up by a label because there was some real talent here. Unfortunately the band packed it in after this one so we never got to hear their talent directed by an album label. Good news however the entire Sentry catalog was re-released in 2026 by Roxx records and can be purchased here https://roxxrecords.com/collections/2019-releases/products/sentry-anthology-cd-2026-remastered-first-time-on-cd
Tracklist 1 – The Choice – 5:05 2 – Passing Moments – 5:58 3 – Living In A Lie – 4:51 4 – Sick Of The Darkness – 7:24 5 – Hope For You And I – 4:47 6 – Heaven Bound – 4:53
Credits Bass – Steve Knepper Drums, Backing Vocals – Jeffrey Stewart Guitar, Lead Vocals – Dave McCreary Keyboards – Tim Knepper
1989 was yearning for the sound of Fresh Prince and the Christian music market knew this. Unfortunately there just weren’t any talented Christian artists doing this style but there was Soldiers For Christ. Unfortunately they also weren’t good at this style. But for some reason Gene Eugene and Ojo Taylor decided this album was close enough. Now to be fair I understand that they got better on later albums but this album feels like a PSA anti drugs commercial from the period. I’m relatively sure they self recorded this album and then Brainstrom/Broken said “Hey I hear Rap is popular, we should get one of them”. This was the result of that decision. The engineering is horrible which is surprising because Ojo actually put his name on the mixing credits. Anyway, if you want to see where it started for these guys then yes you should listen to this one. If you hate rap stay away, far far away.
Tracklist 1 – Listen Up – 5:52 2 – Drugs – 4:11 3 – No Stoppin’ – 4:46 4 – Say Ya – 6:19 5 – Transformed – 5:12 6 – You Are Worthy – 5:25 7 – Dope Dealer – 3:07 8 – It’s Like That – 4:26 9 – Mr. Brain – 4:54 10 – This Is What He Went Thru – 7:05 11 – Plain And Simple – 4:28 12 – Brothers & Sisters – 3:45 13 – Fully Armed – 5:24 14 – I Don’t Know – 6:12
Credits Backing Vocals – D.J. Dove, Dynamic Twins, Everlasting Joy, Marcos Lemone, M.C. Peace Design – Brainstorm Art Direction Engineer – Jimmy Robinson Engineer [Dat Engineer] – Barry Hill Engineer [Second] – Scott Macklin Keyboards, Scratches, Rap, Beats, Sleeve Notes – Super C Layout, Photography By – Bruce Heavin Mixed By – Ojo Taylor, Super C Producer, Written-By, Arranged By – Brother G, S.F.C., Super C
This was the final album from Bob and Jayne. I find it apropos that we are releasing this album just as Bob has passed away. Our circle growing up always had a strange relationship with Farrell And Farrell. They definitely weren’t our preferred genre but because of their live album we still loved them. Not the albums, just that album. I said it was a rather odd relationship and it was. For some reason we loved that live album and I have always had a personal theory that Bob was actually a rocker. Though Bob didn’t play guitar on that album he did do the arrangements for Leonard Ahlstrom who did and there is tons of Rock & Roll riff’s on that album. I have also heard it here and there in Bob’s playing so I truly believe he was a Rock & Roll artist in hiding. Anyway this was their final album and tour as Bob wanted to move behind the board and handle production, something that really worked out for him. As for this album it is probably their best Pop album and they absolutely nailed it. The album has excellent engineering and production, a sign of what was coming in Bob’s skill set. Again not particularly my preferred style but I still really enjoyed this album. As we say good bye to Bob give it a listen and read between the lines, he was a real rocker.
Tracklist 1 – Superpower – 5:01 2 – It’s Gonna Take Love – 3:32 3 – Eyes On You – 3:52 4 – Heart Of The Homeless – 3:53 5 – Follow You – 4:44 6 – Graphic – 3:56 7 – Takin’ It Home – 5:16 8 – Eternity In Their Hearts – 3:22 9 – Find The Way To Love – 4:13 10 – Every Day Of Your Life – 3:26 11 – Crowns – 3:27
Credits Tom Hemby – producer, keyboards, guitar, sequencing, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, music Mike Demus – producer, keyboards, guitar, sequencing, music Bob Farrell – executive producer, lead vocals, background vocals, cover concept, lyrics, music Bill Deaton – engineer, mixer Chris McCue – drums Keith Edwards – drums Mark Douthit – saxophone, soloist Buddy Greene – harmonica Donna McElroy – background vocals Kim Fleming – background vocals Vicki Hampton – background vocals Chris Harris – background vocals Chris Rodrigues – background vocals Greg Guidry – background vocals Dave Robbins – background vocals, lyrics, music Van Stephenson – background vocals, lyrics, music Kip Raines – background vocals Jayne Farrell – lead vocals, background vocals, cover concept James Chesser – cover concept Terri Short – cover concept, art direction Ron Williams – photographer Dennas Davis – design, illustration Jeff Roberts – booking agent The Rycheners – general helper Spencer Campbell – bass guitar Gary Lunn – bass guitar Ed DeGarmo – lyrics, music Dana Key – lyrics, music
Lauren is a member of the legendary Stalnecker family. They were a gospel family band that was very big during the late 60′ into the late 70’s. this appears to be Lauren’s only solo release on a label but he had several releases within the family. He also had a release as Chip Stalnecker which I assume was a nickname. this album is not in the tradition of him family’s albums and in fact is a very pop album. Of course this is where the problem comes in for this album. I would never have purchased an album with “Hymn” in the title, especially from a Stalnecker family member. But that would be unfair because this is a great little pop album that many younger people would have enjoyed. This is just a quick lesson that album names have consequences. All that said this is a fun 80’s pop album that leans a little more Easy Listening but it’s pretty darn good.
Tracklist 1 – Hymn To Him – 4:07 2 – City Of Gold – 4:33 3 – Prayerfully – 3:49 4 – Love Will Conquer All – 4:15 5 – The Great I Am – 4:41 6 – Yes To The Life – 4:34 7 – Every Grain Of Sand – 4:10 8 – Heaven – 3:41 9 – You Made The Difference In Me – 5:01 10 – Stand Up – 3:34
Credits Art Direction – Ed McTaggart Backing Vocals – Allison Beach Co-producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Lacquer Cut By – Tim Heintz Drums – David Huff Engineer, Mixed By – Dave Jahnsen Guitar – Marty Walsh Keyboards – Lauren Stalnecker Photography By – Michael Seeley Producer, Engineer, Backing Vocals – Bill Baumgart
This is the third album from Dieter and I have now listened to all three. Originally I listened to “Today” and just loved it so I hunted out more of his albums. Unfortunately I have not liked the other two I have listened to. This one is a complete instrumental album and I always struggle with that style. All of the tracks on this album leave me sitting there waiting for the vocals to start because they all sound like, well, songs. Personally I prefer the instrumental writing style of bands like Tangerine Dream because their songs aren’t in a traditional song format and thus I rarely anticipate lyrics on their tracks. But let’s get to the positives of this album. Dieter is a very good keyboardist and I do really like his musical stlyings. So this is still a great album but it screamed for a vocalist to complete it.
Tracklist 1 – Alles Was Ihr Tut (Everything You Do) – 3:41 2 – Danket (Thankful) – 4:14 3 – Charme – 4:07 4 – Dir (Gonna Sing For You) – 4:08 5 – Deep River – 3:32 6 – In Dir Ist Freude (Joyful) – 3:52 7 – Aufeinander Zugehn (Coming Together) – 3:14 8 – Sing And Shout – 3:46 9 – It’s Me – 3:42 10 – Precious Interlude – 2:54
Credits Arranged By – Dieter Falk Art Direction – Wepler + Burfeind, Hamburg Bass – Joe Chemay Bass [Solo] – Wolfgang Schmid Co-producer – Angelika Falk, John Guess Drums [Tom Overdub] – Martin Stoeck Drums, Percussion – Paul Leim Engineer [Additional] – Adrian Von Ripka, Al Phillips, Manfred Lohse, Thomas Brück Engineer [Assistant] – Chris Rich, King Julien III, Mark Coddington, Marty Williams Engineer, Mixed By – John Guess Guitar – Jon Goin, Steve Lukather Kalimba – Nippi Noya Keyboards, Piano – Dieter Falk Liner Notes – Andreas Malessa, Clemens Bittlinger, Dieter Falk, Heinz Bossi Percussion, Harmonica – Terry McMillan Photography By – Wieser, Ringeisen* Producer – Dieter Falk Programmed By [Additional] – Andreas Seibold Saxophone – Mark Douthit, Michael Paulo Trombone – Bill Reichenbach, Joe Gallardo Trumpet – Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, Michael Stewart
Mark Farner did something really great for his fans with this one. Somehow he got the rights to the video and audio of his performance at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California as part of the “Woodstock 20 Years After” festival in 1989. He released a DVD with the full video, a CD with all the tracks, and a very cool coloured vinyl LP with limited tracks. Okay so lets set the background. This was a music festival that unofficially celebrated the 20 year anniversary of Woodstock. While that was strange enough even stranger Grand Funk Railroad never played at Woodstock as they had conflicting tour dates. To be clear this was a secular music festival but Mark didn’t let that get in the way and sang a great mix of his classics and current Christian music. Mark really was a treasure in the industry. He often leveraged his bands early success to minister to people. Mark practised what he preached and I always felt he never got the recognition he deserved for that. Now let’s talk about the album. The original recording of this concert was obviously not intended for an album release but I have to say the mix is pretty good. Mark’s team did a pretty good job in post production because a concert mix is nothing like an album mix. I of course never being satisfied did do some post production work myself so you may notice our copy is slightly more saturated than the original. Hat’s off to Mark for an excellent release and I’ll say this too, he didn’t do a kickstarter so it is likely he didn’t make much of anything off this release. I hope I’m wrong and he made some money but if you listen to it here he’ll get a few pennies from YouTube. Be sure to visit his website if you’re a fan as he is still releasing albums and they are available there including both the vinyl and CD version of this album signed. I doubt Mark will ever read this but hats off to you Mark for an excellent release.
Tracklist 1 – Are You Ready – 4:03 2 – Rock’n Roll Soul – 3:32 3 – Footstompin’ Music – 4:06 4 – Airborne Ranger – 4:39 5 – Judgement Day Blues – 4:45 6 – Some Kind Of Wonderful – 5:27 7 – Paranoid – 10:23 8 – Come To Jesus – 4:01 9 – Mean Mistreater – 4:38 10 – Must Have Been Love – 3:11 11 – Bad Time – 2:46 12 – I’m Your Captain/Closer To Home – 6:34 13 – Heartbreaker – 7:24 14 – Isn’t It Amazing – 5:08 15 – The Loco-motion – 4:27
Credits Art Direction – Mark Kalmus Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Lawrence Buckner Drums, Backing Vocals – Mike Maple Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Mike Blair Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals – Mark Farner Mastered By – Randy Perry Photography – Fred B. Slinger Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals – Arnie Vilches
Companies, etc. Record Company – Liberation Hall – Lib – 5164
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
