Tag: 1989

Mastedon – It’s a Jungle Out There – 1989

Mastedon was a studio project by John & Dino Elefante. The fact that they were dabbling in heavy metal right at the end of the 80’s kind of surprises me but then again it shows their versatility and their love of all styles of music. The “Band” were basically a bunch of high quality studio musicians. John & Dino Elefante both played on the album but left lead vocals to David Robbins who was also the vocalist on the 1989 X-Sinner album “Get It”, another Elefante project. John & Dino Elefante also wrote all of the tracks with the exception of the lyrics on “Shine On” written by Petra’s Bob Hartman. The album is a pretty high quality metal album but some tracks lean more Hard Rock. Most of the Metal songs have a commercial Metal Pop song. My final thought on this album is that it’s pretty good and I look forward to listening their album from 1990.

Tracklist
1 – It’s A Jungle Out There – 3:54
2 – Glory Bound – 4:17
3 – This Is The Day – 4:14
4 – Love Inhalation – 4:39
5 – Islands In The Sky – 3:42
6 – Get Up – 4:00
7 – Love That Will Survive – 4:02
8 – Innocent Girl – 3:42
9 – Shine On – 4:24
10 – Right Hand – 6:05

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dave Amato, Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Bass – Dino Elefante, Jimmy “Flim” Johnson, John Pierce
Drums – David Raven, John Elefante, Phil Rowland
Engineer [Additional] – Ben Rodgers
Engineer [Assistant] – Jeff Simmons
Engineer, Mixed By – Dino Elefante, John Elefante, Mike Mierau
Fretless Bass – John Patitucci (tracks: 9)
Illustration – Robert Fischer
Keyboards – John Elefante
Lead Guitar – Dave “Pittsy” Amato
Lead Vocals – Dave Amato (tracks: 2, 4, 10), Dave Robbins (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6), Perry Lee (tracks: 4, 8)
Lyrics By – Bob Hartman (tracks: 9)
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Music By – Dino Elefante (tracks: 9), John Elefante (tracks: 9)
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Rhythm Guitar – Dino Elefante
Vocals – Dave Robbins
Written-By – Dino Elefante (tracks: 1-8, 10), John Elefante (tracks: 1-8, 10)

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – R.E.X. Music Inc.
Copyright (c) – Regency Music
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Regency Music
Mastered At – Future Disc
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Recorded At – Pack’s Place
Pressed By – Disc Manufacturing, Inc., Huntsville – 27581

Katsbarnea – O Som que te faz Girar – 1989

Completely unbeknownst to me until very recently there was a huge CCM music scene in South America. Now of course the music was in Portuguese or Spanish but it was a huge scene that for some reason I had never heard of until I met friends though this project. This particular band was one of the big ones. This was their demo that they released in 1989. Apparently it sold very very well and it included future hits such as “Extra” and “Grito de Katsbarnea. The band actually had 12 members including a horns section but don’t let that fool you, this is a Rock & Roll band and a darn good one at that. The band went on to great success with multiple albums all the way until 2013. So if your looking to broaden your CCM knowledge give this one a listen. At least listen to the single “Extra” It’s actually a very good song.

Tracklist
1 – Contato
2 – Retrovisor
3 – Grito de Katsbarnea
4 – Etéreo
5 – Viagem da Oração
6 – Pacote Salvação
7 – Extra
8 – Corredor 18
9 – Salve a tua Paz
10 – Brisa

Credits
Brother Simion – vocal, guitarra rítmica e harmônica
Tchu Salomão – baixo e vocal em “Brisa”
Fábio – bateria
Paulinho Makuko – percussão e vocal em “Corredor 18”
Marquinhos – saxofone
André Mira – guitarra solo
Cláudia Bastos – vocal de apoio
Sandra Simões – vocal de apoio
Patrícia – teclado

Jerome Olds – No Disguise – 1989

Jerome is often said to be the Christian answer to Bruce Hornsby. Indeed his style strongly resembles Bruce Hornsby and this was probably in part his relative success. Actually he had been involved in the CCM scene since 1985 writing several #1 songs for Mylon & Broken Heart. He struck out on his own with this album in 1989 though he did have a self release in 1980. It’s a little disappointing that he is constantly compared to Bruce Hornsby as I think it detracts from his true talent as a singer songwriter. The first single for the album was “Is It Right?” which peaked at #4. “His Love Flows” and “Rejoice” also singled at #12 and #15 respectively. The piano pop sound of this album will likely site well with most people. The surprise track on the album is “Sing Out” which has a more traditional African sound.

Tracklist
1 – Rejoice – 3:06
2 – Is It Right? – 4:22
3 – His Love Flows – 4:25
4 – Dying To See Jesus In Me – 4:18
5 – No Disguise – 2:06
6 – Sing Out – 3:00
7 – God Will Find A Way – 4:10
8 – Bethlehem – 3:32
9 – “The Barn” Video Sequence – 3:08
10 – Keeper Of The Fire – 5:40

Credits
Scott Allen – Composer
Gary Bennett – Vocals
Pat Buchanan – Guitar (Electric), Vocal Arrangement, Vocals
Charles Bullock – Choir/Chorus
Brenda Carter – Choir/Chorus
Russ Fowler – Engineer, Mixing
Gloria Gaither – Composer
Frank Gibson – Preparation
Bill Hatcher – Guitar (Acoustic), Harp
Tim Holbrook – Composer
Adrion Jones – Choir/Chorus
Ricky Keller – Arranger, Bass, Composer, Engineer, Guitar (Electric), Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Synthesizer
Sonny Lallerstedt – Guitar (Acoustic)
Jim Lloyd – Mastering
Donna Maddox – Choir/Chorus
Scott Meeder – Drums, Percussion, Producer
Jerome Olds – Arranger, Composer, Percussion, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals
Solomon Olds – Composer
Cheryl Rogers – Arranger, Composer, Keyboards, Producer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals
Terry Simpson – Vocals
Angel Smith – Choir/Chorus
Vance Taylor – Synthesizer
Toni Thigpen – Photo Editing
Oliver Wells – Arranger, Keyboards, Producer

Companies, etc.
Printed By – Sleeveprint Ltd
Mastered At – Masterfonics
Mixed At – Southern Tracks
Recorded At – Southern Living At Its Finest

Watchmen – Generation – 1989

Sometimes it’s difficult to classify an album into any specific style of music. This is one of those bands. Watchmen only had this 1 studio album (they did also have a demo) which kind of surprises me as it is actually very good. There are example of Metal, Rock, and AOR on this album. All are well done and personally I think the vocals are fantastic. Vocalist Greg Sweet did reappear in 2004 in a couple bands but that was it. Anyway this album is very good and was a very pleasant surprise. The only person who I recognized on the album is Kevin Whisler who is also the drummer from Bloodgood. The stand out track for me is “Best Friend” which is an excellent tune with some excellent saxophone work and it has gone on my personal rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Turn – 3:42
2 – Stand Strong – 3:53
3 – Straight – 3:32
4 – Best Friend – 4:33
5 – Breakin’ The Chains – 3:19
6 – United – 3:47
7 – I Will Be There – 4:27
8 – Defenders – 3:51
9 – One Day – 4:07

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dave Van Liew, Doug Larson, Greg Sweet, Kevin Antholt
Backing Vocals [Additional Bck Vocals] – Grant Scott, Joyce Carlsen, Kelee Gates, Les Carlsen, Mark Thornberg, Rene Wood
Bass – Doug Larson
Drums, Percussion – Kevin Whisler
Guitar – Dave Van Liew
Guitar [Additional Guitar] – Ross Nyberg (tracks: 4)
Keyboards – Kevin Antholt
Keyboards [Additional Keyboards] – Brook Lizotte
Lead Vocals – Greg Sweet
Producer – Terry B. Shelton
Programmed By [Computer Programming], Sampler [Sampling] – Kevin Antholt

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Regency Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Regency Records
Copyright (c) – Regency Records
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Manufactured By – Music Manufacturers

Bloodgood – Out of the Darkness – 1989

This was the 4th studio release for Michael Bloodgood and the band. For this album Guitarist David Zaffiro and drummer Mark Welling were out and Kevin Whisler and Paul Jackson on guitars and drums, respectively were in. Of course Michael Bloodgood maintained his position on bass and Les Carlsen continued vocals. Fans of Bloodgood said this album was a bit of as return to their previous heavier work but myself I believe it’s all in the production. This album doesn’t quite have that commercial Pop influence so it sounds much more raw which is a much better sound for Bloodgood. My personal take away track is the Rez Band reminiscent track “Hey! You”

Tracklist
1 – Out Of The Darkness – 3:43
2 – Let My People Go – 4:09
3 – America – 4:04
4 – It’s Alright – 3:44
5 – Top Of The Mountain – 6:30
6 – Hey! You – 4:05
7 – Mad Dog World – 4:25
8 – Changing Me – 6:38
9 – New Age Illusion – 3:18

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Paul Jackson, Terry B. Shelton
Arranged By [All Songs] – Bloodgood, Kevin Whistler, Paul Jackson
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Backing Vocals – Les Carlsen, Michael Bloodgood
Bass – Michael Bloodgood
Co-producer [Co-Produced By] – Les Carlsen, Michael Bloodgood
Drums – Kevin Whisler
Electric Guitar – Paul Jackson
Engineer [Engineered By] – Terry B. Shelton
Illustration [Cover Illustration] – Jeff Foster
Lead Vocals – Les Carlsen
Mixed By – Les Carlsen, Michael Bloodgood, Terry B. Shelton
Orchestrated By – Brook Lizotte, Terry B. Shelton
Performer [Bloodgood Is] – Les Carlsen, Michael Bloodgood
Producer [Produced By] – Terry B. Shelton

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Intense Records
Copyright (c) – Intense Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Produced For – Black Coat Productions
Recorded At – Black Coat Productions
Published By – Broken Songs
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Tempest – Eye of the Storm – 1989

The second and last album from Tempest had a more commercial Metal sound than their first. This album saw a change of band members with Darren Lee taking over bass and Bobby Andrews on drums and apparently Joe English also supplied a drum track for the album. A year after this album came out the band dissolved but I don’t know if they did a tour in support of the album or not. There isn’t actually a lot of info on Tempest in the 80’s but Mick Rowe did revive the band in 2017. Along with Thom Schultman and Rex D.Scott from X-Sinner they recorded a 4 song EP and apparently played several live dates.

Tracklist
1 – Storms – 1:41
2 – Rock For The Light – 5:30
3 – Goin´ Nowhere – 3:15
4 – Goodbye – 3:24
5 – Let Them In – 3:30
6 – True Love – 3:00
7 – All For One – 3:21
8 – Eye Of The Storm – 2:32
9 – Lost Without Your Love – 3:16
10 – Midnight – 1:58
11 – U.S.A. – 3:03

Credits
Bass – Darren Lee
Cover, Design – Jeff Spencer
Drums – Bobby Andrews
Guitar – Mikk Rowe
Lyrics By – J.R. Rowe (tracks: 2, 6, 7, 9, 11), Mikk Rowe (tracks: 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11)
Music By – J.R. Rowe (tracks: 6), Mikk Rowe* (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11)
Photography By – Eric Hassler (2)
Producer – Dan Rudin
Vocals – J.R. Rowe
Written-By – Chris Kachulis (tracks: 5), Peter Maroney (tracks: 5)

Apostle – Apostle – 1989

Apostle may be the biggest and/or best Metal bands to never have an album deal. It’s unknown why they never has an album deal but I’m gonna say I suspect it’s because they never got an offer they liked. The Florida based band had several demos which sold very well. I don’t remember seeing a group that had more demos over such a long period. As is common with demos there appears to be some confusion regarding this particular demo. Several sites show it as called “Metal for the Master” and was released in 1983. The cassette cover doers not show a title and has a copyright date of 1989 so that is the info I went with.

Tracklist
1 – King Of The Saints
2 – Overcomer
3 – Conquerors
4 – Born Again
5 – Parting The Red Sea
6 – Unlimited Power
7 – Armageddon
8 – King Of Kings
9 – Bread Of Life
10 – Holy Soldier

Credits
Bass – Mark Borrero
Drums – David Paul McKee
Vocals, Guitar – Matt Harding

Sacrament – Presumed Dead – 1989

Sacrament were one of the original Christian Thrash Metal bands. This was the demo that started it all for them. It was sold at their shows and apparently had pretty broad distribution. As for the music, I have no idea if it’s any good. I know nothing about thrash metal and can’t stand listening to it. If you like thrash metal this is probably a pretty good album judging from the positive reviews of it. The quality is a little off which is kind of strange for 1989 as technology was pretty advanced for producing demos. That said it just may be the copy I got. The original might be much better.

Tracklist
1 – Separate From Iniquity
2 – Assault (Satan’s Doom)
3 – Lies of The Blind
4 – Face Reality
5 – Presumed Dead

Credits
Bass – Eric Ney
Drums – Paul Graham
Producer – Frank Thompson
Guitar – Brian Toy, Mike Didonato
Vocals – Mike Torone

Walk On Water – Walk On Water – 1989

The story of this album is somewhat interesting. The band won a Swedish national music contest with their song “What’s The Noise?”. In the process of recording the support album for the song. While recording the album the band became Christians and the album took on a while new light. Several songs were rewritten to have Christian lyrics and the original record deal died. Luckily the brand new label “Alarma Records” (a division of Frontline records picked up the album and released it. The album has a strong keyboard based New Wave feel with a few tracks having a heavier guitar track. “What’s the Noise” continues on as the single and is still the stand out song on the album. The CD had a rather odd aditional track that is 17 minutes long and is just chriping bird nature sounds. That one leaves me rather confused.

Tracklist
1 – To Walk On Water – 3:42
2 – What’s The Noise? – 4:07
3 – Call My Name – 4:05
4 – Prayer – 5:00
5 – Yeah Yeah Yeah – 3:51
6 – North Sea Town – 4:35
7 – Time – 3:25
8 – Someone – 3:35
9 – When The Serpent Rules – 4:00
10 – There Is A Morning – 4:27
11 – Bird-Song – 17:48

Credits
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Band [Walk On Water], Bass – Magnus Wahl
Band [Walk On Water], Guitar [Guitars] – Flord
Band [Walk On Water], Keyboards – Erik Strömblad
Band [Walk On Water], Vocals – Tot
Guest, Acoustic Guitar – Kaj Erixon (tracks: 8)
Guest, Backing Vocals – Sollentuna Gospel (tracks: 10), Titiyo Jah (tracks: 1, 7)
Guest, Dhol – Lambodhar Kalindi (tracks: 2)
Guest, Drums [Additional Drums] – Magnus Frykberg (tracks: 1, 7), Magnus Persson (7) (tracks: 2, 6)
Guest, Musician [Nagra] – Ananta Mahato (tracks: 2)
Guest, Musician [Sanax] – Dharani Kalindi (tracks: 2)
Guest, Sounds [Birds] – Ingemar Persson
Guest, Synthesizer [Mini Moog] – Kaj Erixon (tracks: 9)
Photography By [Clouds Photographed By] – Kent Nyberg
Photography By [WOW Photographed By] – Ewa-Marie Wernersson
Producer [Produced By], Arranged By – Kaj Erixon, Walk On Water
Sleeve – Kent Nyberg
Words By, Music By – Erik Strömblad*, Flord, Magnus Wahl, Tot

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Alarma World Music
Copyright (c) – Alarma World Music
Record Company – Frontline Music Group
Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc.
Recorded At – B3B Studios
Mixed At – B3B Studios
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Published By – Broken Songs

Veil of Ashes – Pain – 1989

Veil of Ashes is an alternative band from Oakland, California that built a cult following in the California Christian music scene. Though they didn’t get a huge following in the CCM music scene they probably should have and their cult following had good taste. This is their first official album though they did have 2 previous demos one of which had good distribution. I was reading all of their reviews and all of them tried comparing the band to someone but I’m going to resist that. I believe they had a sound that was all their own. I really wish I would have heard this one back in the day but I have it now and it’s on my regular MP3 rotation. Oh and the Bob Dylan cover is pretty darn good too.

Tracklist
1 – The Times They Are A Changin’ – 3:56
2 – And They Call It Love – 3:45
3 – Without Eyes – 3:20
4 – Corpse – 4:35
5 – Suicide – 3:25
6 – She – 3:29
7 – Take My Hand – 4:04
8 – Testimony – 5:09
9 – The Cross Was His Own – 3:29
10 – Hide Me – 4:22
11 – Come Unto Me – 5:20

Credits
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Backing Vocals – Derri Daugherty (tracks: 1), Steve Hindalong (tracks: 1)
Bass – Sterling
Drums – Phil Meads
Engineer [Additional Technical Assistance] – Dave Jahnsen, Steve Hindalong
Keyboards, Electric Piano [Hammond B-3], Piano, Lead Guitar [Electric], Acoustic Guitar – Lance Harris
Percussion – Joseph Linn
Piano – Gene Eugene (tracks: 11)
Producer, Recorded By – Gene Eugene
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harmonica, Voice [Poet] – Sean Doty

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Graceland
Copyright (c) – Graceland
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab