If you know of Jeff you know of his claim to have sung with Black Sabbath. There is a lot of disagreement over this claim but quite frankly I’m not going to repeat the back and forth between Jeff and Joe Siegler (Black Sabbath Historian). After reading both sides of the story this is my take away. Yes Jeff did some studio work with Tony Iommi (BS guitarist). This is a fact as the tracks are out there floating around the internet. The Jeff version of these tracks were not released on any album. What really happened is lost in Rock & Roll history. I think both versions are somewhat correct and the absolute truth lays somewhere in the middle. Did Jeff embellish his role with Black Sabbath? Probably. Is Jeff one hell of a vocalist? Absolutely. I heard of Jeff’s ministry through the grapevine but quite frankly I never had any interest in it. I have listened to a few of his albums and I’m still not much interested except for this album. This is a very good album. Jeff’s vocals are spot on and the choice of tracks is excellent. I am a bit mystified as to why called a studio album “Live:” however. Anyway this album was released through his ministry and several pressings were done. Not all these pressings are the same. At some point the track order was changed and the track “I Exalt Thee” was added or removed. That track is a cover of Phil Driscoll so there may have been licensing issues. All in all I think this is a great album and regardless of your opinions of Jeff you can not deny that he is a fantastic vocalist.
Tracklist 1 – Living Sacrifice – 3:33 2 – He Will Carry You – 4:22 3 – Make Us One – 3:24 4 – Oh, Happy Day – 4:23 5 – The Anointing – 6:29 6 – Standing In the Shadow of The Almighty – 3:40 7 – I Need To Be Still – 2:41 8 – Hosanna – 4:35 9 – I Exalt Thee – 6:06
I know I’m going to get some hate for this review but it’s my opinion and I welcome yours. I’m not really too sure what Carman was trying to achieve with this album. We have spoken tracks, conceptual tracks, theatrical tracks, a rap track, and a couple just regular song tracks. Quite frankly Carman could have done an album of nursery rhymes and it would have singled on the CCM charts. Actually I’m not so sure he didn’t do that. Anyway I truly believe that Carman was trying a little of everything in his quest to appeal to youth but the simple fact is that he was liked by our parents not us. At least that was what was happening in my circle. Carman also released a VHS of himself performing the album and I’ve seen bits and pieces of it and quite frankly it’s just bizarre. On a positive note the album did have 3 singles on the CCM charts and also won the Dove award for the Long Form Music Video of the Year for the aforementioned VHS release. Anyway that’s my take on this very bizarre album.
Tracklist 1 – God’s Got An Army – 4:24 2 – I Got The Joy – 4:30 3 – A Witch’s Invitation – 6:45 4 – Get Your Business Straight With God – 3:58 5 – This Blood – 5:29 6 – Saved, Delivered And Healed – 5:40 7 – Jesus Is The Light – 4:53 8 – The Resurrection Rap – 4:05 9 – Shine Through Me – 4:34 10 – Revival In The Land – 6:30
Credits Carman – Songwriter, Vocals Susan Ashton – Background Vocals Kym Barger – Gang Vocals Shirley Bereal – Background Vocals Ronnie Brookshire – Engineer Curt Butler – Gang Vocals Jacquetta Carr – Background Vocals Steve Charles – Assistant Engineer Christ Church Choir – Choir Vocals Tina Clark – Background Vocals Dan Cleary – Executive Producer Ashley Cleveland – Background Vocals Ed Crippen – Platoon Vocals Eric Darken – Percussion Willie Davis – Choir Director, Hammond B-3, Gang Vocals Wendell DePrang – Platoon Vocals John Destito – Gang Vocals Barry Dixon – Assistant Engineer Mark Douthit – Saxophone Dave Ecrement – Platoon Vocals David Felty – Platoon Vocals Kim Fleming – Background Vocals Nick Froome – Engineer Roy Gamble – Assistant Engineer Steve Gannon – Platoon Vocals Landy Gardner – Choir Director and Conductor Andrae Hammond – Gang Vocals Mark Hammond – Drums, Percussion Programming Vicki Hampton – Background Vocals Chris Harris – Background Vocals Mike Haynes – Trumpets Mark Heimermann – Background Vocals Tom Hemby – Guitars Higher Dimensions Sanctuary Choir – Choir Vocals Sgt. Penny Hollenbeck – Platoon Vocals Ron Huff – Orchestra Conductor Bobby Jones – Gang Vocals Dan Keen – Platoon Vocals Brent King – Engineer Pamela Lee – Background Vocals Paul Leim – Drums Stephen L. Lyman – Gang Vocals David McCune – Platoon Vocals Chris McDonald – Horn Arranger, Trombone Donna McElroy – Background Vocals Shawn McLean – Assistant Engineer Jerry McPherson – Guitars James Michael – Bass Marvin Moore – Gang Vocals Todd Moore – Production Assistance, Assistant Engineer, Platoon Vocals Farrell Morris – Percussion Dave Murphy – Assistant Engineer Phil Naish – Producer, Arranger, Keyboards Nashville String Machine – Strings Gary Paczosa – Assistant Engineer Carlton Pearson – Guest Vocals Monica Pearson – Background Vocals Mary Ann Peterson – Background Vocals Denny Purcell – Mastered John Ricroft – Platoon Vocals Chris Rodriguez – Background Vocals Maurice Carlton Scott – Gang Vocals Jimmie Lee Sloas – Bass Carry Summers – Assistant Engineer Brian Tankersley – Producer, Engineer, Mixed, Programming Keith Thomas – Producer, Arranger, Songwriter, Synthesizers, Synclavier and Drum Programming, Percussion George Tidwell – Trumpets Jo-Nathan Watkins – Gang Vocals Bill Whittington – Engineer, Mixed Daire Winston – Assistant Engineer Don Wyrtzen – Choir and Strings Arranger
Well it’s time for another fantastic Kenny Marks album. Unfortunately by the time this album came out I had already abandoned the Christian music genre. Boy did I miss a great album. The album did fairly well on the CCM charts with “I’ll Be A Friend To You” making it to #5. Strangely it also has an excellent cover of Steve Forbert’s “Running On Love” and it may actually be better than the original. The best cut on the album though is the Rock track “Nobody Else But Jesus” which is strongly in the spirit of The Boss. The album includes part 3 of the “Jeannie and Johnny” tetralogy. Unfortunately in this chapter Johnny has abandoned Jeannie and his child and as such it’s a pretty sad song but it did make it to #25. All in all another great album from Kenny.
Tracklist 1 – Running On Love – 3:41 2 – Whisperin’ A Prayer – 3:40 3 – Hope For A Broken Heart – 4:22 4 – I’ll Be A Friend To You – 3:10 5 – Next Time You See Johnny – 5:51 6 – Nobody Else But Jesus – 4:37 7 – Graduation Day – 4:53 8 – Threshold Of Regret – 3:47 9 – Somebody Loves You – 4:12 10 – You Made A Difference For Me – 3:53
Credits Arranged By – Phil Madeira Art Direction, Design – Jackson Design Backing Vocals – Chris Harris, Mark Heimermann, Michael Black Bass – David Hungate, Randy Moore Cover [Coordination] – Amy Linde Drums – Doug Dimmel, Larrie Londin Electric Guitar – Kenny Greenberg Electric Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – George Cocchini Engineer [Assistant] – John Kunz Executive-Producer – Lynn Keesecker Harmonica – Buddy Greene Keyboards – Phil Madeira, Phil Naish Mastered By – Hank Williams Mixed By – Marc DeSisto Mixed By [Assistant] – Dave Parker, David Boyer Organ [Hammond B-3] – Phil Kristianson Percussion – Eric Darken Photography By – Mark Tucker Producer – Bubba Smith Recorded By, Tracking By [Overdubs] – James Kenneth (JB) Baird Saxophone [Saxophones], Electronic Wind Instrument [Ewi] – Mark Douthit Tracking By [Overdubs] – Brent King, Doug Sarrett, Greg Parker Twelve-String Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jon Goin
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Digital Recorders Recorded At – Recording Arts Recorded At – Downstage Studio Recorded At – Mastermix Recorded At – Quad Studios Mixed At – Sound Stage Studios Mastered At – Mastermix
Rick was in one of the Scepter bands and I only found out about him because of this. While researching the band I discovered that he had 2 solo albums. This is the first of those albums. The cover of this album had me expecting a light rock album but, well, it’s not. He tries rock on the track Front Line but his vocals just don’t work. Get A Bible also leans rock and he does a little better on this one but still not great. That said this is a really good song that should have had a cover version by someone. To be clear I’m not saying he’s not a good vocalist in fact I think he’s a very good vocalist but Rock & Roll doesn’t work for him which is just as well because this is an easy listening album and a pretty good one. Interestingly the album was produced by Matthew Ward which probably helped out it’s easy listening quality.
Tracklist 1 – Love Is – 4:00 2 – Come, Lord Jesus – 4:19 3 – Rescue Me – 4:27 4 – There Is A Rock – 3:34 5 – Jesus Paid It All – 4:56 6 – Front Line – 3:53 7 – All Things – 3:24 8 – Does Anybody Love The Lord? – 4:10 9 – Be Still My Heart – 5:02 10 – Get A Bible – 3:52
Credits Engineer – Greg Hunt Producer – Matthew Ward Written-By – Rick Crawford
For those who didn’t know Illustrator is essentially a new and improved version of Eternity Express. This is their second and last album under this name. Well actually they did release an album in 2011 to be factual. This album is a rather typical but well done late 80’s AOR album. It is said that though uncredited Dann Huff played some of the guitar tracks but I have no way to know if this is true or just rumour. As with their other album this was a much improved version of Eternity Express and this album like their other definitely deserves a listen.
Tracklist 1 – New Way to Love – 3:53 2 – Dying to Meet You – 3:57 3 – Hold My Heart – 4:58 4 – Cryin’ Time – 4:44 5 – I Surrender – 4:21 6 – Help is on It’s Way – 3:40 7 – Listen – 4:00 8 – Should’A Been Love – 4:30 9 – Feels Like – 4:32 10 – Carry the Cross – 3:44
Credits Art Direction – Loren Johnson Backing Vocals [Additional] – Angie Alan, Cindy Cruse, David Ebensberger, Tim Miner Bass Guitar, Lead Vocals – Mark Matthews Design, Layout – Teresa Pratt Drums, Vocals – Kirk Allen Executive-Producer – Freddie Piro Guitar, Vocals – Dan Gaub Keyboards, Lead Vocals – Nathan Gaub Keyboards, Vocals – Dawndee Gaub Producer, Engineer – Win Kutz Saxophone – Randy Lee
This is Crystal’s second solo album. It solidified her new more worship oriented style though “Come Together” is still a pretty rockin tune and probably the best example of what Crystal can do vocally on the album. As for the rest of the album I found it a little dull. But to tell the truth I was a huge fan of her previous work so this change in style didn’t work for me personally. That said the album is excellent for this style and no one can ever argue that Crystal’s voice is one of the best in the industry.
Tracklist 1 – Leave It Up To Him – 3:13 2 – God Is Somebody – 4:17 3 – You Didn’t Have To Do It – 4:56 4 – Monday Comes – 4:13 5 – It’s Real – 3:51 6 – Come Together – 4:56 7 – Better Day – 3:53 8 – Bloodstained Pages – 3:51 9 – There’s Always Time For You – 3:32 10 – Bring Peace Today – 5:20 11 – Monday Comes (Alternative Mix) – 3:48
Credits Arranged By [Vocals] – Crystal Lewis Backing Vocals – Alfie Silas, Debbie McClendon, Fred White, Howard McCrary, Jackie Gouche, Maxie Anderson, Phyllis St. James Bass – Andrew Gouche, Larry “Clyde” Simpson Engineer – Dave Jahnsen Guitar – James Harrah, Marty Walsh Guitar [Lead] – Tony Palacios Guitar [Rhythm], Drums [Overdubs] – Brian Ray Keyboards, Technician [Technical Support] – James Werning Mastered By – John Matousek Mixed By – Doug Rider Percussion – Alex MacDougall, Crystal Lewis Producer, Arranged By, Keyboards – Gene Eugene Producer, Arranged By, Sequenced By [Synth] – Scott V. Smith Programmed By [Synth] – Bill Pearson, Rhett Lawrence Saxophone – Dan Michaels Synthesizer [Overdubs] – Michael Ruff Vocals – Crystal Lewis
This is Mark’s second Christian release. It’s not quite as Rock & Roll as his first but it is still pretty good. Mark handled most of the instruments on the album and also produced it. Personally I feel the sound is a little hollow in places but I’m always overly critical on production and engineering. The tracks are well written and Mark really started to shine as a song writer on this album. Other than that there’s not a lot to say about the album other than give it a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Wake Up… – 4:23 2 – Into The Light – 3:59 3 – New Age – 3:22 4 – Come To Me – 3:58 5 – In Your Sight – 5:23 6 – Upright Man – 3:30 7 – Rocco – 3:48 8 – If It Wasn’t For Grace – 3:53 9 – Love Power – 4:00 10 – Role Model – 5:54 11 – Like I Was Before – 3:52
Credits Backing Vocals [Background Vocals], Drums, Percussion – Mike Maple Bass, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Lawrence Buckner Engineer – Bradley Jones Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Dave Jahnsen, Don Pushies Keyboards – Mark Farner Keyboards, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Michael Blair Lead Guitar – Arnie Vilches Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Gordon vanEkstrom Percussion – Mark Farner Producer – Mark Farner Rhythm Guitar – Arnie Vilches Vocals, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals], Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar – Mark Farner
This is the first of 2 demo’s from Saint Attack though I am completely unable to confirm the second one titled “First Watch”. So in the end this may be all we have from Saint Attack. They never went on to record an album and I can only find info one one member. Vocalist Frank Schepp went on to sing with Chryztyne on their one and only album. Other than Frank the 2 bands don’t appear to have anything in common so I don’t believe it was a rename. OK now onto the demo. It’s a metal album and is actually really well produced and mixed. As they were a German band I wonder why no record deal. I believe it was easier for metal bands to get record deals in Germany and that’s why we have all these oddball German metal releases. Anyway they never did an album and this is all we get form them. If your a metal head this one is for you. I predict you will really like it.
Benny Hester returns with another great Pop Rock album and as was pretty normal for him at this point it was very successful. It had 2 top 10 hits, “Perfect” made it to #5 and “You Weren’t Meant To Live Your Life Alone” to #6. Rounding out the singles was “Before You Know It” at #15 and “Shall We Gather At The River” crept into the chart at #34. As is normal for the CCM charts the best track on the album is actually “Headlights On The Highway” didn’t chart and doesn’t even appear to have been released as a single.
Tracklist 1 – Headlights On The Highway – 3:13 2 – Before You Know It – 4:15 3 – If You Die Before You Die – 4:20 4 – Perfect – 4:23 5 – Hungry World – 3:30 6 – You Weren’t Meant To Live Your Life Alone – 4:55 7 – Two Good Reasons – 3:50 8 – This One’s For Keeping – 3:30 9 – Passion, Possession, Position – 3:40 10 – Shall We Gather At The River – 3:48
Credits Arranged By – Bill Baumgart, Tim Heintz Art Direction – Ed McTaggart Backing Vocals – Allison Beech, Benny Hester, Bill Baumgart, Bob Carlisle Bass – Neil Stubenhaus Drums – Jeff Porcaro Engineer – Dave Jahnsen Engineer [Assistant] – Beth Wisner, Doug Beiden, Eric Kibbe, Kirt Shearer Guitar – Marty Walsh Keyboards – Aaron Zigman, Tim Heintz Mixed By – Bill Baumgart, Dave Jahnsen Percussion – Pete Pfiefer* Photography By – David Dobson Producer – Benny Hester, Bill Baumgart
This was the last real studio album from Altar Boys though they did come together in 2018 to release an album. At this point they simply weren’t the punk powerhouse they once were. If anything at this point they were more new wave than punk. That said I missed this one in the 80’s and was pleasantly surprised how much I liked it. The band were super tight at this point and Steve Griffith was an excellent choice as producer. Though I preferred their commercial punk sound this album is good too.
Tracklist 1 – Forever Mercy – 4:20 2 – Listen Up – 4:28 3 – Faith! – 4:03 4 – The Meaning Of Life – 4:26 5 – Ride This Train – 4:26 6 – World Burning – 4:00 7 – Here Ends The Night – 3:53 8 – Love Eternal – 3:55 9 – More Than Words – 3:48 10 – Silent Night – 4:13
Credits Art Direction – Ed McTaggart Bass – Ric Alba Drums – Jeff Crandall Drums [Additional] – Steve Griffith Engineer – Steve Griffith Engineer [Additional] – Dave Jahnsen Guitar – Mike Stand, Ric Alba Guitar [Additional] – Steve Griffith Harmonica – Mike Stand Lead Guitar – Mike Stand, Steve Pannier Lead Vocals – Mike Stand Percussion – Jeff Crandall Performer [Altar Boys Is] – Jeff Crandall, Mike Stand, Ric Alba Photography – David Dobson Producer – Steve Griffith Vocals – Jeff Crandall, Ric Alba Vocals [Additional] – Steve Griffith
