This is the third album from Canadian artist Arlen Salte. Again it appears that it was only released in Canada which absolutely astonishes me as it should have had a worldwide release it’s that good. This is another great Rock Pop album with tons of good catch lines and riffs. I have to admit that I just don’t understand how Arlen wasn’t widely known for his work. I hear music here that could have easily charted in secular radio if secular radio wasn’t terrified of Christian music in the day. Unfortunately I am unable to find a credits list for this album other than it was produced by Roy Salmond who produced so many great Canadian acts. Arlen’s credits are usually a who’s who of Canadian Christian artists and I’m sure it was the same for this album.
Tracklist 1 – Love Won’t Walk Away – 4:07 2 – Make No Mistake – 3:45 3 – Here I Stand – 2:50 4 – Strength To Be Weak – 4:00 5 – Heaven Is My Home – 4:33 6 – God Loves – 3:49 7 – Someone’s Waiting – 3:46 8 – Doctor Of My Soul – 3:42 9 – I Know – 4:49 10 – Two Thousand Years – 6:21 11 – Touch Our Hearts – 4:09
Though this was Steve’s first solo album he wasn’t new to the music scene. He had been in the band Butler in the 70’s who had one album. They were the go to opening act for bands touring through New Zealand in the early 70’s. Steve played gospel music through the earl 80’s and went full time in 1987. In 1989 he released this album. It was not released outside of New Zealand which I’m not surprised at as I really don’t think it’s that good. That said his second album is fantastic and we’ll be uploading it soon. Anyway this album has a bit of a blues style that Steve would perfect on his next album. I don’t want to be too negative about this album however as it is relatively good and it’s great to hear something from a music market I didn’t even know existed.
Tracklist 1 – Something Beautiful – 4:38 2 – The Ant Song – 5:50 3 – Cross Over – 3:56 4 – Of All The Wonders – 1:09 5 – Living Sacrifice – 4:40 6 – Cast Your Cares – 7:14 7 – Ruth’s Song – 3:02 8 – David’s Theme – 3:22 9 – Psalm 61 – 6:08
Credits Backing Vocals – Donna Tairakena, Graham Flaws, Jacobien Birch, Jenny Newbery, Kit Grenon Bass – Graham Flaws Drums – Wally Tairakena Flute – Donna Tairakena Guitar – Kit Grenon Keyboards – Donna Tairakena, Stephen Bell-Booth Lead Vocals – Ainsley Apirana Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar – Steve Apirana Saxophone – Graham Wilkinson
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Tandem Studios Mastered At – Marmalade Studios Distributed By – Someone Up There Records
DeGarmo & Key are back with one of their most successful albums. When I say successful I am referring to radio play and sales numbers. Personally it’s not one of my favorites but I’m from the early 80’s crowd so of course I prefer their work from that era. That said I admit this is a pretty good album. D & K had album making down to a fine science at this point. In a 1989 interview with John Styll, Eddie DeGarmo said they “planned to place more emphasis (than before) in their ministry towards motivating young Christians and those in church to witness to people and win them to Christ, as well as motivating them to take a stand in situations that affect the public” and I think that’s where this album really shined. I have seen “Pledge” patches everywhere over the years and there are still places you can get one. As for the charts this album had 4 charting singles. “If God Is For Us” did the best at #3, “Hand In Hand” made it to a respectable #7, “I’m Accepted” to #15, and “Who Will” made it to #24. All in all a pretty successful album.
Tracklist 1 – Boycott Hell – 3:21 2 – Aliens And Strangers – 3:04 3 – I’m Accepted – 3:55 4 – Hand In Hand – 4:37 5 – The Pledge – 5:15 6 – Life In The New Age – 2:32 7 – Let’s Get Upset – 4:31 8 – Who Will – 3:20 9 – Right On Track – 4:30 10 – If God Is For Us (Who Can Be Against Us) – 3:30
Credits Art Direction, Design – Jackson Design Backing Vocals – Eddie DeGarmo, Steve Taylor, Tommy Cathey Bass – Tommy Cathey Choir – Christ Church, Nashville TN Drums – Chuck Reynolds Engineer, Mixed By – Billy Whittington Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock Guitar – Dana Key, Steve Taylor Keyboards – Carl Marsh, Eddie DeGarmo Lead Vocals – Dana Key Management – Brock And Associates Mastered By – Hank Williams Percussion – Carl Marsh Photography By – Dave Hawkins Producer, Engineer – Ron W. Griffin
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc. Copyright (c) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc. Copyright (c) – DKB Music Distributed By – Benson Music Group Made By – Discovery Systems – 56D0600A Recorded At – Ardent Studios Recorded At – OmniSound Studios Mixed At – The Castle Recording Studios Mixed At – Masterfonics Mixed At – Kiva Recording Studio Mastered At – Mastermix
Dallas Holm, Tim Sheppard, and Phil Johnson first came together in 1981 and put out a self titled album. At the time they were all under contract to Greentree Records so there was no contractual issues to work out. They had to wait until 1989 to put out a second album as along the way they were under contract to different record companies and this can cause unsurmountable legal issues. In 1989 none of them were under a contract so they were able to record a follow up album. This is that album. I actually consider them to be a supergroup as they were 3 very top ranked vocalists. Now you normally wouldn’t apply the term supergroup when it comes to the worship genre but I think they deserve it. The album was fairly successful on the CCM charts with “Feel Every Heartbeat” making it to #3 and “Soldiers Again” just poking on to the charts at #40. If you’re a fan of worship oriented music don’t miss out on listening to this one, I’m guessing you’ll love it.
Tracklist 1 – Feel Every Heartbeat – 4:25 2 – Give Me This Water – 4:31 3 – Fighter – 3:13 4 – Standin’ There – 4:00 5 – Child In His Arms – 4:02 6 – Run For The Finish Line – 3:36 7 – City – 4:16 8 – Wisdom – 4:57 9 – I Can See Your House – 3:06 10 – Soldiers Again – 4:17
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Mark Baldwin Arranged By – Smitty Price Art Direction – Amy Linde, Terri Short Bass – Gary Lunn Cello – John Catchings Design – Ken Spradley Drums, Percussion – Dennis Holt Electric Guitar – Jerry McPhearson, Mark Baldwin Engineer [Additional] – JB, Smitty Price Engineer [Assistant] – John Harley, John Kunz, Michael Vasquez Keyboards – Reed Arvin, Smitty Price Mastered By – Hank Williams Photography By – Neill Whitlock Producer – Neal Joseph Recorded By [Vocals] – Paul Mills Recorded By, Mixed By – JB Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – Dallas Sound Lab Recorded At – Digital Recorders Recorded At – BDR Sound Mixed At – Dallas Sound Lab Mastered At – Mastermix
After a wonderful debut and solid sophomore effort something happened to Margaret Becker that would change the direction of her musical progression for the better and help her create one of the truly great female rock albums in CCM history. Someone introduced her to Charlie Peacock. With Peacock’s help Becker created “Immigrant’s Daughter,” a thoughtful, and rock filled pop album with alternative underpinnings. Sounding now a little more like Annie Lennox than Ann Wilson, Becker’s vocal chops expanded and sounded more current and original. Subdued when needed and blowing up when necessary, her vocals here would not be matched until much later on some independent releases. Also with Peacock’s oversight, the songwriting became more introspective and universal. Christian themes combined with real human experiences to create a more passionate and authentic record. The personal expression is found immediately with the title track and continues throughout the project. The album also sounded more “current” and pulled Becker out of the “Chick Rocker” track and allowed to expand and grow as an artist and songwriter. Wonderful rockers and paired with ballads and “modern” musical expressions that also found radio to be quite responsive. Not every ballad has to be “These dreams” or “Alone” as sometimes the softer side provides a more memorable and authentic experience. There are so many strong songs here but a few worth receiving special notation include: Solomon’s Shoes, This Is My Passion, Stay Close to Me and the title track. The cover of “People Get Ready” is also a nice touch to close the album.
Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Immigrant’s Daughter – 4:25 2 – This Is My Passion – 4:03 3 – Stay Close To Me – 3:08 4 – The Hunger Stays – 4:06 5 – Just Come In – 4:25 6 – I Commit – 4:22 7 – Honesty – 3:44 8 – Solomon’s Shoes – 3:13 9 – Laugh A Little – 3:42 10 – People Get Ready – 3:39
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Jimmy Abegg, Margaret Becker Art Direction – Barbara Hearn, Larry Vigon Backing Vocals – Annie Stocking, Brent Bourgeois, Charlie Peacock, Jeanie Tracy, Margaret Becker, Vince Ebo Bass – Larry Tagg Design – Larry Vigon Studio Drums – Mike Urbano Electric Guitar – Jimmy Abegg Engineer [Additional] – Bill Deaton, David Houston Executive-Producer – Peter York Liner Notes – Margaret Becker Mastered By – Doug Sax Mixed By – Jeff Balding Mixed By [Assistant] – Derek Marcil, Jared Held Organ [Hammond B-3] – Roger Smith Photography By – Mark Tucker Piano, Keyboards – Charlie Peacock Producer, Arranged By – Charlie Peacock Recorded By – Rick Sanchez Recorded By [Assistant] – Jim “Watts” Vereecke Written-By – Charlie Peacock (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 8, 9), Curtis Mayfield (tracks: 10), Leonard Ahlstrom (tracks: 6), Margaret Becker (tracks: 1 to 9), Mike Demus (tracks: 6)
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Studio D Recorded At – Moon Studios, Sacramento Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio Recorded At – Studio 55, Los Angeles Mastered At – The Mastering Lab Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Sparrow Corporation Copyright (c) – The Sparrow Corporation Published By – His Eyes Music Published By – SBK Blackwood Music Inc. Published By – Andi Beat Goes On Music Published By – Paragon Music Corp. Published By – Sunday Shoes Music Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
This was the first studio album from Believer but they had released an impossible to find demo in 1987. In 1988 they had a track on the East Coast Metal sampler and though that sampler was released by Regency it was actually R.E.X. Music that stepped up to release this album. So here we have a rather good thrash album. The album utilizes sound sampling on several tracks which to the best of my knowledge was a first in Christian Metal. That said I’m not really an expert in the genre. I think I will actually have to make up a new classification for the album, Commercial Thrash. I think there might be some appeal here even if you don’t care for thrash. Personally I don’t care for thrash but there are a few tracks here that I found myself listening to. It didn’t leave me wanting to hear more thrash but it did leave me wanting to hear more from Believer.
Tracklist 1 – Unite – 6:42 2 – Vile Hypocrisy – 5:36 3 – D.O.S. (Desolation Of Sodom) – 4:22 4 – Tormented – 3:52 5 – Shadow Of Death – 4:21 6 – Blemished Sacrifices – 3:58 7 – Not Even One – 3:38 8 – Extraction From Mortality – 6:07 9 – Stress – 3:03
Credits Bass, Written-By – Howe Kraft Drums, Mixed By, Written-By – Joey Daub Engineer, Mixed By – Paul Krueger Guitar, Vocals, Mixed By, Written-By – Kurt Bachman Guitar, Written-By – Dave Baddorf Illustration, Layout, Design – Jeff Spencer Producer, Mixed By – Doug Mann Violin, Viola – Scott Laird
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Morningstar Studios Distributed By – Word (U.K.) Ltd Made By – Music Manufacturers
9th Street were a UK band that initially signed a record deal with German label Bellaphon. They then were able to secure deals in Canada, Italy, and strangely, South Africa. I can not find any info that this album was released in the United States but it was probably available as an import. Other than that I am unable to find out anything else about this band. Their sound is excellent. It’s a new wave pop sound that I think would have done well in the United States. I really enjoyed listening to this album and the cover of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” is probably one of the best I’ve heard. If you missed this one in the 80’s, and you probably did, it’s well worth a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Feel It – 3:17 2 – Some Time – 5:31 3 – The Feeling’s Gone – 4:46 4 – The Prayer – 4:32 5 – Tonight – 4:44 6 – Nobody Knows – 3:52 7 – Confusion – 6:00 8 – Ordinary Man – 4:36 9 – Sabotage And Secrets – 4:20 10 – I Heard It Through The Grapevine – 3:28
Credits Guitars – Keith Beauvais Keyboards – Kevin Mason Producer, Recorded By – Rod Gammons Saxophone – Chris Margary Vocals – Mark Applin
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Bellaphon Copyright (c) – C-Side Records Recorded At – Rod Gammons Soundstudio Recorded At – Berwick Street Studios Produced For – C-Side Records
This is the Introductory album from Armageddon. The band actually started up in 1987 as Second Chance and had a couple of Demo’s using that name. There were a few lineup changes in this time but nothing unusual for a new band. It was strange however that they brought in several session musicians to help out with this album which is not something you usually see with a Metal band. Apparently the band went into the studio to release the album themselves but R.E.X. Music decided to take a chance on it and stick their name on it. Unfortunately very few copies were pressed so there wasn’t much distribution of the album. As for the album I think it’s pretty good, several tracks lean hard rock instead of metal and quite frankly I found several tracks to my liking and I don’t really care for Metal. Though this was the only album from the band in the 80’s/90’s but they soldiered on and continued recording and self releasing music in the 2000’s. They now refer to themselves as Armageddon USA. This album was re-released in 2007 by Retroactive Records with an additional disc of bonus material. If I get my hands on that bonus disc I’ll be sure to review it.
Tracklist 1 – The Money Mask – 3:20 2 – Mercenaries Of Injustice – 4:08 3 – More Than Conquerors – 3:58 4 – Looking Out For You – 5:42 5 – The Ship Of Changes – 5:23 6 – (Liberation From) Blazing Wasteland – 3:45 7 – Nightlight – 5:44 8 – Giving It To You – 4:23 9 – The Judge – 4:50 10 – We’re Outa’ Here – 3:59
Credits Backing Vocals – Charlie Phillips, Mike Vance, Paul Krueger (tracks: 9) Bass – Dan Wilkinson Design – Jeff Spencer Drums – Joe Hasselvander (tracks: 2, 3, 4, 10), Mark Miley (tracks: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Guitar – Charlie Phillips (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10), Phil Zeo (tracks: 5, 7, 8), Robby Lee (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10) Keyboards – Janusz Smulski, Lamont Coward (tracks: 5) Lead Vocals – Mike Vance Mixed By – Paul Krueger Producer – Paul Krueger Twelve-String Guitar – Phil Zeo (tracks: 5)
Companies, etc. Distributed By – R.E.X. Music Manufactured By – American Helix Technology Corporation Produced For – K Productions Phonographic Copyright (p) – Talkingtown Records Copyright (c) – Talkingtown Records Pressed By – American Helix Published By – Second Chance Music Published By – Lamont Coward Publishing Recorded At – Morning Star Communications
Straightway were a Mid 80’s Metal band out of Houston, Texas who had a couple demo’s before releasing this EP in 1989. It has a very commercial Metal sound and is actually pretty well produced considering they produced it themselves. In reality this is a 4 song EP with a short instrumental and a novelty rap song. In my opinion they should have just left then off. The rap track is ridiculous and difficult to listen to but maybe my opinion would have been different in 1989. Actually I doubt it. So let’s remove those 2 tracks from the review and talk about the final 4. Like I said they have a pretty commercial sound and I’m a little surprised they didn’t have a follow up album but I honestly feel their Beastie Boys’ish rap track hurt them. Actually if someone had done a Beastie Boy’s type album it might have had some success but I wouldn’t have bought it. So if you like your metal with a commercial feel this is the EP for you.
Tracklist 1 – Black Or White – 4:32 2 – Come Back – 3:58 3 – Intro In C# Minor – 0:36 4 – Wounded Heart – 4:41 5 – Christ Is King – 5:05 6 – Don’t Even Swerve – 1:29
Credits Artwork [Logo] – Juan Hidalgo Bass, Vocals – Mark Walton Drums, Vocals – Damon Tankersley Engineer – Cary Wise Lead Guitar – Doug Middleton Lead Vocals, Keyboards – David Walton Other [Hair & Makeup] – Renee Arrowood Photography By – Jesslar Photography Producer – Straightway Rhythm Guitar, Vocals – Mike Locke
Companies, etc. Copyright (c) – Platinum Records International Recorded At – Fourth Creation Studio, Conroe, Texas
Before “In Reach” there was “The Reach”. They were essentially the same band with some slight personnel changes. Though they had 2 demo’s this is their first real album. The album was produced by David Zaffiro (Bloodgood). I don’t know if that’s why Image Records picked them up or if it was because Image picked them up. I really can’t find out too much information about the band so I guess I’ll talk about the album. I was really surprised at how good this album was considering it’s relatively unknown. It has a great 80’s pop sound though I have seen some writers refer to it as an AOR album but I actually beg to differ. The album if anything leans rock but is definitely a pop album. Maybe I’m splitting hairs here but the AOR title just doesn’t seem appropriate to this album for me. The lead track makes you want to listen to the whole album and I would have played it when I was a secular DJ. It definitely could have held it’s own on the Billboard charts. I’m not saying a top 10 but it could have made top 100 no problem. So if you missed this one in the 80’s you should give it a listen now and see what you missed, I think you’ll like it.
Tracklist 1 – Vogue – 3:15 2 – Rightful One – 3:27 3 – Big Time – 2:40 4 – 1 Lufthgir – 0:22 5 – Under The Same Sky – 4:05 6 – Tonight – 4:01 7 – B-4-I-Go – 4:14 8 – You Are The Light – 3:02 9 – 1000 Candles – 3:00
Credits Arranged By – The Reach Backing Vocals – Dave Schuller, Paula Meserole Bass – Scott Burell Consultant [Mixing Consultant] – Terry Shelton Design [Album Design], Art Direction – James Jacobson Drums, Percussion, Sound Designer [Sounds Effective], Text By [Sleeve Text Layout Assistant] – Vince Grant Engineer, Mixed By, Edited By, Guitar [Additional] – Charles Meserole Executive-Producer – Dorn Reppert Guitar – Ken Mesford Keyboards – Brooke Lizotte, David Hubbard Producer, Arranged By, Engineer, Mixed By, Edited By, Backing Vocals, Sound Designer [Sounds Effective] – David Zaffiro Vocals, Guitar, Backing Vocals – Brett Williams
Companies, etc. Copyright (c) – Image Records Phonographic Copyright (p) – Image Records Recorded At – Extra Sensory Productions Mastered At – Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios
