This album originates from a side of Christian music I never had much interest in. In fact I had no idea who this guy was until I noticed that this album won the Grammy for Best Soul Gospel Vocal Performance Duo, Group, Choir Or Chorus in 1989. I was pleasantly surprised how much I actually enjoyed this album especially considering the soul sound is not usually in my listening list. While the album won a Grammy it wasn’t all that successful in the CCM market with only one single, “Let Brotherly Love Continue” which only made it to #27. Now to be clear I doubt I would have been even vaguely interested in this album in the 80’s but right now I kind of enjoyed it. Maybe this was something we were missing out on in the 80’s.
Tracklist 1 – Better Things For You – 3:48 2 – Let Brotherly Love Continue – 4:02 3 – When Love Shows – 3:34 4 – You Got A Choice To Make – 3:56 5 – Walk In The Light – 4:17 6 – One Of A Kind – 4:36 7 – No More I – 4:24 8 – America’s My Island – 3:08 9 – Chinatown – 4:20 10 – Just Fine – 2:15
Credits Art Direction – Terri Short Design – Bill Brunt Designs Engineer – Hal Sacks Executive-Producer – Lynn Keesecker Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Mixed By – Bill Maxwell, Doug Rider, Mike Ross Photography By – Russ Harrington Producer – Bill Maxwell
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Manufactured By – A&M Records, Inc. Distributed By – A&M Records, Inc.
In the summer of 1988, the year I was married and would also move to Maryland to begin working for the Benson Company I attended the Christian Artists event known as Estes Park in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Somehow I ended up meeting and hanging out with a new artists who was in the midst of recording his debut project. He would perform during the week and I became an instant fan. Less than a year later David Mullen’s debut, “Revival” hit the stores and went beyond anything i had imagined from meeting and spending time with him. That amazing, razor edged and strained voice, the pounding rock and blues were only outdone by some amazing songwriting. Mullen would record only three albums but would win a shelf full of songwriting awards for his wife, Nicole C Mullen (aka Nicole on two Frontline released projects), as well as a who’s who list of CCM artists. When Nicole was an artist on Frontline David came with her to a Frontline sales conference and we played a game of softball. I played shortstop and robbed him of a sure double by stabbing a smoking line drive (that’s just a reminder to David in case he ever reads this). The title track rocks in a real Mellencamp, Americana fashion. His voice gravels through and killer hook in the chorus. “Sho’ Love You” keeps the same theme of true American rock with a phenomenal backing band. “Heaven’s to Betsy” takes the popular phrase and twists the meaning and turned it into a radio hit. The real centerpiece of the album is “Backstreet.” The Springsteenesque song builds from a quiet, nearly whispering introduction into a huge chorus that drives the point home both musically and lyrically. This is Mullen’s best vocal performance on this or any of his albums. the emotional ferocity that builds is the stuff spine tingling is made from. It is not just the voice but the attitude with which the voice derives. Empathetic and prophetic simultaneously where the words both exhort and condemn, mainly because they are to be believed. Later albums would no longer feature the same rock and passion, but for fans of Rick Elias, Carson Cole, John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen this album was a sheer delight.
Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Revival – 5:20 2 – Sho’ Love You – 3:56 3 – Heaven’s To Betsy – 4:34 4 – Backstreet – 4:56 5 – Somebody Say Amen – 3:29 6 – Fallen World – 4:48 7 – Still Here – 2:15 8 – Live So God Can Use You – 3:43 9 – The Blood – 4:46 10 – Hang My Head And Cry – 5:31
Credits A&R [A&R Direction] – Danny Kee, Mark Maxwell Art Direction, Design – Laura LiPuma Backing Vocals – Ashley Cleveland, Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton Engineer [Assistant Engineers] – Barry Dixon, Carry Summers, Kevin Twit, Steve Bishir Mastered By – Doug Sax Mixed By – Jeff Balding Mixed By [Assisted By] – Ken Allardyce Musician [The Players], Bass – Tommy Sims (tracks: 1 to 5, 8, 10) Musician [The Players], Drums, Percussion – Chris McHugh (tracks: 1 to 5, 8, 10) Musician [The Players], Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Classical Guitar, Dobro – Gordon Kennedy (tracks: 1 to 5, 8, 10) Musician [The Players], Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Slide Guitar – Tom Hemby (tracks: 1 to 5, 8, 10) Overdubbed By [Overdubs Recorded By] – Bill Deaton, Brent King, Lee Groitzsch, Lynn Fuston, Ronnie Brookshire Photography By – Mark Tucker Producer [Produced By] – Chris McHugh, Mark Gersmehl Recorded By [Additional Tracks Recorded By] – Ronnie Brookshire Recorded By [Basic Tracks Recorded By] – Jeff Balding
Companies, etc. Record Company – Warner Communications Copyright (c) – Warner Bros. Records Inc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Warner Bros. Records Inc. Manufactured By – WEA Manufacturing Recorded At – OmniSound Studios Recorded At – Digital Recorders Overdubbed At – Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN Overdubbed At – OmniSound Studios Mixed At – Bill Schnee Studios Mastered At – The Mastering Lab Published By – Word Music Published By – Kutable Music
It was 1989 and time for another Mylon LeFevre album. In the late 80’s Mylon was consistently putting an album out every year. His offering for 1989 was another successful album. It actually received a Grammy nomination for “Best Gospel Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group, Choir Or Chorus” but lost out to Daniel Winans. Having listened to both albums I believe Mylon’s was better but I wasn’t an academy voting member. The album spawned 3 singles with “Jesus, It’s You” making it to #1, “Movin’ On” to #12, and “Love Comes Down” to #22. While touring with Whiteheart in support of this album Mylon suffered a heart attack. Ironically the tour was called the Heart Attack tour, you can’t make up irony like that. It should be noted that he continued touring in the Philippines in 1990 against his doctor’s advice. Doctors stated that Mylon’s previous involvement with alcohol and drugs had a large role in his heart attack. As for the album I think it was toned down a bit from his previous release but still has some good Rock tracks on it.
Tracklist 1 – Big World – 5:11 2 – Love Comes Down – 3:12 3 – Falling In Love – 3:36 4 – Face To Face – 4:21 5 – Jesus, It’s You – 4:26 6 – Turn The Tables On Me – 4:02 7 – Remember The Future – 3:57 8 – Let Love Conquer – 4:15 9 – The Distance – 3:09 10 – Movin’ On – 4:21
Credits Art Direction – Mike McCarty, Toni Thigpen Bass, Vocals – Kenneth Bentley Coordinator [Ministry Coordinator & Booking] – Greg Menza Design, Illustration – Mike McCarty Electronic Drums [Digital Drums], Vocals – Ben Hewitt Engineer – Greg Archilla, Joe Hardy, Ricky Keller Engineer [Stage Sound Engineer] – Dave Wagner Guitar, Vocals – Scott Allen, Trent Argante Keyboards, Vocals – Paul Joseph Lighting [Technician] – Darin Pope Lighting Director [And Lighting Designer] – Michael Murden Management [Road Manager], Engineer [House Sound Engineer] – Clay Spivey Mixed By – Joe Hardy Photography By – Jimmy Collins Producer – Joe Hardy, Mylon LeFevre Programmed By [Fairlight Programming] – Joe Hardy Stage Manager [And Rigging And Pyrotechnics] – “Punky” Higginbotham* Vocals, Guitar – Mylon LeFevre
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Star Song Copyright (c) – Star Song Distributed By – Sparrow/Star Song Distribution Published By – Angel Band Music Published By – Jerome Olds Music Recorded At – Ardent Studios Recorded At – Southern Tracks Recorded At – Southern Living Studios Mastered At – Masterdisk Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
Deliverance was another band coming out of the California metal scene in the mid 80’s. They had a demo in 1987 that was very well received and then got two tracks on the first California Metal compilation. Then they got a deal in 1988 with Intense Records for this 1989 release. Though they are usually better known for their second album this album was well received but there was only a short pressing so there wasn’t as much promotion. The album ranked at No. 3 on Heaven’s Metal fanzine Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time. The album was also well received in the secular metal community though I think it could be better referenced as having a secret secular fan club. The album was produced by Bill Metoyer who was working with top secular metal bands of the period. The album was re-issued by Retroactive Records in November of 2008 with new album artwork and “Attack” and “A Space Called Your” as bonus tracks. This playlist includes those two tracks. It was again re-issued in 2017 by Roxx Records & No Life ’til Metal Records with the same two bonus tracks.
Tracklist 1 – Victory – 3:44 2 – No Time – 4:28 3 – Deliverance – 3:03 4 – If You Will – 3:03 5 – The Call – 3:40 6 – No Love – 3:30 7 – Blood of the Covenant – 4:50 8 – Jehovah Jireh – 3:35 9 – Temporary Insanity – 5:25 10 – Awake – 6:03
2008 Bonus Tracks 11 – Attack – 3:54 12 – Space Called You – 3:45
Credits Art Direction – Ed Taggart Bass – Brian Khairullah Cover [Cover Concept By] – Deliverance Drums – Chris Hyde Executive-Producer – Caesar Kalinowski Guitar – Glenn Rogers Music By [All Songs By], Vocals, Guitar – Jimmy P. Brown II Producer – Bill Metoyer Remastered By – Rob Colwell
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Intense Records Copyright (c) – Intense Records Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc. Distributed By – Mainroads Music Group Recorded At – Mixing Lab A Recorded At – Mixing Lab B Published By – Broken Songs Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
This was Bryan’s last album on Modern Art Records which I think was his own label as he is pretty well the only artist on it. This is another strong pop album from him and falls in line with this album’s predecessors. I liked most the tracks but was a bit taken aback by “Don’t Ya Wanna Rap”. It reminded me of a Jazzy Jeff Rap song but after listening to it a few times I came to think it’s just a fun silly song and now I kind of like it. The album did very well on the charts with 4 singles. Strong Medicine made it to #2, Let Me Be Broken to #3, Stand In My Place to #5, and Wonderful barely edged on at #30. Pretty successful album which probably helped lead Bryan to a record deal with Word/Myrrh Records.
Tracklist 1 – Let Me Be Broken – 4:13 2 – Recognize A Lover From A Thief – 4:20 3 – Stand In My Place – 4:19 4 – Strong Medicine – 5:07 5 – Don’t Ya Wanna Rap – 3:55 6 – Inside Out – 4:25 7 – Lies Upon Lies – 3:00 8 – Hand It Over – 4:14 9 – Wonderful – 3:52
Credits Backing Vocals [Obvious Female Vocals With Phyllis] – Edna Wright Backing Vocals [Obvious Female Vocals] – Phyllis St. James Co-producer, Keyboards, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Songwriter [Songwriting], Arranged By [Arrangements], Engineer [Additional Engineering “the Executioner”] – Chuck Barth Creative Director [Creative Direction] – Jim Fitzgerald Creative Director [Creative Direction], Art Direction – Gary Whitlock Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Jeff Park Graphics – Gina Phelps Management [Personal Management] – Ray Ware Artists Mastered By – Bernie Grundman Other [Stunt Double For Bryan] – Brad Duncan Percussion – Dave Romero Photography By – Stew Ivester Producer, Engineer, Arranged By [Arrangements], Recorded By, Mixed By – Larry Brown Programmed By [Additional Programming] – John Stenstrom Songwriter [Songwriting], Arranged By [Arrangements], Other [Direction], Concept By [Album Concept], Keyboards – Bryan Duncan
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Modern Art Records, Inc. Copyright (c) – Modern Art Records, Inc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Distributed By – Word, Inc. Recorded At – 440 Sound Recorders Mixed At – 440 Sound Recorders
Crossection were a band out of central Alberta Canada. They actually released this album as a independent release in 1988 but Image 7 Records picked it up and released it in 1989. The album is self produced and usually this is not a good thing but this album is actually very well produced and engineered. My only criticism of the album is that it has several tracks over the 4 minute mark including a whopper at a few seconds short of 7 minutes. That said it’s not much of a criticism as the tracks are good and their length may actually be a plus to most people. Most of the tracks lean to arena rock but there a few that are more pop oriented. Their rock tracks are the best and they really could have had some real success had they just shown up a few years earlier. Unfortunately they joined the market at the start of what I consider it’s demise. They released another album the next year and it’s even better.
Tracklist 1 – Stephanie – 3:23 2 – Things Aren’t The Same – 3:28 3 – How Long – 3:35 4 – Heartbreak City – 3:00 5 – Shadow Land – 4:54 6 – What About Forever – 5:54 7 – Battle For The Minds – 5:31 8 – Cover Feelings – 6:54 9 – Love Is Who You Are – 4:28 10 – Break The Chains – 3:16 11 – If The Son Sets You Free – 4:15
Credits Arranged By, Keyboards, Vocals – Dale Johnson Bass, Vocals – Bruce Rawling Drums – Martin Zinger Lead Guitar, Vocals – Nevin Eggum Producer – Crossection Vocals, Guitar – Doug Rawling
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Image 7 Records Inc Copyright (c) – Image 7 Records Inc Manufactured By – Image 7 Records Inc
This was the 4th album from Whitecross and it is a great Rock & Roll album. If you just started listening to it may I suggest you turn it up to 12. It’s just my opinion but I think this is their best album. Scott Wenzel’s vocals are outstanding but I’m pretty sure the tour for this album must have destroyed his vocal cords. Rex Carroll’s guitar stands out as usual, he really was one of the best guitarists in the Hard Rock/Metal Christian scene. The surprise of the album is that Rick Cua plays bass on all but one track. I was really surprised to read this and a part of me really doesn’t know if it’s actually true but wow. I respected him before but my opinion of him just went up a notch. The album reached number 13 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart and actually won a Dove award for Hard Music Album of the Year.
Tracklist 1 – Attention Please – 3:55 2 – Red Light – 4:32 3 – Straight Thru The Heart – 3:57 4 – Down – 4:01 5 – Behold – 4:35 6 – Shakedown – 4:16 7 – Flashpoint – 1:30 8 – Simple Man – 4:21 9 – Over The Top – 4:18 10 – Heaven’s Calling Tonight – 4:16
Credits Backing Vocals [Additional] – Caroline Nieto, Jonathan Pagano Bass – Rick Cua (tracks: 1,2, 4-10) Bass, Vocals – Rick Armstrong (tracks: 3) Drums – Frank Liva Drums, Vocals – Mike Elliot Guitar, Vocals, Producer – Rex Carroll Keyboards – George Small Lead Vocals – Scott Wenzel Producer – Joey Powers
Is there a better and more passionate male vocalist in the history of Christian music? After several years in Southern Gospel ensembles and a career building tenure with the Imperials, Russ Taff took his throaty and earthy blue-eyed soul voice of gold into a solo realm and, for several years, created some of the finest albums in CCM. Three of those albums make the list here. After two successful pop albums and a thematic and musical shift with a self-titled release, Taff released his fourth solo album to an overwhelming contingent of positive responses. Not as dark or rock driven as the previous release, The Way Home is more Americana and Springsteen influenced. Not “country,” but decidedly less “alternative” and more earthy. yet the Country market embraced the album charting three singles from the album. Christian radio was not as embracing though a few songs did make a dent including the wonderful ballad, “Farther On.” The ballads on the album are incredibly strong with several written by Michael Anderson (who himself will appear later on this list). In fact, an Anderson penned tune remains my personal favorite on the album. “I Need You,” which appeared on Anderson’s A&M debut release is wonderfully redone here. On several occasions Taff points toward a later release entitles “Under Their Influence” in which he covers several classic country and southern gospel classics. The songs included here reflect Taff’s heritage and respect for the legacy of amazing music left behind by some incredible artists. The album closes with “Table in the Wilderness” that is simply a 4 minute masterpiece. It always felt to me that the song would have worked on a latter Alarm album with it’s anthem like qualities. A huge song with a great hook and Taff’s impressive vocals really carry it through. This would be the last album that would make a major impact in the CCM market for Taff though he has continued to record and release album up to the present. He has also continued an on again off again relationship with the Gaither Vocal Band.
Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/
Tracklist 1 – Winds Of Change – 4:17 2 – It Was Love – 4:26 3 – Farther On – 3:49 4 – The River Unbroken – 4:24 5 – He Came Through – 3:10 6 – I Cry – 4:07 7 – I Need You – 4:36 8 – Go On – 4:22 9 – Ain’t No Grave – 1:19 10 – Guiding Light – 4:13 11 – Take My Hand – 4:35 12 – Table In The Wilderness – 4:15
Credits Arranged By [Strings] – Don Hart Art Direction – Buddy Jackson Bass – Jackie Streets Coordinator [Cover] – Laurie Fink Drums – Lynn Williams Engineer – Tim Crich Engineer [Additional] – Dan Garcia, David Schober, Lynn Fuston Engineer [Assistant] – Chris Rich, Clarke Schleicher, Elaine Anderson, Gil Morales, Mac Smith, Shawn McLean Guitar – James Hollihan Jr., Russ Taff Keyboards – James Hollihan Jr., Larry Hall Management – Zach Glickman Mastered By – Dan Hersch Melodica – James Hollihan Jr. Mixed By – Peter Coleman Photography By [Black And White] – Bonnie Schiffman Photography By [Front Cover] – Loren Balman Producer – James Hollihan Jr., Russ Taff
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Recorded At – The Bennett House Recorded At – Downstage Studio Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio Recorded At – Digital Recorders Recorded At – Hollywood Sound Recorders Recorded At – Wayne Cook Studios Mixed At – Mama Jo’s Mastered At – DigiPrep
This was the first studio album from Guardian though they did have a demo using the name Fusion and another using the name Gardian. They inked the deal for this album in 1985 with Enigma Records but the wheels of production and release moved very slowly. The album was to be produced by Oz Fox from Stryper and he wasn’t immediately available. Recording did finish in 1988 but then for some reason it didn’t get released until 1989. Quite frankly Enigma really screwed this one up. By the time this album came out they should have been on their follow up album and another tour but the screw ups over at Enigma cost themselves and the band a lot of success and the resulting money. To top this all off Enigma did a short run of the album making it difficult for people to get their hands on. This was a great metal album and if it had been properly promoted, pressed, and distributed it might have been one of the biggest Christian Metal releases. I’m not even going to bother telling you about the album, give it a listen, I know you will be impressed. Another annoying thing Enigma did was to put 2 extra tracks on the CD release. This idea wasn’t’ unique to Enigma, lots of others did it but it was a dumb idea.
Tracklist 1 – I’ll Never Leave You – 4:32 2 – Mystery Man – 4:07 3 – Livin’ For The Promise – 4:09 4 – Miracle – 4:56 5 – Saints Battalion – 3:47 6 – Kingdom Of Rock – 3:25 7 – The Good Life – 4:41 8 – One Of A Kind – 3:33 9 – World Without Love – 3:56 10 – Rock In Victory – 3:50 —CD Bonus Tracks— 11 – Hyperdrive – 4:17 12 – Marching On – 3:55
Credits Art Direction, Design – Dean Van Eimeren Backing Vocals [Additional Backing Vocals] – Oz Fox Bass – David Bach (2) Drums – Rikk Hart Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Allen Isaacs, Gene Eugene, Jeff Simmons Engineer [Assistent Engineer], Coordinator [Studio Coordination] – Dave Hackbarth, Dino Elefante Engineer, Mixed By – Dan Nebenzal Keyboards – Brent Jeffers Lead Guitar – Tony Palacios Lead Vocals, Guitar – Paul Cawley Mastered By – Eddy Schreyer Mixed By, Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Mike Mierau Photography By – Steve Cooper Producer, Mixed By – Oz Fox Vocals – David Bach, Tony Palacios
Companies, etc. Record Company – The Benson Company, Inc. Made By – Discovery Systems
REZ band finished off the 80’s with this excellent album. The album showed the blues side that Glenn would head down for future recordings. The album also contains some of their heaviest material in quiet awhile. Wendy’s vocals are strong as usual and I would personally say that this album may be her best vocal performance. The album is very well produced but that’s what we had come to expect from Rez. If you like the 48 second track “Rooster Crow” be sure to pick up Glenn’s 2001 album, Carolina Moon where there’s a full length version of the song. Strangely “Bargain” is actually a cover of a “The Who” tune from 1971. Bit of trivia and I quote Wikipedia here “Innocent Blood’s cover photograph is of an eight-year-old girl named Tricia who lived close to the Jesus People USA community in urban Chicago. She was tragically abducted by an unknown person(s) around the Chase Park area. Most disturbingly, Tricia was never seen again. In her memory, the band addressed this subject on the album as well.”
Tracklist
1 – Rooster Crow – 0:48
2 – Altar Of Pain – 3:15
3 – The House Is On Fire – 3:25
4 – 80,000 Underground – 3:14
5 – Fiend Or Foul – 4:41
6 – Where Roses Grow – 7:20
7 – Right On Time – 5:46
8 – Child Of The Blues – 3:40
9 – Laughing Man – 3:31
10 – Bargain – 5:31
11 – Great God In Heaven – 2:56
Credits
Band [REZ Is], Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy
Band [REZ Is], Drums – John Herrin
Band [REZ Is], Guitar, Vocals – Glenn Kaiser
Band [REZ Is], Lead Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss
Band [REZ Is], Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Design [Cover Design], Photography By – Cornerstone Graphics, Janet Cameron
Engineer [Engineered By] – Ed Bialach, Roger Heiss, Roy Montroy
Producer [Produced By] – Rez*, Tom Cameron
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Grrr Records
Copyright (c) – Grrr Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Engineered At – Tone Zone Recording
Published By – Rez Band Music
Published By – Suolubaf Music
Published By – ABKCO Music
Published By – Towser Tunes, Inc.
Made By – JVC
