Tag: 1990

Jeff Fenholt – Hymns I – 1990

Jeff performs some his favourite hymns and worship songs. Some of these are traditional hymns and some are more cent worship songs most of us are familiar with. This was an interesting album idea from Jeff and I think many artists wanted to try this idea bout no way a record label would touch this idea. Jeff didn’t have those impediments as he was independent and really didn’t care about record labels. These are not Rock & Roll covers but just a contemporary arrangement. I’m not a big fan of the Heavy Metal versions of hymns so I’ll be honest I was a little concerned about listening to this album. Instead I love it. These are great arrangements and nowadays you could hear any of these arrangements in a regular Sunday service. Guitar work is handled by Charles Fearing (Raydio) and all the other instruments are handled by famed producer Freddie Perren who also produced the album. Jeff’s vocals are the real focal point of the album and I don’t think he ever got the credit he deserved as a vocalist. You probably missed this one back in the day so you should give it a listen now.

Tracklist
1 – The Old Rugged Cross – 4:32
2 – The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power – 4:54
3 – Goin Up Yonder – 5:56
4 – Holy Ground – 6:05
5 – Amazing Grace – 5:19
6 – Sometimes Alleluia – 5:45
7 – He touched Me – 5:35
8 – Blessed Assurance – 4:30

Credits
Art Direction, Design, Layout – Ben Bull, Walter Ebrahimzadeh
Backing Vocals – Carmen Twilley, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters
Engineer – Freddie Perren, Jack Rouben
Guitar – Charles Fearing
Instruments – Freddie Perren
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Photography – Ron Blanchard
Producer, Arranged By – Freddie Perren
Programmed By, Engineer – Ran Ballard
Vocals – Jeff Fenholt

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Mom & Pop’s Happy House Studio
Mixed At – Mom & Pop’s Happy House Studio
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Produced For – Grand Slam Productions, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Messiah Records
Copyright © – Messiah Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Grand Slam Productions, Inc.
Copyright © – Grand Slam Productions, Inc.
Pressed By – Disctronics USA – 114576

King’s X – Faith Hope Love – 1990

I have seen King’s X live on three occasions. I still have no idea how they pull off their sound live with just three guys. It is really impressive. Of course, one of the times I saw them they were the band for CCM pop artist Morgan Cryar. They played at the infamous “lighthouse” in Orange County. With their third release, Faith, Hope, Love, King’s X were positioned to become the next great rock band, and even though they have garnered a stellar track record and decent fan base, the world just some times doesn’t “get it” when it comes to great and significant rock. Possibly more “commercial” than the first two release, FHL, is still a rocking album and filled with the bands unique, creative and progressive rock music. The Beatlesque vocals married to big and heavy rock just seem to work so well, especially here. The single, “It’s Love” is a brilliant song that deserved even more radio support than it did. But like most King’s X projects it’s deeper into the album that the real gems shine though. “Fine Art of Friendship” has such a killer groove that sticks with you and a wonderful message of reconciliation. “We Were Born to Be Loved” just flat out rocks…hard! And the spoken vocal just works perfectly. Many prefer the debut because of it’s greater progressive and creative influence, but FHL delivers such a consistent and listenable sound that it bears more repeated listening.

Contributor David Lowman – https://legacyccmsgreatestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – We Are Finding Who We Are – 4:39
2 – Its Love – 4:34
3 – Ill Never Get Tired Of You – 3:46
4 – Fine Art Of Friendship – 4:21
5 – Mr Wilson – 3:39
6 – Moanjam – 6:05
7 – Six Broken Soldiers – 3:32
8 – I Cant Help It – 3:53
9 – Talk To You – 4:36
10 – Everywhere I Go – 3:53
11 – We Were Born To Be Loved – 4:52
12 – Faith Hope Love – 9:23
13 – Legal Kill – 4:42

Credits
Art Direction – Derika Van Reenan
Artwork [Back Cover Illustration] – James McDermott
Artwork [Front Cover Illustration] – Randy Rogers
Bass Guitar, Vocals – Doug Pinnick
Drums, Percussion, Vocals – Jerry Gaskill
Engineer, Recorded By – Steve Ames
Guitar, Sitar, Vocals – Ty Tabor
Management – Sam Taylor
Mastered By – Tony Dawsey
Photography By – George Craig
Producer – King’s X, Sam Taylor
Written-By – King’s X

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Megaforce Records, Inc.
Copyright © – Atlantic Recording Corporation
Copyright © – Jetydosa Music
Copyright © – Ackee Music
Recorded At – Rampart Studios
Mastered At – Masterdisk
Made By – WEA Manufacturing Inc.
Pressed By – Specialty Records Corporation

Brighton – Promise Of Love (Demo) – 1990

The background story on the band is quite interesting actually. David actually played in an early version of Quiet Riot as a replacement for Randy Rhoads when he left to join Ozzy’s band. Kevin Dubrow (Quiet Riot) actually produced Brighton’s first demo, and the band began playing at the Whiskey A Go Go, The Troubadour, The Starwood, Madame Wongs West, The Roxy, Gazzarri’s, and many others. This led to them winning the nation wide talent search “Rock To Riches.” While the prize for this was a recording deal it never worked out and the band went another direction. That single “Take Another Look” was released on a radio station sampler which we can not find. The band went on to record “Stay With Me” which appeared on a Myrhh sampler and climbed to the top 10 on Christian radio. At this point the band recorded this demo which would eventually morph into their first and only album. Anyway that’s a brief history of the band. I have more info on the band but these reviews are supposed to be relatively short LOL.

Tracklist
1 – Promise Of Love – 3:47
2 – On Any Sunday – 3:45
3 – Love To Me – 3:49
4 – Women With Guns – 3:01
5 – Wash Me In The Rain – 4:00
6 – Boulevard – 3:16
7 – Cursing The Night – 3:48
8 – Run Through The Flames – 4:11

Credits
Vocals, Guitar, Producer – David Brighton
Bass, Background Vocals – Mark Robertson
Drums, Vocals – Steven W. Latanation
Guitar – Dave Wronski

The Call – Live Under The Red Moon – 2000

Kind of an odd live release from The Call here. For some reason Mark Heard and the guys at Fingerprint records in conjunction with Conspiracy Music decided to release a The Call live recording from 1990. This album was recorded on the support tour for Red Moon album at The Coach House in San Juan, CA in the Fall of 1990. As the band was under contract to MCA Records in 1990 I am assuming this was a recording the band arranged. Further making this release a little stranger is the choice of tracks. Normally when you put out a live album you leave a lot of the newest tracks and concentrate on the bands singles from across their catalogue. This album actually includers 5 tracks from Red Moon so it’s actually a relatively correct album of that tour. While rarely done I think it’s kind of cool. The album itself is poorly recorded with some soft clipping and horrendous compression but we’ve done the best we could to make it sound a little better. As for the album it’s great and was sought after for one main reason in the CCM industry and that is for the live version of “I Still Believe” which is very very good. Anyway there are several great The Call albums in the 2000’s but this is probably my favourite.

Tracklist
1 – Floating Back – 4:17
2 – A Swim In The Ocean – 7:27
3 – This Is Your Life – 4:02
4 – I Don’t Wanna – 5:19
5 – You Run – 7:32
6 – Family – 4:16
7 – Same Old Story – 3:52
8 – Even Now – 5:01
9 – Red Moon – 3:15
10 – Oklahoma – 5:29
11 – You Were There – 4:29
12 – I Still Believe (Great Design) – 5:30
13 – Let The Day Begin – 4:25

Credits
Bass – Ralph Patlan
Drums, Vocals – Scott Musick
Engineer [Live Sound Engineered By] – Kraig Black
Engineer [Recording Engineered By] – Jim Scott
Executive-Producer – Dan Russell, Monte J. Robison, Taylor Robison
Guitar, Vocals – Tom Ferrier
Keyboards, Vocals – Jim Goodwin
Lead Vocals, Bass, Guitar – Michael Been
Mastered By – Peter Thomas*
Percussion, Backing Vocals – Dan Hallas
Photography By – Dorothy Greco, Lindsay Ljungkull
Producer – Michael Been, The Call

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Conspiracy Music
Copyright © – Conspiracy Music
Mastered At – Future Disc
Recorded At – The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano

Heather & Kirsten – Betcha Didn’t Know – 1990

Sisters Heather & Kirsten Ostrom actually started out their music career by singing the national anthem at sports events. I can honestly say that this is probably the only CCM group that got their start that way. In 1985, they recorded a Christmas tape called “Christmas Joy” which caught the attention of artist/producer Roby Duke. Yes we looked for a copy with no luck. Anyway eventually Arcade records came calling and Roby Duke produced a track for a Arcade Records Sampler. It was well received so they headed back into the studio to record the rest of this album. Unfortunately this would be their only album and while Heather moved on to other things in life but Kirsten continued her career in music as Kirsten Wenlock and is still in the business today. As for the album it’s a dance pop album that is probably a little over produced but that was the style on almost all Pop Dance albums of the period. Not really my style but it’s a fun listen that many will like and I’m pretty sure they would have had more albums if Arcade Records hadn’t have been shut down.

Tracklist
1 – Move – 3:37
2 – Evidence – 3:38
3 – Faith Hope Love Dance – 3:50
4 – Shock 2 U – 4:30
5 – So What – 3:35
6 – Some Sweet Boy – 2:41
7 – Pourin’ Rain – 4:05
8 – The Other Side – 3:46
9 – Betcha Didn’t Know – 4:37
10 – If I Were To Say – 4:20

Scaterd-Few – Sin Disease – 1990

Scaterd-few is an interesting band. They actually formed in 1983 and recorded a demo that year with Terry Scott Taylor as producer. That demo never made its way out but we do get to hear some of the cuts on their 1991 “Out Of The Attic” album. They broke up in 1985 but reformed in 1989 and got together with Terry again for this album. The band eventually put out a total of 5 albums which given the controversy that surrounded them is pretty good. I’ll cover those controversies in future album reviews. The controversy of this album is that some said it was Rastafarian and not traditional Christian. This caused distributor Zondervan to drop the album. I listened to this album and I don’t think it spouts Rastafarian beliefs but on the other hand I don’t care, I’m here for the music. As for the album it has that angry punk feel on many tracks but some tracks are more structured and resemble a commercially viable song. There are a few tracks that have a Reggae feel which may have caused this whole silly Rastafarian thing. As I said it was produced by Terry Scott Taylor and personally I can feel and occasionally hear his influence but I could just be reading into the album. Anyway when people talk about 90’s Christian punk this album is often their number one or two favourite.

Tracklist
1 – Kill The Sarx – 1:26
2 – While Reprobate – 1:41
3 – Beggar – 2:22
4 – Lights Out – 2:51
5 – Later (LA 1989) – 3:37
6 – Groovey – 2:56
7 – Glass God (No Freedom In Basing) – 2:08
8 – As The Story Grows – 1:28
9 – U – 1:53
10 – A Freedom Cry – 2:30
11 – Scapegoat – 1:17
12 – Wonder Why – 1:36
13 – DITC – 1:09
14 – Self – 1:13
15 – Look Into My Side – 4:09
16 – Kill The Sarx II (Apocalypse) – 7:05

Credits
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Backing Vocals [Additional BGVs] – Jav
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Omar Domkus
Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals – Samuel West
Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Jamie Mitchell
Vocals [Vox], Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion – Rämald Domkus
Graphics – Drewzig
Guitar [Additional Guitars] – Ed Lover, Greg Flesch, Greg Lawless, Tools
Layout – Joe Potter
Mastered By – John Matousek
Photography By – David Dobson
Photography By [Cover Photo By] – Drew Domkus
Producer [Produced By] – Rämald Domkus, Terry Taylor
Producer [Produced With] – Omar Domkus
Recorded By – Gene Eugene

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Alarma Records
Copyright © – Alarma Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab
Mixed At – The Mixing Lab
Overdubbed At – Mixing Lab B
Mastered At – Soundworks West
Published By – Broken Songs
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

M.C. Ge Gee – I’m For Real – 1990

Many people think M.C. Ge Gee (Genie Rodriguez) started her Rapping career after her brother, D-Boy Rodriguez, was murdered but after researching her a bit I found this wasn’t true. Executives at Frontline Records had already identified her as something the industry needed and she had been studying rapping with her brother before his death. When her brother was in the studio she was there often playing drums on his tracks and helping him with rhythm. As for her album Danny contributed vocals, programming and scratching as the album was recorded before his death. The album is not just Danny’s style by a female. It has a completely different sound and feel. Yes the actual rapping is similar but the backing tracks are a completely different sound. In fact what I find so fun about this album is her use of different music styles backing her backing. We have everything from Reggae to Jazz to African and I Love it. Again not my favourite genre but honestly I loved this one.

Tracklist
1 – Let’s Fight Back – 3:19
2 – Try This One – 3:19
3 – Jazzin It Up – 3:47
4 – Jesus Loves Me – 3:15
5 – Unity – 4:41
6 – Latino Style – 3:34
7 – I’m For Real – 3:36
8 – You Can Make A Difference – 3:53
9 – Loving Him In Return – 3:44
10 – Go Ge Gee – 3:28

Crashdog – Humane Society – 1990

Wikipedia annoyingly states that Crashdog were “one of the first Christian punk bands” Obviously those of us who followed the industry know that isn’t true but I do think they may have been one of the first recorded bands that did what I refer to as angry punk. Punk crossed many styles over the years but these guys were definitely one of the first to do this style successfully. There isn’t much information about how the band came to be but we do know that they were part of the Jesus People U.S.A. movement in Chicago. They must have had some connection with REZ as this album is the first on REZ album on REZ’s label Grrr Records. The band does a real mix of social commentary songs along with straight up Christian songs on this album. While I’m not the biggest fan of what I call angry punk I do quite like this album. The music is fantastic and the lyrics are good and this must have been a refreshing change of sound at the time. These guys were together for a further 4 albums which means they were doing something right.

Tracklist
1 – Progress – 2:30
2 – Brainfill – 1:18
3 – Numbered By Color – 3:13
4 – Electric Drug – 2:41
5 – Distorted View – 1:36
6 – Never Again – 3:28
7 – Bloody Lane – 3:20
8 – End Of The Rope – 3:30
9 – American Dream – 2:45
10 – Your Ugly Face – 2:44
11 – Injustice – 2:07
12 – The Cold Within – 2:36
13 – Midnight Ride – 2:42

Credits
Bass – Brian Grover
Drums – Greg Jacques
Engineer – Ed Bialach
Engineer [Assistant] – Roy Montroy
Guitar – Andrew Mandell
Vocals, Harp [Mouth Harp] – Spike Nard

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Tone Zone Recording
Pressed By – Disctronics USA

Mortification – Break The Curse 1990 – 1994

This album is partially a rerelease of the 1990 Lightforce demo Break The Curse. It includes 4 other tracks from the period as well as a bonus track. I read a few reviews of this album and it appears to have been well received. One of the stranger things I read said “The album focuses on Mortification’s thrash metal style rather than their later death metal.” I have to be completely honest and say that I don’t even really know the difference. In fact I just have no knowledge of this genre at all. I can definitely hear some talent on this album especially the guitar work of Cameron Hall. I read the lyrics are pretty good too but unfortunately my ears are just not tuned to this style of music. Anyway the album is well liked by people who like this style so if you are a thrash kind of person this is one you should give a listen to.

Tracklist
1 – Blood Sacrifice – 3:35
2 – Brutal Warfare – 4:02
3 – Impulsation – 4:29
4 – Turn – 0:57
5 – New Beginning – 2:37
6 – Break The Curse – 2:38
7 – Illusion Of Life – 4:56
8 – Your Last Breath – 3:24
9 – Journey Of Reconciliation – 4:27
10 – The Majestic Infiltration Of Order – 1:08
11 – Butchered Mutilation (Bonus Track Recorded 1993) – 4:46

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Steve Rowe
Drums – Jayson Sherlock
Executive-Producer – Markus Staiger
Guitar – Cameron Hall
Producer, Engineer, Remastered By – Doug Saunders

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – SPV GmbH – CD 077-140832
Pressed By – Pilz Compact Disc – K 40303 A
Remastered At – Toybox Studios
Recorded At – Timbertop Studios

Jeff Scheetz – Woodpecker Stomp – 1990

After the relative success of Jeff’s excellent demo “Warp Speed” Pure Metal records decided it was time for a full album project. This of course is that album. Jeff’s guitar work was on display on his demo but he turned it up even one more notch for this album. The album did well, especially for a metal guitar instrumental album. The single and title track actually was the first instrumental song to make it on to the CCM rock charts. Jeff did carry over some tracks from his demo but most of these are new tracks. Now I’m gonna offer one criticism and I know Jeff’s fans are gonna bash me but here goes. Why an entirely instrumental album? He had Bill Westfall on keyboards who is an excellent vocalist though I suspect Bill wasn’t a Christian and was brought in more as a studio musician for this album so perhaps that idea wasn’t going to work. But it was 1990. There were metal vocalists everywhere and several looking for work at that time. That said Jeff’s vision was a metal acoustic album and that’s what he did and it turned out just fine.

Tracklist
1 – Woodpecker Stomp – 4:07
2 – Neo-Neo – 4:44
3 – Get Busy – 4:32
4 – Parker Street – 1:22
5 – Lost Island – 6:03
6 – House Of Stairs – 4:09
7 – Digital White – 4:15
8 – Lone Wolf – 5:23
9 – Amazing Grace – 4:13

Credits
Bass – Lance Logan
Drums – Kent Burnham
Engineer – Jon Mathias
Guitar – Jeff Scheetz
Keyboards – Bill Westfall
Producer – Jon Mathias

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Re-Flexx Records, Inc.
Licensed From – Pure Metal
Distributed By – Spectra Distribution