This “gem” of an album showed up in 1990 and was released on Star Song records with much mystery. As far as I can tell we still don’t know who actually did this album. They used monikers and don’t ever appear to have taken credit for it. Personally I wouldn’t have taken credit either but I do not like Rap music. Apparently the track “I Can Sing Higher” is making fun of Sandi Patti which at least shows a good sense of humour, Anyway here it is, an 80’s style Rap album in the CCM music genre.
Tracklist 1 – Fresh Fish – 4:20 2 – Back In A Big Way – 3:53 3 – Step Off (The Stage) – 3:36 4 – Say What? – 2:40 5 – Brother-Brother – 5:03 6 – I Can Sing Higher – 4:42 7 – VG Veggies – 3:32 8 – We’re Stupid – 3:00 9 – Johnny Fencerider – 4:28
Credits Art Direction – Toni Thigpen Design, Illustration – Tufts Design Studio Mastered By – Brian Gardner Performer – TMOK (tracks: A5, B3), The Dean Producer – Mix Master Mighty White Recorded By, Mixed By – M.M.M.W. Vocals [Guest] – Tiny Tina (tracks: A2, A5) Written-By – Mighty White*, The Dean
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Star Song Copyright (c) – Star Song Distributed By – Sparrow/Star Song Distribution Recorded At – Queen Bee Studios Mixed At – Queen Bee Studios Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering Copyright (c) – Ariose Music Copyright (c) – Shepherd’s Fold Music
To say this was a successful album would be an understatement. Bryan squeezed 3 number 1 singles off this album. “We All Need”, “Blessed Are The Tears”, and “I Love You With My Life” all made it to number 1. I was a little surprised there wasn’t a fourth single that charted lower but nope. Don’t know that there’s another album with 3 #1’s and nothing lower. “I Love You With My Life” is actually a cover (is it really a cover when you performed it in the first place) from the 1979 Sweet Comfort Band album Breakin’ The Ice. This song actually made myself ask myself what if SCB actually had kept going and gone in the direction Bryan was headed. There was such great talent in the band that I would have far preferred hearing them back Bryan. That said I don’t want to take away anything from Bryan on this album. It really was the best album of 1990.
Tracklist 1 – Sunday Go To Meetin’ – 4:23 2 – Ain’t No Stoppin’ Now – 4:05 3 – Leave Your Light On (Hopeless Moon) – 4:28 4 – We All Need – 3:27 5 – Lunatic Friend – 4:24 6 – All Is Forgiven – 4:21 7 – Puttin’ In The Good Word – 4:23 8 – Walkin’ – 4:12 9 – Mr. Bailey’s Daughter – 4:03 10 – Blessed Are The Tears – 4:30 11 – I Love You With My Life – 4:40
Credits Bass – John Pierce, Nathan East Brass – Dan Higgins, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey, Larry Williams Composed By – Bryan Duncan Drums – Jeff Porcaro Executive-Producer – Tom Willett Guitar – Dan Lee, Michael Hodges, Tim Pierce Keyboards – Alan Pasqua, Jerry Peters, John Van Tongeren, Michael Omartian, Peter Wolf, Randy Kerber Mastered By – Steve Hall Mixed By – Csaba Petocz, Jeremy Smith Percussion – Dan Posthuma, Jeff Porcaro, Rafael Pidilla*, Sandra Crouch Producer – Dan Posthuma Saxophone [Solo] – Dave Boruff
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc. Copyright (c) – Word, Inc. Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Mastered At – Future Disc
This is one of the odder releases I’ve stumbled across while researching Christian Metal music. This album was only released in Australia though it was reissued in Greece in 2020. Even though it was released in 1990 it was only issued on Vinyl with only 1000 copies printed. The album is a self release gatefold with the lyrics on the inside. I was told they were a thrash band so I prepared myself for that horror when I sat down to listen to the album. Instead I found a project as opposed to an album with several of the tracks having a progressive feel. At best I would describe the thrash tracks as thrash lite. It is actually quite a bearable album and I admit that there are a couple really good tracks here. Remember I detest thrash so this is saying a lot. I was also delighted to hear a female vocalist on a “thrash” album. This is a fascinating project and I congratulate the band on a job well done. Again not my style but really this is a pretty good album.
Tracklist 1 – The Light Is Struck – 2:29 2 – Heavy And Loud – 4:37 3 – Sinner – 4:07 4 – Transmuter – 4:24 5 – Magician – 5:18 6 – Metallic Frenzy – 6:53 7 – Apocalypse Riders – 5:07 8 – Burn In Hell – 5:36 9 – The Darkness Splits – 0:39
Credits Mick Johnson – Bass Scott Cooper – Drums Adam Johnson – Guitars Craig Vine – Guitars Cindy Greenwood – Vocals
This is the first album from Seventh Angel after 3 fairly popular demos. They signed with the UK’s Under One Flag but I think had some sort of deal to retain the masters. I say this because over the years this album has been re-issued on at least 9 other labels. I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve seen that before. Anyway Ian Arkley started the band up in late 1989 and the band quickly rose to be one of the top Thrash bands around. In fact this album was ranked #51 on the Top 100 Christian Metal Albums of All Time in 2010 by HM Magazine. If you’re into thrash this album will give you everything you want from a Thrash album. Normally all these varying styles would leave people questioning an album but not this one. It supplies everything thrash has to offer on one album including a nearly 10 minute track which is pretty rare in the Thrash genre.
Tracklist 1 – Tormented Forever – 4:18 2 – The Charmer – 7:16 3 – Forbidden Desires – 3:43 4 – I Of The Needle – 5:38 5 – Expletive Deleted – 3:23 6 – Dr. Hatchet – 6:04 7 – Locked Up In Chains – 5:07 8 – Acoustic Interlude – 0:39 9 – Katie – 9:41 10 – Epilogue – 1:48
Credits Artwork – Rodney Matthews Bass – Simon Bibby Drums – Tank (7) Guitar [Rhythm] – Scott A. Rawson Producer, Engineer – Paul Hodson Vocals, Guitar – Ian Arkley
Companies, etc. Licensed From – Edge Records Phonographic Copyright (p) – Edge Records Copyright (c) – Edge Records Glass Mastered At – MPO
Scarlet Rayne was a late 80’s metal band out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They released a 3 track demo in the late 80’s but at this time we are unable to find a copy. The internet tells me that they actually turned down a record deal and instead chose to release this album independently. They released 1000 CD’s and 1500 Cassettes. Not big numbers but it must have been well received as they became quite popular. The internet also tells me that after some personnel changes they changed names to SolScape and recorded a second album but unfortunately the band split and never released the album. This album was reissued in 2008 by Arkeyn Steel Records with 4 bonus tracks. We have included those bonus tracks here. As for the album it’s a fairly commercial Metal sound but the vocals do stand out as being well above average for the time of the recording. Pretty good metal album here and if that’s your style of choice you should definitely give it a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Scarlet Rayne – 5:58 2 – Alpha & Omega – 4:41 3 – Tales Of The Lost – 4:31 4 – Covered Fear – 5:40 5 – C.F.C. – 4:40 6 – Sands Of Time – 6:50 7 – Through Eyes Of The Past – 6:51 8 – Midnight Excursion – 0:41 Bonus Tracks 9 – Razorback – 4:12 10 – Lost Meaning – 5:04 11 – Lions Den – 3:18 12 – How Now – 3:59
The third and last album from Gideon’s Army picks up where Warriors Of Love left off but it has a feel of maturity to it. At this point I think the band had settled into the style that they liked as there was some style fluttering in their first 2 releases. Unfortunately this was the last album from their band and I feel they were just hitting their stride. Darin Warren stepped in to replace Dave Angles on guitar and his sound fit in well with the band. I missed this band entirely in the 80’s and really wish I could have seen them live, I just get the feel that they were good live. Original copies of this release are apparently few and far between which suggests to me that it just didn’t sell well. Luckily it was re-released in 2015 by Retroactive Records so it’s easy to get a copy now.
Tracklist 1 – Knowing You – 3:45 2 – Lonely Lover – 4:20 3 – Christina – 4:45 4 – Grace – 5:21 5 – Make Up Your Mind – 3:10 6 – Open Arms – 4:23 7 – Tough Love – 3:24 8 – With The One I Love – 4:21 9 – Turn Up The Heat – 4:11 10 – Sending You – 4:08
Credits Mark Greves – Lead Vocals & Bass Darin Warren – Lead Guitar Doug Naruo – Keyboards Jerry Anderson – Drums & Lead Vocals Brenda Perdue – vocals Melody Lynn – vocals Ron Davis – vocals Dave Angeles – guitars on 7, 8, 10 Don Walker – drums on 7, 8, 10
This is the first of two albums from Seraiah. They were formed in Indiana in 1985 by drummer Kyle Dietz and guitarist Quinton Gibson. They did release a demo in 1989 which as of this writing I haven’t heard yet but I have been told it’s quite good. There were some lineup changes before they finally got a mainstream record deal with Pure Metal for this album. The “single” was Rise Up and I understand it received fairly good airplay on Christian radio stations that dared play metal. Other than that I can’t find much info on the band but the album is pretty good and has a bit of a commercial metal feel and sound.
Tracklist 1 – Carnival World – 4:48 2 – Devastating Daydream – 5:23 3 – Hear Their Cry – 5:46 4 – The Nature Of Things – 4:29 5 – No More Tears To Cry – 5:02 6 – Rise Up – 3:56 7 – You Know – 3:47 8 – Helpless Without You – 4:45 9 – Let Him Take Control – 5:02 10 – Fallen Heart – 6:13
Credits Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Michael McClung Drums – Kyle Dietz Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals – Quinton Gibson Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Bradley Beckey Mastered By – Jim Lloyd Mixed By – Steve Griffith Producer [Produced By] – Jim Erdman (tracks: 1 to 8, 10), Steve Griffith (tracks: 9) Recorded By – Alan Chase Written-By, Arranged By – Seraiah
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pure Metal Copyright (c) – Pure Metal Distributed By – Spectra Distribution Record Company – Star Song Communications Recorded At – Grand Slam Studios Mastered At – Masterfonics Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pure Metal Copyright (c) – Pure Metal
Kreyson is a Czechoslovakia metal band started 1989 by Ladislav Křížek after he left Citron. The album was not released in North America so I have no idea how it became so popular here. Kreyson was popular in the Nordic countries as well as Czechoslovakia and actually went on to record 3 more albums in the 90’s They also reformed in the mid 2000’s and released 3 more albums. It is obvious they were very popular in their home country and I admit I had no idea there even was Christian music in Czechoslovakia. The album itself is a great metal album and I was really impressed with the quality of their work. The album has very good production but that’s not surprising as the producer is probably the top producer there was in Czechoslovakia. Eventually this album was released in more markets and today is available digitally. Thank goodness for that as this album deserves to be heard by everyone that likes this style of music.
Tracklist 1 – Kreyson – 4:05 2 – Skalp – 3:11 3 – Deep In The Night – 4:29 4 – No Blue Skies – 4:15 5 – Faraway – 4:22 6 – Angel On The Run – 3:07 7 – Dreamin’ – 3:59 8 – Golden Ark – 3:34 9 – Need You – 5:48 10 – Fade Out – 3:14
Credits Arranged By – Jan Němec, Kreyson Bass Guitar – Karel Adam Co-producer – Rolf “Rock ‘N’ Rolf” Drums – Robert Vondrovic Engineer – Jan Němec Guitar – Daniel Krob, Jaroslav Bartoň Lead Vocals – Ladislav Křížek Lyrics By – A. Winter Lyrics By [Original Czech Lyrics] – J. Krůta (tracks: A5), L. Křížek Music By – J. Bartoň (tracks: A5, B8, B10), L. Křížek Performer – Kreyson Producer – Jan Němec
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Tommü Records Recorded At – Studio M Mixed At – Studio M
This is Dana’s first solo album. It follows Eddie DeGarmo’s solo album in 1988. DeGarmo & Key were still a group but apparently the guys felt the need to do a solo effort. I listened to Eddie’s album back to back with this one and I gotta say I think this one is better. Dana is a far better vocalist and I think his songwriting is better. Looking at other reviews I think most people preferred Eddie’s album but not me sorry. The real highlight of the album is a cover of Larry Norman’s “The Outlaw” which was also released on the Larry Norman tribute album “One Way (The Songs Of Larry Norman)” and actually singled at #15 on the CCM charts. The album had 2 other singles, Up From The Dead made it to #7 and Pray For Peace to #6. This is another album I really liked and there’s a few cuts here that might end up in my regular rotation.
Tracklist 1 – We Need A Savior – 3:57 2 – The Outlaw – 4:27 3 – Bow Down – 3:58 4 – Sister (It’s A Mean World) – 2:52 5 – Come To Me – 3:23 6 – Live In The Light – 3:09 7 – Prelude: Here, There Or In The Air – 0:35 8 – Pray For Peace – 3:42 9 – Kingdom Of Grace – 4:10 10 – The Death – 1:49 11 – Up From The Dead – 3:41 12 – Here, There Or In The Air – 4:12
Credits Art Direction – Buddy Jackson Design – B. Middleworth, Jackson Design Engineer [Additional] – Billy Whittington (tracks: 11), Rusty McFarland (tracks: 6) Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock Guitar, Lead Vocals – Dana Key Mastered By – Hank Williams Mixed By – John Hampton Photography By – Ken Crenshaw Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Ron W. Griffin
Companies, etc. Distributed By – The Benson Company, Inc. Produced For – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc. Copyright (c) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc. Published By – DKB Music Published By – Straw Bed Music Published By – Glenwood Music Corp. Recorded At – OmniSound Studios Recorded At – Crosstown Recorders Recorded At – Ardent Studios Mastered At – Mastermix
While managing Maranatha Village I would receive a phone call the beginning of each month from Charlie Peacock asking me if I needed anymore of the cassettes of West Coast Diaries Vol 1. That helped strike up a friendship. But there was often several years in between conversations. In fact, the most recent conversation I recall was after a Sunday Morning service in Colorado Springs where Charlie had performed the offertory for the Church I was attending. I obviously love a lot of different music and because of connections over the years with many, if not most, of the artist that fill up this countdown, I am not very starstruck. But when it comes to Charlie Peacock…I am a dumb fan! I just love what he does and will find buying albums that he produces even if I don’t care for the artist. When Exit was just starting out I was invited by label head Mary Neely to a concert in Hollywood with Steve Taylor and this new band Exit was releasing called Vector. What I remembered the most about that evening was this bouncy keyboardist that seemed to play with one hand while dancing with the other in that classic 80′s swinging of the arms sort of way. Mary gave me a copy of their album advance that night and I immediately noticed the unique vocals on the songs sung be that keyboardist. They would become my favorites. Not that much later Mary invited me out the LA one more time for a convert of Exit artists as they were looking to sign a mainstream distribution deal. The line-up included Robert Vaughan and the Shadows (discussed previously), the 77′s, a new, revamped Vector and that keyboardist, Charlie Peacock. I left that evening with a blank tape advanced copy of a record called “Lie Down in the Grass.” WOW! It was several years between the release of “Lie Down” and the Sparrow release on which we will focus, “The Secret of Time.” In between was a self titled album on Island records that still has two of my favorite Charlie Peacock songs, “Message Boy” and “Down in the Lowlands.” The latter would be covered by Russ Taff on his wonderful Russ Taff project. The “Charlie Peacock” seemed to come and go without even a notice, but the mainstream Christian debut, “Th Secret of Time” would make Charlie Peacock a mainstay in Christian music, whether the artist ever intended things to be that way. “The Secret of Time” combines reworking of several songs from the West Coast Diaries series along with new songs. It may end of being Peacocks most consistent project with jazz, funk and acoustic/alternative all performed with pop sensibilities and Charlie’s unforgettable, breathy vocals. Though the following album, Love Life, would contain Peacock’s biggest hit, “In the Light,” it was TSOT that contained his most memorable collection songs, though not his best overall effort (much later for that).
Tracklist 1 – Big Man’s Hat – 5:11 2 – The Way Of Love – 5:05 3 – One Thing – 4:18 4 – Put The Love Back Into Love – 5:11 5 – Almost Threw It All Away – 6:06 6 – The Secret Of Time – 3:39 7 – Dear Friend – 4:30 8 – Heaven Is A Real Place – 4:59 9 – Drowning Man – 3:04 10 – Experience – 5:23
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Jimmy A. Arranged By – Charlie Peacock Arranged By [Backing Vocals] – Annie Stocking, Vince Ebo Art Direction – Barbara Hearn Backing Vocals – Alexia Abegg (tracks: 7), Annie Stocking, Ellie Bannister (tracks: 7), Eric Volz (tracks: 7), Margaret Becker (tracks: 8), Molly Ashworth (tracks: 7), Sam Ashworth (tracks: 7), Vince Ebo, Wayne Kirkpatrick (tracks: 8) Bass – Tommy Sims Coordinator [Production] – Richard Headen Design – Larry Vigon Studio Drums – Chris McHugh Electric Guitar – Jerry McPherson, Jimmy A. Engineer [Assistant] – Graham Lewis, Mark Nevers, Roy Gamble, Shawn McLean, Steve Bishir, Todd Culros*\ Executive-Producer – Peter York Guitar [Les Paul And Marshall] – Rick Will Keyboards – Blair Masters, Charlie Peacock Keyboards [Hammond B-3] – Roger Smith Keyboards [Solo] – Roger Smith Lead Vocals – Charlie Peacock Mastered By – Doug Sax Mixed By – Jeff Balding Mixed By [Additional] – Rick Will (tracks: 3, 7, 8) Percussion – Trent Dean Percussion [Programming] – Charlie Peacock Photography – Mark Tucker Producer – Brown Bannister Programmed By [Fairlight] – Byron House Programmed By [Synclavier] – Jeff Boggs Recorded By – Brown Bannister (tracks: 6, 7), Jeff Balding Recorded By [Additional Overdubs] – Byron House, Daryl Zachman Recorded By [Overdubs] – Brown Bannister Sampler – Blair Masters Saxophone [Solo] – Michael Butera Trumpet [Solo] – George Tidwell
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Sparrow Corporation Copyright (c) – The Sparrow Corporation Distributed By – Canadian Christian Distributors, Inc. Mastered At – The Mastering Lab Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia
