1990 – Page 9 – Real 80s CCM

Julie Miller – Meet Julie Miller – 1990

Dear God, how I love this album! There is not one wasted note, riff or beat anywhere to be found. Some may find Miller’s quirky, child-like voice an acquired taste, but I rather consider it simply needing an educated palette. After a very short stint with the group Streetlight, which only recorded an EP, with her husband Buddy Miller, Julie was signed by Myrrh and immediately they began the horrific mistake of touting their Leslie Phillips replacement and their answer to Cyndi Lauper. What they actually had was a brilliant songwriter, singer and performer. Talent runs deep in the Miller household and CCM;s inability to grasp the fact and promote her properly left her looking to mainstream and independent channels for the majority of her fine career. But in 1990 a wonderful, melodic, accessible and utterly enjoyable album found a home in my CD rotation and has never left it. Rich in harmonies, memorable melodies and brilliant musicianship, Meet Julie Miller was a brilliant introduction to the artist.

The 30-second acapella blues number “Dogtown” starts the record before launching right into one of the radio hits from the album, “You Knew the Way to My Heart.” Melodic, pop-driven Americana rock with a hook of a chorus so large you could drive a truck through it. Miller’s ability to work her voice through whispering, soft moments to gravelly pop hooks is quite impressive. The use of her own voice in the backing vocals just works in creating the perfect harmonies in the bridge.

“Mystery Love” follows in the same vein with the bluesy, jangly rock (Mark Heard and T-Bone Burnett would be proud) style. This is one of the few songs that reminds me musically of Leslie Phillips, though one of the great ironies is that Phillips is said to be the one who passed along Miller’s demo to the execs at Myrrh in the first place.

We have mentioned “classics” and what qualifies as one several times on this blog. I firmly believe Miller has one here on this project and it remains her one biggest hit on Christian radio though clocking in at nearly 6 minutes (most stations played the edited version that leaves off the spoken word introduction), with “What Would Jesus Do.”

The song is not the normal sweet and lovely “Jesus loves me” sort of content CCM radio has been known for. But rather, the song is pointed look at the churches lack of genuine Biblical and loving response to the “least of these.” This missional (before the word existed) song features an all-star chorus at the end that is genuinely inspirational in the good sense of the word, including Phillips, Buddy Miller, Russ Taff and a host of others.

“Don’t Cry for me” returns to the more acoustic Americana rock that populates the majority of the album. Dan Posthuma’s production may get occasionally heavy-handed, as a more stark, limited and earthy arrangement would have made this song more authentic. But Posthuma is much more hands off sounding than on some of the work he did a few years previous with Phillips.

Following somewhat in the vein of “What Would Jesus Do,” is the beautiful “How Could You Say No.” A stunningly simply acoustic ballad, the song is both poignant and powerful in its sheer simple faith. When presented with the truth of what Christ suffered on your behalf, how is it possible to reject His grace?

“King of My Heart” is another less than a minute number that moves directly into the one real “rocker” on the album. The funky and rollicking “Song to the Devil” is very reminiscent of the two “Devil” songs recorded by Keith Green over a decade previously. The possibly pretentious silliness of the song is overcome by the sheer joy and humor of the performance.

The completely different “world music” rhythm of “Who Owns Your heart” is so refreshing as sounds cool 20 years later. Reminds me of some of Bruce Cockburn’s music off of “Stealing Fire.”

Live the “devil” song, “My Psychiatrist” is a humorous novelty song that wins the listener over by the sheer joy of it all. Deep within the silliness, though, is a great message.

“Love Will Find You” remains my favorite song from the album and would give the listener a glimpse at what was to come from the artist. The light country/folk of the melody belies a deeper thought process within its message. Also, the song really shows Miller the singer and how she sounds harmonizing with Buddy. Really a pretty song that should and could have been a country hit in the right circumstance.

The darkest and most moving song on the album may be the abortion themed “Dangerous Place.” Here the womb is described as a dangerous place to many an unborn child. Melodically, the song is the darkest and most difficult. The fading refrain of “Jesus Loves Me” sung by a children’s choir at the songs close is quite moving.

The album closes with the traditional, “I Will Arise and Go to Jesus.” This simple reworking of the classic Gospel tune is a fitting finale to this amazing project that throughout tips its cap to the traditional music of Gospel while looking to the future of great artistic folk and rock music in Miller’s career.

Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – Dogtown – 0:32
2 – You Knew The Way To My Heart – 3:00
3 – Mystery Love – 3:06
4 – What Would Jesus Do – 6:11
5 – Don’t Cry For Me – 3:49
6 – How Could You Say No – 3:27
7 – King Of My Heart – 0:55
8 – Song To The Devil (I’m Thru With You) – 2:38
9 – Who Owns Your Heart – 2:41
10 – My Psychiatrist – 2:09
11 – Love Will Find You – 3:52
12 – Dangerous Place – 2:58
13 – I Will Arise and Go To Jesus – 2:54

Credits
Rose Banks – Background Vocals
Mickey Cates – Songwriter
Shawn Colvin – Background Vocals
Craig Finley – Background Vocals
Dan Garcia – Mixed
Amy Grant – Background Vocals
Amy Hargrave – Choir Vocals
Katie Hargrave – Choir Vocals
Jean Johnson – Background Vocals
Ron Krueger – Keyboards
Howard McCrary – Background Vocals
Buddy Miller – Associate Producer, Engineer, Songwriter, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards, Drum Programming, Background Vocals
Julie Miller – Songwriter, Guitars, Vocals
Kathy Pinto – Background Vocals
Dan Posthuma – Producer, Bass, Drum Programming
Lee Trudy Posthuma – Choir Vocals
Millard Posthuma – Violin
Sara Posthuma – Choir Vocals
Sara Richards – Choir Vocals
Lincoln Schalifer – Bass
John Andrew Schreiner – Keyboards, Accordion
Leland Sklar – Bass
Russ Taff – Background Vocals
Carlos Vega – Percussion
Billy Jo Walker – Guitars
Kelly Willard – Background Vocals
Victoria Williams – Background Vocals
Robin Williamson – Hurdy-Gurdy

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Published By – Word Music
Published By – LCS Music
Published By – StraightWay Music
Manufactured By – JVC
Designed At – OSS

Contender – Fighting To Win – 1990

Right off the bat there is some confusion out there on this band. This is the New York Contender NOT the Illinois Contender. The Illinois version had 2 demos and this version does not have a demo out there I am aware of. Other than that I was unable to find out much about this one album band. The lead singer Eddie Villanueva apparently had some info on the band on MySpace but it’s long since been scrubbed. The album is a straight out Rock album. Some have classified it at Metal but in my opinion it’s Hard Rock. It’s a pretty good album but I feel it should have had a little more production. It was produced by the band and I am surprised that when Refuge picked it up they didn’t bring someone in to work on the album but it really looks like it went straight from studio to pressing. Too bad because I think had this had some better production it would have been a whole lot better known.

Tracklist
1 – I Won’t Give Up – 3:10
2 – You – 3:36
3 – Convenient Christianity – 4:04
4 – You’re There For Me – 4:10
5 – Fighting To Win – 4:03
6 – So I’m Singing – 3:53
7 – Cryin’ Over You – 3:31
8 – I Know You’re There – 4:27
9 – Pullin’ The Wool – 3:10
10 – I Believe In You – 4:19

Credits
Bass – Rich McCarthy
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocals – Paul Grimsland
Guitar, Drums, Bass – Bob Vinsick
Guitar, Keyboards, Drums, Bass, Backing Vocals – Steve Atwood
Lead Vocals – Eddie Villanueva

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Refuge Records
Copyright © – Refuge Records
Distributed By – Spectra Distribution, Inc.
Distributed By – Mainroads Music Group

Dead Artist Syndrome – Prints of Darkness – 1990

Dead Artist Syndrome is actually simply Brian Healy and a host of friends that over the year, records and concerts rotated in and out in support of their friend who is easily Christian Music most unheralded alternative artists. Too often pigeon holed as exclusively a “goth” artists, DAS was an alternative that presented a darker, gloomier and deeper perspective to the world than most in CCM. The label most obviously comes from Healy’s baritone and at time monotone vocals associated with goth rock. It is not a whole lot different from many Mike Knott (who makes in appearance here) created projects. On “Prints” Healy is joined by Undercover’s Ojo Taylor and Gym Nicholson and it shows. There is an atmospheric sound to the record that is reminiscent of Undercover as well the Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen and The Sisters of Mercy. Healy willfully uses satire, sarcasm and symbolism throughout and, as a result, often misunderstood. Healy is an ordained minister and infuses much of his lyrics with doctrinal ideologies. I was working for Frontline Records when the second album was released and met Brian on a few occasions as result. I always found him to be incredibly nice, very, very funny and quite intelligent and interesting. These virtues would appear within the content of all of DAS’s music and is most evident on this debut. The opening track, “Christmas” is a sly indictment on the commercialization of the “Winter Break” and the rejection of the truth of the season. “Red” appears to be inspired by the story of Hosea and the harlotry of God’s people over the generations. I love the album’s finale, “Reach,” which is a very simply expression of worship in a somber and powerful way. It reminds the listener of the need to reach out to God in glory and honor.

Contributor David Lowman – https://ccms500bestalbums.wordpress.com/

Tracklist
1 – Christmas – 3:35
2 – Amy – 3:41
3 – Dancing Without Touching – 3:25
4 – Vision – 3:35
5 – Hope – 4:35
6 – Dance With Me – 4:04
7 – Think Of Me – 3:16
8 – Red – 3:40
9 – Reach – 3:30

Credits
Backing Vocals – Annica Svensson, Brian Miller, Camille Miller
Bass, Guitar [Acoustic] – Mike Knott
Bass, Keyboards – Michael Saurerbrey
Executive Producer – Thom Roy
Guitar – Gym Nicholson
Guitar [Rhythm & Acoustic] – Chris Harvey
Keyboards – Jeff Sheets, Ojo Taylor
Mixed By – Brian Healy, Ojo Taylor, Thom Roy
Producer – Brian Healy
Recorded By – Brad Jeffers, Dave Hackbarth, Ojo Taylor, Scott Macklin
Synthesizer [Synclavier] – Whitney Quinn
Vocals – Brian Healy

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Dead Artist Syndrome
Copyright © – Dead Artist Syndrome
Produced For – The Points
Recorded At – Whitefield Studios
Recorded At – Neverland
Mixed At – Neverland
Published By – Blatant Christian Music
Published By – B-1 Music
Made By – Disctronics Group, United States – 112970

Mad At The World – Seasons Of Love – 1990

This was probably one of the most surprising albums of 1990. MATW did a complete change of direction going from a new wave pop sound to a more hard rock sound. I can honestly say that this new “The Cult” sound was quite a surprise to me and honestly I was not a fan. I didn’t mind the sound, I had The Cult in my collection at the time but when a band does a switcharoo like this it is just too startling to me. Now that aside the album is very well done and these guys nailed a sound that was not well represented in CCM music at the time. The album sold very well as I think the new style was a welcome change to a lot of fans. I think it can be said that this album was a rather historic CCM music moment so if for no other reason than that you should give it a listen.

Tracklist
1 – The Narrow Road – 3:39
2 – Seasons Of Love – 4:51
3 – City Of Anger – 5:34
4 – When The Wind Blows – 5:38
5 – Marshmallow Land – 2:58
6 – Summer’s Gone – 3:06
7 – Promised Land (The Deception Of Drugs) – 5:24
8 – So Insane – 3:22
9 – It’s Not A Joke – 3:27
10 – The Love That Never Fades – 4:05
11 – Seasons Of Love (Reprise) – 5:04

Credits
Arranged By, Engineer [Engineered By] – Roger Rose
Art Direction – Ed McTaggart
Band [Mad At The World Is] – Brent Gordon, Mike Pendleton, Randy Rose, Roger Rose
Illustration [MATW Logo Illustration Re-worked By] – David Jackson
Layout – Joe Potter
Mastered By – John Matousek
Photography By – David Dobson
Producer [Produced By] – Roger Rose
Songwriter [Songs Written By] – Randy Rose, Roger Rose

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Alarma Records
Copyright (c) – Alarma Records
Distributed By – The Benson Company
Recorded At – MATW Studios
Mastered At – Soundworks West
Published By – Broken Songs
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Arsenal – Armored Choir – 1990

The late 80’s provided the Christian metal scene some fantastic metal bands and this is one of them. Fronted by a female singer they stuck out a bit from the crowd and the fact that she was gorgeous certainly didn’t hamper the band either. Arsenal first appeared on a Regency Records sampler “East Coast Metal”. I am assuming they were well received so the album came about. Unfortunately this is all we got from them as it appears this was a one record deal. This band continues my complete bewilderment of the Christian Metal scene as obviously there was sufficient talent here to merit another album. That said I was not involved with this area of the Christian music scene so I don’t know what kind of sales numbers these albums were getting. Apparently there are demo’s pre and post this album and you can rest assured I’ll be looking for them. I understand that Christine is still strongly involved with music and recent pics of her show that she is every bit as beautiful now as she was when this album came out.

Tracklist
1 – Turn Around – 3:30
2 – Someone Believes In You – 3:38
3 – Armored Choir – 3:39
4 – Coming Back To You – 2:29
5 – Forever Yours – 3:44
6 – The Valley – 3:14
7 – You’re No Good For Me – 3:28
8 – Bishop Of Souls – 3:56
9 – Take It Away – 3:23
10 – The Candle… The Flame – 3:30

Credits
Backing Vocals – Dale Tiemann, Doug Kirkland, Russ Kirkland
Bass – Kandy Slaughter
Cover – Jeff Spencer
Drums – Dave Calliano
Lead Guitar – J.D. Miller
Lead Vocals – Christine Steel
Producer, Engineer, Keyboards – Russ Kirkland

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Regency Records
Made By – Disctronics S
Distributed By – Word (U.K.) Ltd
Recorded At – Papa K’s
Produced For – September Music Productions

Vengeance Rising – Once Dead – 1990

This is the second studio album by Vengeance Rising. It follows the same path of thrash metal as their first album. It is often considered their best album and I’ve read a few reviews that said it was the best Christian thrash album ever. Apparently it’s good enough that it crossed over into secular fans. As I’ve said before when It comes to this style I have no idea if it’s good or not as it’s all I can do to listen to it’s once. The lyrics are very biblical based (when I could understand them) which I found surprising but their is one exception track and that’s a rather odd cover of Deep Purples’ Space Truckin’. I’m not criticizing I just struggle to figure out the reason for this track. Anyway here it is, apparently the best Christian Thrash Metal album their is.

Tracklist
1 – Warfare – 4:50
2 – Can’t Get Out – 3:50
3 – Cut Into Pieces – 3:15
4 – Frontal Lobotomy – 4:05
5 – Herod’s Violent Death – 3:07
6 – The Whipping Post – 8:40
7 – Arise – 4:50
8 – Space Truck’In – 5:00
9 – Out Of The Will – 2:04
10 – The Wrath To Come – 2:43
11 – Into The Abyss – 8:18
12 – Among The Dead – 3:03
13 – Interruption – 0:50

Credits
Arranged By – Vengeance Rising
Bass – Roger Dale Martin
Drums – Glenn Mancaruso
Engineer, Mixed By – Dave Jahnsen
Guitar – Doug Thieme, Larry Farkas
Mastered By – Eddie Schreyer
Producer, Mixed By – Ron Goudie
Vocals – Roger Martinez

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Intense Records
Copyright (c) – Intense Records
Recorded At – The Mixing Lab
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Halo – Halo – 1990

Halo, which apparently stands for “Heavenly Angelic Light Orchestra”, were a great hard rock/metal band out of Alabama. They formed in 1980 and strangely had a non Christian drummer, Mike Graham, who was also only 14 years old while the rest of the band was in the area of 21 years old. He did come to Christ in a couple years but I find it odd someone would ask a 14 year old non Christian drummer to join their adult Christian band. But whatever, it all seemed to work out. The band played for the next 9 years without a record deal. A demo tape got to Bob Hartman (Petra) and he started to mentor the band. Bob finally got them a record deal in 1989 with the Elefante brothers over at Pakaderm Records. This album was then recorded with much involvement of the Elefante’s and released in 1990. Best description of the sound would be a power Rock & Roll band which some (including me) might consider to be light metal. This is one that definitely deserves a listen.

Tracklist
1 – Jesus Music – 4:20
2 – Lord Of All – 4:39
3 – Good Feeling – 4:13
4 – Soul Searcher – 4:35
5 – Skyrocket – 3:45
6 – Lose To Live – 4:33
7 – Sing (Of His Glory) – 4:21
8 – Language Barrier – 5:09
9 – Time To Run – 4:01
10 – Timeless – 1:07

Credits
Arranged By [Additional] – Bob Hartman (tracks: 3, 4, 8)
Backing Vocals – John Elefante
Band [Halo], Drums, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Mike Graham
Band [Halo], Guitar, Backing Vocals – Keith Mims
Band [Halo], Lead Vocals, Bass Guitar – Scott Springer
Cover, Illustration, Layout – Robert Fischer
Drums – David Raven (tracks: 5)
Engineer, Mixed By – Dino Elefante, John Elefante, Mike Mierau
Guitar – Dino Elefante, Glen Pierce, Tony Palacios (tracks: 5)
Keyboards – John Elefante
Mastered By – Doug Sax
Piano – John Schreiner (tracks: 4, 8)
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Vocals [Duet] – John Elefante (tracks: 5), Scott Springer (tracks: 5)

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pakaderm Records
Copyright (c) – Pakaderm Records
Published By – Benefante Music
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab

Jet Circus – Step On It – 1990

I get the feeling you either love or hate this album. I’m going to be honest on first listen I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it either. Keep in mind I listen to a new album every day so so often I forget about them 20 minutes after listening to it. I listened to this album yesterday but today felt I had to listen to it again. Then it hooked me. Ez Gomér and Terry Haw from Leviticus decided to try something new and this is it. This is the only album we got from them in the 90’s though they did record a second one but apparently there was a record label problem and it has never been released. Can you even believe Word Records released this one? If I had to describe the sound I guess I would pick “Fusion Metal” but even that’s not fair because this album is it’s own dog. Don’t give up after the opening track as the rest of the album does not incorporate rap again. Personally however “Victory Dance” works for me and I HATE rap in any form so that’s saying something. If you really only have time for one track at least make it their cover of the Gene Vincent song “Be Bop A Lula”.

Tracklist
1 – Victory Dance – 3:30
2 – Rockin’ Horse – 3:43
3 – Jet Blue – 3:18
4 – Step On It – 5:15
5 – Ghost Town – 4:09
6 – Break This Jail – 5:40
7 – Be Bop A Lula – 2:44
8 – Train – 4:07
9 – Run – 4:39
10 – Dress In White – 4:14

Credits
Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Ez Gomér
Design – Ez Gomér
Engineer [Engineered By] – Janne Mattsson, Martin Cervall
Guest [Special Thanks To], Choir – Lotta Gustavsson (tracks: 1)
Guest [Special Thanks To], Drum Programming – Jörgen Tjusling
Guest [Special Thanks To], Harmonica – Göran Norin
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Terry Haw
Photography By – Lennart Sjöberg
Producer [Produced By] – Ez Gomér, Terry Haw
Written-By [All Titles By] – Ez Gomér (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 10), Terry Haw (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 10)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Wonderland
Copyright (c) – Wonderland
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word Records Limited
Copyright (c) – Word Records Limited
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Studio Jam (3)
Published By – Big Rage! Productions

Haven – Your Dying Day – 1990

This was the introductory album from New Jersey metal band Haven. Released in 1990 you might have missed it in the flood of Metal albums coming out at this time but this one did have some differences. It is more of a white metal album with no keyboards confusing the sound. You certainly won’t mistake this for the glam style metal albums of the time. This is in fact a straight up metal band that relies on great guitar riffs and solid time keeping drums. The vocals are not that high pitch screaming but instead a more middle of the range quality feel. Again this is not my style of music but I can hear the quality here. These guys definitely knew what they were doing. My only complaint is the mix, it just really could have used some more range but instead feels compressed at times. That said you should definitely give this album listen if you missed it at the time. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Tracklist
1 – On Judgement Day – 5:22
2 – Deliver Me – 4:47
3 – Murder – 4:48
4 – Below The Grave – 2:49
5 – The Calling – 5:36
6 – America – 4:38
7 – Escape – 4:34
8 – Help Me Follow – 3:23
9 – I Found Love – 5:35
10 – Your Dying Day – 5:37

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Andrew Bruner
Artwork – Sudden Images
Backing Vocals – Kevin Ayers
Drums – Tim Benton
Electric Bass – Ed Bruner
Electric Guitar – Andrew Bruner
Electric Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Kevin Ayers
Lead Vocals – Kevin Ayers
Photography By – Mike Ayers
Producer – Doug Mann, Paul Krueger
Songwriter – Haven

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Morningstar Studios
Distributed By – Spectra Distribution, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – R.E.X. Music Inc.
Copyright (c) – R.E.X. Music Inc.
Glass Mastered At – DADC – DIDX-008265

Toni Rossi – Love In The City – 1990

After the dissolution of Daniel Band Guitarist/Vocalist Toni Rossi did a couple of solo projects. This is the first of those 2 projects. If you like Daniel Band you should like this album. It has a Hard Rock sound and is not that far a departure from Daniel Band. It does have a blues feel in places which Rossi does extremely well. It appears that Rossi put together an entirely new band for this project as no members of Daniel Band are credited as contributing to the album. The album was partly produced by Wolf Hassel who Canadians might be familiar with as he was in Sheriff and Frozen Ghost. I can’t find any other connection of him to Christian music so this was probably more of a professional arrangement. Toni did do one more album after this one using the moniker “TRB” (Toni Rossi Band).

Tracklist
1 – Down Where The Love Grows – 3:55
2 – Sooner Or Later – 5:03
3 – Ain’t Nobody Gonna – 4:00
4 – Not What It Seems – 3:24
5 – Love In The City – 5:37
6 – Candles – 0:48
7 – Higher – 4:53
8 – I.C.Y. – 4:38
9 – Love Followed Me Home – 4:23
10 – One Way Inn – 4:11
11 – Dry The Tears – 4:38

Credits
Toni Rossi – Vocals, Guitars, Backing vocals
Frank Catrambone – Drums
Lynn Fuhr – Backing Vocals
David Graham – Keyboards, Backing vocals
John Hughes – Drums
Wayne Morgan – Bass, Backing vocals
Sam Sundarsingh – Backing vocals
Steven Jones – Cover Design, Illustrations
Michael Sarracini – Engineer, Producer
Wolf D. Hassel – Producer

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Spectra Distribution
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Refuge Records
Copyright (c) – Refuge Records