Tag: 1991

Age of Faith – Age Of Faith – 1991

This is the first album from Age of Faith who at this point were just Jimi Ray and Rick Harwell. That said for this album I think they had the entire Huff family join them. Brothers David, Clayborn, and Rayborn Huff along with David’s son Lance are all on this album. David Huff also sat at the production table where is well suited. With all these great people involved it’s no surprise that this album is outstanding. There’s even an excellent cover of Donna Summer’s song Unconditional Love. I was actually quite surprised how great this album was. In my opinion 1991 was the era of Christian music going to the dogs but not this album. It’s definitely a must listen.

Tracklist
1 – God’s Got An Army – 4:56
2 – Take The Low Road – 3:32
3 – Sarah – 3:33
4 – Love – 3:59
5 – For Heaven’s Sake – 4:19
6 – Unconditional Love – 3:39
7 – The Way That You Trust Me – 4:37
8 – Arms Of Mercy – 3:38
9 – Tender Mercies – 3:51
10 – Last Night – 4:54
11 – Grace – 3:42

Credits
Mark Baldwin – producer, arranger, arranging, songwriter, guitar, keyboards, slide guitar, solo, acoustic guitar
Andy Ivey – executive producer
Bret Teegarden – keyboard, overdubbing, keyboards, additional recordings, mix engineer
Ronnie Brookshire – recording engineer
David Huff – producer, guitar, background vocals, engineer, remixing
Jimi Ray – songwriter, guitar
Rick Harwell – songwriter, keyboards, background vocals, hammond, melodica
Leonard Ahlstrom – songwriter
Ron Collins – songwriter, background vocals
Billy Smiley – songwriter
Donna Summer – lyrics
Michael Omartian – music
Brian White – songwriter
John Hammond – drums, drum, samples
Gary Lunn – bass, drum programming
Chris Rodriguez – background vocals
Rick Florian – background vocals, harmony vocals
Mark Pogue – background vocals
Youth of First Baptist Church – guest, children’s chorus
Lance Huff – drums
Clayborn Huff – bass guitar, background vocals
Rayborn Huff – keyboards, additional programming, background vocals
Lloyd Bustard – background vocals
Joe Hogue – keyboards
Eric Darken – percussion
Kim Thomas – guest, vocals, autoharp
Scott Carter – engineer, assistant mixer

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Copyright © – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Distributed By – Benson Music Group
Distributed By – R.G. Mitchell Family Books, Inc.

Sure Conviction – Fightin’ The Battle – 1991

I’m a little hesitant about writing this review but I feel I should be honest. This is the bands first album and they self produced and released it so I give them credit for that. They shared vocal duties which is not something I usually care for because it makes for a disjointed album and this one suffers from that. My second complaint is that the vocals don’t suit the music. This is a hard rock album but the vocals almost have a worship tone to them. I feel like I’m listening to a church band who put out a rock album. But now onto the good. There is real musical skill here. The songs are well written and tight. In fact some of them are better than some published music. Now I understand they overcame these vocal issues on their next album and I can honestly say I’m looking forward to listening to that album as there is some real talent here.

Tracklist
1 – Fightin’ The Battle – 3:54
2 – Proclaiming – 3:21
3 – Time Will Tell – 3:45
4 – Turn Around – 2:56
5 – Shining Our Light – 3:33
6 – War – 2:56
7 – We Are The People – 3:31
8 – Not Ashamed – 3:46
9 – Keeping On – 3:48
10 – Bye Bye – 4:46

Credits
Matt Liffengren – rhythm and acoustic guitars
Paul Liffengren – keyboards, piano, backing vocals
Dewayne Holcomb – lead vocals on tracks 3 and 10, background vocals
Alonzo Martinez – lead vocals on tracks 6 and 8
Christopher Midgyette – backging vocals
Phil Milan – lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5 and 7, backing vocals
Karyn Rondeau – lead vocals on tracks 4 and 9, background vocals
Mark Siefert – backing vocals
Robert Berry – Arranged By, Instrumentation By
Mike Wible, Peter Roberts – Engineer
Peter Roberts, Robert Berry – Mixed By
Matt Liffengren, Paul Liffengren – Producer
Kelly Husted (tracks: 9), Matt Liffengren (tracks: 1 to 10), Paul Liffengren (tracks: 1 to 10) – Written-By

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Soundtek Studios, Campbell, CA

Randy Stonehill – Judgment Day At The Speede Mart – 1991

This is a rather odd release. Unfortunately that’s a pretty common phrase when working with Larry Norman releases. In 1991 Larry re-released Randy’s Born Twice album from 1971. As a bonus of sorts he included an album of very early Randy live cuts. Now the odd part, the new album got released as a b side on both vinyl cuts of the album meaning, The black vinyl has side one of “Judgment Day At The Speede Mart” and side two of “Born Twice”, the blue vinyl has side one of “Born Twice” and side two of “Judgment Day At The Speede Mart”. Also there was nothing printed on the labels of either album. Pretty rare error except when it came to stuff from Larry. Anyway we’ve gathered it here into one album. As I said this is a collection of early live Randy cuts and you can tell it’s early as at times the audience doesn’t kind of get Randy’s humour. Also Randy is not as confident with his humour. The album has a few Larry tracks which is kind of fun to listen to. This is a must have if you’re a fan of Randy’s and if you’re a fan of Larry’s I’d consider it a should have.

Tracklist
1 – Forget Your Hexagram – 2:53
2 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus? – 2:32
3 – Lonely By Myself – 3:49
4 – God’s Not Dead – 2:46
5 – I’m a Servant – 3:13
6 – Norman’s Kitchen – 6:26
7 – Pardon Me – 3:46
8 – Sunset Road to Nowhere – 4:04
9 – Hasty Heart – 3:47
10 – He’s A Friend Of Mine – 4:06

Larry Norman – One Night In Norway – 1991/2023

Larry’s brother has supplies us with another gem from the 90’s. It was recorded during a one month period when Larry toured Norway and Sweden. The band is made up of students or teachers at Vikens folkehøyskole Gjøvik Norway with the exception of Bjørn Gran and Urs Wenck-Wolff. Larry’s live releases aren’t usually known to have good audio but in this case the audio is fantastic. Because of this and the excellent choice of tracks this may very well be the best live recording of Larry. Note that the bandcamp download of this album has 5 additional tracks but is missing one track from the album due to silly Bandcamp policies. All tracks, album and Bandcamp, are included here.

Tracklist
1 – Twelve Good Men – 3:18
2 – Christmastime – 3:44
3 – I Am Waiting – Day-O – 2:16
4 – Six Sixty Six – 2:36
5 – If I Were A Singer – 4:09
6 – A Note From Mr. God – 4:08
7 – Diamonds – 1:15
8 – One Way – 3:14
9 – Strong Love, Strange Peace – 3:05
10 – I Am A Servant – 3:04
11 – Walking Backwards Down The Stairs – 3:08
12 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus – 3:44
13 – I Don’t Believe In Miracles – 3:47
14 – I Wish We’d All Been Ready – 7:27
15 – Sweet Song Of Salvation – 8:27
16 – The Dog And The Flower – 3:22
17 – He Really Loves You – 4:22
18 – Messiah – 5:10
19 – The Rock That Doesn’t Roll – 4:19

Credits
Bass – Jan Terje Haukeland
Cello – Siv Havåg
Choir – Astrid Kloster, Siri Gjære
Cover – Forma Design
Drums – Jan Inge “Jango” Nilsen
Guitar – Frode Håland, Kjetil Draugedalen
Harmonica – Bjørn Gran
Mastered By – Jason Carter
Photography By [Live Photo] – Arne Fred Solbekk
Project Manager – Morten Skjævestad
Promotion [Concert Promoter] – Georg Hansen
Synth – Gunnar Ekornås
Technician [Sound] – Oslo Lydverker
Viola – Urs Wenk-Wolff
Violin [Violin 1] – Elna Selle
Violin [Violin 2] – Camilla Bing-Jakobsen
Vocals Larry NOrman

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Seaside Records
Copyright © – Stiftelsen Skjærgårdsgospel
Published By – Solid Rock Records

77s – Eighty Eight – 1991

77s finally give us a live album which was recorded on March 12, 1988 at the Warehouse in Sacramento, CA. The album gives us live versions of all their hits along with a fascinating cover of “Over Under Sideways Down” by the The Yardbirds.

Tracklist
1 – Perfect Blues – 6:00
2 – I Can’t Get Over It – 6:10
3 – Wild Blue – 5:45
4 – Mary And The Baby Elvis – 4:25
5 – Closer – 5:23
6 – Where It’s At – 4:53
7 – The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes & The Pride Of Life – 3:57
8 – Over Under Sideways Down – 2:56
9 – Mercy Mercy – 11:15
10 – You Don’t Scare Me – 12:20
11 – I Could Laugh – 12:30

Credits
Bass Guitar – Mark Harmon
Bass, Guitar, Voice – Jan Eric
Coordinator [Project Conceived and Coordinated by] – Shalom Aberly
Drums [Forever Pounding & Thrashing] – Aaron Smith
Grand Piano – David Leonhardt
Keyboards, Guitar, Voice – Mark Tootle
Mixed By – Steve Griffith
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Roger Smith
Post Production – Kirt Shearer
Producer – Mike Roe
Recorded By – Daryl Zachman
Voice, Guitar, Harmonica [Mouth Organ] – Mike Roe

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Brainstorm Artists International
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Brainstorm Artists International
Published By – Fools Of The World Ltd.
Published By – 7 And 7 Is Music
Published By – Yardbirds Music Ltd.
Recorded At – The Warehouse, Sacramento
Mixed At – The Music Annex
Produced For – Gaga Productions
Produced At – Paradise Studios, Sacramento, CA
Mastered At – Fantasy Studios
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.

Betrayal – Renaissance By Death – 1991

I’m going to start this review by saying, I don’t know anything about thrash, I don’t like thrash, and I don’t understand how it fit in the Christian genre of music. All that said I listened to the album and quite frankly I was left with more questions than answers. This album was released on Wonderland records which was a division of Word that I assumed Word opened so they could keep stuff like this off their main label. Now I just finished listening to a Towne Cryer album and I am mystified at how that band couldn’t get a record deal but these guys did. Did Word put someone in charge of this label that like me didn’t understand the genre? As for the album, this was their first release after rising from the ashes of a band called Marty. They had a 2 album run on Wonderland before self releasing two more albums. I hate to criticize the band as I struggle with this style of music but feel free to comment and let me know if they were good or bad. I just can’t tell.

Tracklist
1 – Renaissance By Death – 1:41
2 – The Invitation – 4:28
3 – Fallen Deceived – 3:50
4 – More Faith Than Me – 3:44
5 – Escaping The Alter – 9:06
6 – Assassins In The Midst – 4:56
7 – Mortal Flesh – 6:12
8 – Stroll Thru A Wicked Age – 6:45
9 – Prophets Of Baal – 4:08
10 – Plead The Blood – 5:16

Credits
Bass – Jeff Lain
Drums – Brian Meuse
Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski
Engineer, Keyboards – Christopher Mosher
Guitar – Matt Maners
Guitar, Backing Vocals – Marcus Colon
Mastered By – Eddie Schryer
Producer – Caesar Kalinowski
Vocals – Chris Ackerman

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – The Sonic Temple
Mastered At – Future Disc

Children Of The Consuming Fire – Children Of The Consuming Fire – 1991

Here’s another band I had a difficult time finding any information on. They were from southern California and this is their first of two albums. It was the second release for New Breed records who were a sub label of Frontline Music Group. It was produced by Chris Wimber (The Lifesavors) who produced most of the releases for New Breed records. That’s it, that’s all I know. Okay so lets move onto the album. I really like it. It has an early 90’s late 80’s sound and was spot on style wise in 1990. I do have one nitpick though. They tried running many of the tracks together. This worked great on LP’s but in the world of CD’s and now MP3’s it just doesn’t work. I wish someone would have caught this at the time but hey it’s a pretty trivial thing so I shouldn’t make a big deal out of it. I can’t really pick a favourite track so my suggestion is to listen to the whole thing.

Tracklist
1 – Good Boy – 3:09
2 – Armed For Hostile World – 1:45
3 – Cry – 3:55
4 – Speed Metal Mariachis – 2:33
5 – Unlisted Track – 0:34
6 – Spirit Of Love – 4:13
7 – Burning Fire – 5:58
8 – She Said To Me – 3:48
9 – Pray For Rain – 2:36
10 – Flowers – 3:09
11 – Saved By Grace – 3:54
12 – Sad, Sad, Lonely World – 5:19
13 – We Must Become – 3:30

Credits
Backing Vocals – Chris Lizotte, Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick, Shawn Tubbs, Tim Curiel, Todd Warlock
Bass – Marc Rivera
Drums – Tim Curiel
Guitar – Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick
Keyboards – Jon Bestwick, Rob Watson
Lead Vocals – Marc Rivera
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Jeff Dykehouse
Percussion – Shawn Tubbs, Tim Curiel
Performer [The Children Are] – Eddie Arizmendi, Jon Bestwick, Marc Rivera, Tim Curiel
Producer – Chris Wimber
Saxophone – Greg Vale

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Vineyard Ministries International
Copyright © – Vineyard Ministries International

Chris Lizotte – Free – 1991

This is Chris’s first album. I believe his second album to be one of the best Christian albums of all time and is probably in my top 25. This album we can here Chris warming up for that album. This album has a variety of styles but his vocals are what sell this album for me. He simply is one of the best vocalists in the CCM genre. I was trying to pick a best track for you to listen to if you have limited time and wow was that a tough choice. Musically the best track is “Amy’s Song” but it’s an acoustic track and you need to hear Chris’s vocals so I settled on “Cuts Inside”. Hey who is Shawn Tubbs that plays guitar on this album? His work is fantastic and I see he had an album in 1998 so I’m off to find that one. Crystal Lewis appears on the track “I Pledge My All” and while it’s not my favourite track on the album it definitely deserves a listen as Crystal shines on it. As an aside the engineering and production of the album is fantastic and we have Chris Wimber (The Lifesavors) to thank for that.

Tracklist
1 – All That I Need Is You – 3:58
2 – Cuts Inside – 4:07
3 – I Pledge My All – 4:32
4 – You Won’t Cry Anymore – 5:24
5 – Separation – 3:51
6 – Precious Lord – 4:47
7 – Thick And Thin – 3:50
8 – Someone To Believe In – 4:01
9 – In My Quiet Place – 3:14
10 – Amy’s Song – 3:20
11 – Till I’m Gone – 4:04
12 – The Lord’s Prayer – 4:32

Credits
Chris Lizotte – Songwriter, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
Maxi Anderson – Background Vocals
Stephen Anderson – Engineer, Lap Steel
Vicki Bacon Anglin – Background Vocals
Karise Buhler – Background Vocals
Jeff Dykehouse – Mixed
Brian Eichler – Drums
Jamie Eichler – Background Vocals
Audra Freselli – Background Vocals
Bernie Grundman – Mastered
Jeff Harvey – Songwriter, Mandolin, Fiddle
Maria Irey – Background Vocals
Crystal Lewis – Vocals
Paul Martin – Bass
Debbie McClendon – Background Vocals
Linda McCrary – Background Vocals
Larry Meyers – Fiddle
Michael J. Pritzl – Background Vocals
Lonnie Tubbs – Drums, Percussion, Tambourine
Shawn Tubbs – Songwriter, Cello Arranger, Electric and Acoustic Guitars
Carla White – Cello Arranger, Background Vocals
Gary Williams – Background Vocals
Chris Wimber – Producer, Engineer
Randy Wright – B-3, Piano

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Vineyard Music Group
Copyright © – Vineyard Music Group
Distributed By – Frontline Distribution

Nicole – Don’t Let Me Go – 1991

There’s not much info on Nicole’s early life but this was her first album. While Nicole became very well known in and about 2000 she was little known at the time of her first album. The album has a great soul feel and while it leans easy listening it’s pretty darn good. I’ve been listening to a fair amount of Easy Listening albums lately and this one ranks pretty high among them. Cindy and Janie Cruse provided backing vocals on a couple tracks that Cindy actually wrote. Tim Miner assisted with engineering and production and I must say that the production of the album is excellent.

Tracklist
1 – On My Way Up – 4:32
2 – Mighty Groove – 3:45
3 – I Need To Know – 3:58
4 – I’ll Be Right There – 2:49
5 – My Everything – 4:11
6 – Don’t Let Me Go – 4:08
7 – Love Is Enough – 3:37
8 – All My Days – 4:31
9 – Oh Jesus Loves Me – 3:15
10 – Somewhere – 1:52

Credits
Angie Alan – Vocals (Background)
Margaret Bell – Vocals (Background)
Darren Bruce – Cymbals
Nicole Bruce – Vocals (Background)
Kim Bryant – Vocals (Background)
Paula Bryant – Vocals (Background)
Mark Cassimatis – Engineer
Cindy Cruse – Vocals (Background)
Janie Cruse – Vocals (Background)
Keith Davenport – Keyboards
David Ebensberger – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
Michelle Ford – Vocals (Background)
Ron Jones – Saxophone
Knightlight Studios – Engineer, Producer
Win Kutz – Mixing
MC Ge Gee – Rap
Ed McTaggart – Art Direction
Craig Miles – Vocals (Background)
Tim Miner – Engineer, Guitar, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
Nicole C. Mullen – Vocals
Gregory O’Quin – Keyboards, Programming
Craig Penrod – Engineer
Karen Penrod – Vocals (Background)
Joe Potter – Layout Design
Kim Sipus – Vocals (Background)
Mark Stitts – Engineer, Vocals (Background)
Washington – Rap
Brenda Welcome – Vocals (Background)
Mike “Hitman” Wilson – Keyboards, Vocals (Background)
John Wirtz – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Percussion, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)

David Mullen – Faded Blues – 1991

This is David’s second album and it is really really good. Now for a minute here I’m going to go on a rant about the CCM charts. I have often said they had no idea what they were doing on their charts but this album is the absolute proof. CCM magazine said this album had one single that only made it to #37 for 2 weeks, “To Be With You “. Meanwhile it won the Dove award for Best Rock Album and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Pop Gospel Album. Obviously the rest of the industry saw something CCM Magazine didn’t. Anyway, this is a great AOR album and there’s actually a couple tracks on here that are pretty Rock & Roll and if we ever start a radio station there’s at least 2 tracks that will be in our regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Faded Blues – 3:50
2 – After The Hurricane – 5:14
3 – Libby – 4:23
4 – Functional Faith And Clothing – 1:28
5 – Papa – 3:50
6 – To Be With You – 4:24
7 – Under The Same Sun – 4:02
8 – Alone – 4:54
9 – Water Into Wine – 4:39
10 – Long Road – 5:13
11 – Solid As A Rock – 5:05
12 – Don’t Let It Go To Your Heart – 4:42

Credits
A&R – Danny Kee
Acoustic Guitar – Scott Denté
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Kevin Twit
Art Direction, Design – Elvis Wilson, Laura LiPuma
Backing Vocals – Chris Rodriguez, Kathy Burdick, Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton
Bass – Michael Rhodes
Drums – Mickey Curry
Electric Guitar – Kenny Greenberg
Electric Guitar, Soloist – Kevin Dukes
Engineer [Additional] – Jim Demain*
Horns – Jim Horn, Muscle Shoals Horns
Keyboards – Dennis Matkosky, Mike Lawler, Nick Glennie-Smith
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – David Mullen
Management – Mike Atkins
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Percussion – Scott MacLeod, Steve Brewster
Photography By – Chip Simons
Piano – Phil Kristenson
Producer, Mixed By, Guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Shaker, Backing Vocals – Justin Niebank
Slide Guitar, Soloist – Phil Keaggy

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Digital Recorders
Recorded At – Masterfonics