This is the second and final album from Fighter. The lineup stayed the same and the talent grew quite a bit. This was a group of guys and girl that worked really well together and quite frankly they are one of the hidden wonders of the industry. This album is a fantastic arena rock album and the production is dead on. The opening 3 tracks suck you right in so that you’ll listen to the rest of the album. My one slim criticism is that I would have liked some more vocals from Amy Wolter, maybe just one more track. Anyway this is a great arena rock albums and probably the best in the genre for the period.
Tracklist 1 – Time Out – 3:20 2 – Alone With You – 4:14 3 – Bang The Drum – 3:29 4 – When Will We Learn – 4:30 5 – Faithfully – 3:52 6 – Avalanche – 4:40 7 – Try – 4:29 8 – So Much To Learn – 3:54 9 – Without You – 4:44 10 – Your Hand – 3:31 11 – Where Can Love Be Found – 4:59
Credits Acoustic Guitar – Sean Murphy Backing Vocals – Amy Wolter, Sean Murphy Bass – Billy Heller, Jim Wolter Drum Programming – Mark Pence Drums – Sean Murphy Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski Executive-Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, P. Gavin Morkel Guitar – Billy Heller Keyboards – Mark Pence Lead Vocals – Amy Wolter, Sean Murphy Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, Fighter
This is the final album from Vengeance Rising and the last one I will be reviewing. I have listened to all 4 albums and I am done with it. Again the entire band turned over except for Roger Martinez. The album itself sounds just like the other ones and again I struggled to hear any of the lyrics so again I can not judge the lyrical quality of the album. Musically I do hear talent but I simply can’t stand this style of music. After this album Roger decided he was actually a satanist and then a few years later decided he was a atheist. I think we can face that he was struggling with some sort of mental illness. Martinez obtained the name of the band was planning on releasing a satanist then atheist album. Apparently he even successfully recorded an album called “Realms of Blasphemy”. Luckily it never made it out into the public. Sometime in the late 90’s Martinez began making death threats to individuals he claimed “stabbed him in the back” including his friend Steve Rowe of Mortification. Martinez passed away in 2025 and hopefully that will bring this whole mess to an end. All that aside if this is one you really enjoyed in the day we respect that and that is why we offer.
Tracklist 1 – Help Me – 6:17 2 – The Damnation Of Judas And The Salvation Of The Thief – 3:14 3 – Released Upon The Earth – 2:02 4 – Human Dark Potential – 4:15 5 – Instruments Of Death – 3:46 6 – Lest You Be Judged – 3:46 7 – Out Of Bounds – 3:27 8 – Bishop Of Souls – 5:24 9 – Tion – 2:59 10 – You Will Be Hated – 4:37
Credits Backing Vocals – David Fuentes, David Portillo, David Vasquez, Gordon Martinez, Jimmy Brown*, Michael Kramer, Steve Rowe, Victor Macias Bass – “Manic” Joe Monsorb’nik Drums – Johnny Vasquez Engineer – George Ochoa, Pat Woehl Engineer [2nd] – Roger Milke, Thom Roy Engineer [Drum Tracking] – Gil Morales Lead Guitar – Jamie Mitchell Mastered By – John Matousek Mixed By – George Ochoa, Roger Martinez Rhythm Guitar – Simon Dawg Vocals, Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Bass – Roger Martinez
Companies, etc. Recorded At – The Mixing Lab Recorded At – Micro Note Recording Studio Mastered At – Soundworks West Glass Mastered At – Nimbus
This was an early teaser release from Michael of 4 tracks from his future self titled album. These have completely different mixes/production than the album and I’ll be blunt…… these versions are better. Not just a little better but substantially better. I have no idea why these initial versions were rejected but it has just solidified my opinion that music industry people that make such decisions aren’t any better qualified to make those decisions than you and I. On the opening track “I Think You Hear Me Knockin'” is a single on the EP but on the album it’s just a good filler track. Anyway I’m glad I was encouraged to grab this one out of the stack for a listen. While I love Michael’s solo album I far prefer the tracks as they were produced here. The lesson for record companies that they will not listen to? Leave stuff alone, sometimes the best route of action is to just stop.
Tracklist 1 – I Think You Hear Me Knockin’ – 3:42 2 – All I Wanna Do Is Love You – 4:21 3 – Tomorrow, Tonight – 4:18 4 – Someday – 4:30
This album from Darrell is actually a pretty important one. It usually gets lost in the shuffle of his many albums but this album would steer his direction for much of the rest of his career. The event was rather small but if you follow his next several albums the addition of Glenn Kaiser to this album is very important. It also helped shape Darrell sound on upcoming albums as he drifted away from traditional rock and concentrated on blues rock. He starts the album with “Never Been To The Seminary” at it sets the tone for the rest of the album both musically and lyrically. If you follow my writing you know I have a love for Darrell’s music and I have in the past counted him as a friend. One of the real standouts on this album for me was the drumming of Michael Fickling. This was his first album with Darrell and while he was a little known studio musician this album really displayed his skills. Unfortunately we lost Michael suddenly in March of 2018 at the age of 65. Listen for his work it really fits with Glenn’s guitar and Darrell’s harp. Oh and yes I know that track 7 is spelt wrong. Just as it was, so shall it be.
Tracklist 1 – Never Been To The Seminary – 4:22 2 – Beautiful City – 3:38 3 – Trimmed & Burnin’ – 2:28 4 – You Know It Ain’t Right – 3:39 5 – Ain’t No Need – 7:03 6 – God’s Radar – 3:45 7 – It Takes God To Built A Home – 3:18 8 – I Know Jesus Can – 4:15 9 – Swing Low – 4:17 10 – The Mission – 5:02 11 – Never Heard A Man – 4:16
Credits Art Direction – Huurdeman, De Kemp Backing Vocals – Darrell Mansfield Bass – Matthew Chapman Coordinator – Gerrit aan ‘t Goor Design – Hotline Drums – Michael Fickling Guitar – Shawn Jones Keyboards – Phil Kristianson Lead Guitar [Additional] – Glenn Kaiser Management [Booking Agent] – Crossbow Productions Photography By – Florian Lem Producer, Harmonica, Lead Vocals – Darrell Mansfield Rhythm Guitar [Additional] – Glenn Kaiser Technician – Heyke Noordhof
I going to guess that no one recognizes the name Kurt Howell so come on and head down the rabbit hole with me. In the mid to late 80’s there was a collection of Christian artist working in the studios around Nashville. Kurt was often in that community and the studio musicians on this album are almost all from that community. So while this is a secular album it’s a great group of Christian artists. Kurt was better known to some as a member of Southern Pacific who were together from 1983 to 1991 and actually were pretty successful including an appearance with Emmylou Harris at Farm Aid 1985 though Kurt didn’t join the band until after that. Once that band split Kurt cut this one solo album. This however was not a country album, this is a pop rock album that had the magic hands of Michael Omartian in the production booth. Strangely the next chapter in Kurt’s career was another country band, Burnin’ Daylight. I have no idea how this album came about but I really like it. I don’t know what the official single was but I pick “Do The Rubber Neck”. It’s a great tune that I think would have done well on the radio. I’m willing to guess very few of you have heard this one but I think you should give it a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Let’s Run With It – 3:51 2 – We’ll Find The Way – 4:14 3 – Does Love Not Open Your Eyes – 4:41 4 – I’m Over You – 4:39 5 – Dedicating Everything To You – 4:44 6 – Do The Rubber Neck – 4:44 7 – Labor Of Love – 4:40 8 – Keep Telling My Heart – 4:32 9 – Cold As A Stone – 4:09 10 – Don’t Throw Love Away – 5:23
Credits Backing Vocals – Joe Pizzulo, Robert White Johnson, Tommy Funderburk Drums – Paul Leim Electric Guitar – Chris Rodrigues, Michael Landau, Neal Schon, Steve Lukather Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Dean Parks Horns – Daniel Higgins, David Boruff, Jerry Hey, Kim Hutchcroft Keyboards – Phil Naish Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Michael Omartian Producer – Michael Omartian Vocals, Keyboards – Kurt Howell
This album was recorded live at Cornerstone Festival, IL on July 6, 1991. This was in the ending day of OBP. They we’re out at this time supporting their “I Scream Sunday” album and this concert featured a few tracks from the album. Now I’m going to be honest here, I do not care for power punk. This style of music is just not for me. That said I had huge respect for the band because they took so much crap from the Christian community and even the industry for daring to do this style. They always took it with a smile and sent a message in their music. Even this concert they performed the protest the king song “Rock The Casbah.” A perfect choice for them. As for the album the tracks are well chosen and I think you’ll find most of your favourites. If I was to nitpick at the album is would again be the engineering. As I have said before a live mix and an album mix are two completely different things. At the time this was recorded it wasn’t so easy to produce one mix for the concert and a separate mix for the album. Yes it was possible but it wasn’t cheap from an equipment standpoint. The album definitely uses that live mix and you can tell because it falls a little flat on your home stereo. Anyway I still think it’s a great album and a must own for OBP fans.
Tracklist 1 – Prelude: Green Acres Theme – 1:30 2 – Take A Look At Yourself – 4:47 3 – Hey Punk – 1:39 4 – Smash The Guitar – 4:27 5 – I Scream Sunday – 3:25 6 – Red River – 5:10 7 – Judas Kiss – 2:57 8 – Cut Your Hair – 5:20 9 – Bowl Of Wrath – 2:53 10 – Isaiah 6 – 4:25 11 – Let’s Be Frank – 1:47 12 – Altar Ego – 2:22 13 – Swine Flew – 3:12 14 – Godarchy – 2:44 15 – Kosher – 3:50 16 – Ice Cream Sundae – 2:40 17 – Looney Tune – 1:40 18 – Rock The Casbah – 3:39 19 – Never Forget The Cross – 5:21
Credits Art Direction – Roz Bass Guitar, Vocals – Daniel Tucek Crew [Stage Crew] – Aaron Baker, Chris Culver, Greg, Jamie Cervantes, Matt Williamson, Stephen Wagers Design – John Flynn Drums, Vocals – Phillip Owens Engineer [Assistant] – Kathy Yore, Timothy R. Powell Engineer [Audio Engineer] – Roger Heiss Engineer [Live Sound Engineer] – Ed Bilach Engineer [Monitor] – Greg Jaques Executive-Producer – Mark Maxwell Guitar, Vocals – Paul Q-Pek Lead Vocals [Lead Screamer], Vocals – Carey “Kosher” Womack Mastered By – Ken Love Mixed By – Billy Smiley, Lee Groitzsch Photography By – Mike Tabor Producer – Billy Smiley Recorded By – Metro Mobile Location Recording Stage Manager – Dick Randall Stage Manager [Stage Direction], Effects [Special Effects], Crew [Master Roadie] – Nelson West Technician [Guitar] – Brian Wooten, Russell Smith, Sam Nunes, Steve Allen
This was the final studio album we would get from Connie. In Christmas of 1992 Connie was touring again with David Meece and she decided that it was time to come off the road and settled into married life just outside of Vancouver with her husband Grant and two boys Kellen and Linden. In October of 2007 the Gospel Music Association of Canada honored Connie’s pioneering efforts in Christian music by presenting her with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. This album followed the successful recipe that Producer Roy Salmond had applied on her previous 5 albums. It’s another great pop album with strong vocals and great songwriting. Connie was one of the greatest female Christian vocalists of the era but unfortunately she never got the recognition she should have as she was always overshadowed by larger U.S. artists even if she was a far better vocalist.
Tracklist 1 – Walk To The Well – 4:20 2 – Healing Waters – 5:04 3 – Little Joey Run – 4:21 4 – Angels – 4:22 5 – Play This Game – 5:16 6 – Starting Now – 4:30 7 – Inside My Piano – 4:25 8 – You Were Falling In Love With Me – 4:05 9 – Waiting In Cars – 4:21 10 – Don’t Ever Stop Believin’ – 3:34 11 – I Lift Up My Voice – 5:05
Credits Arranged By – Roy Salmond Arranged By [Vocals] – Connie Scott, Roy Salmond Art Direction, Sleeve – Nancy S Yeasting Executive-Producer – Grant Saip Mastered By – Steve Hall Photography By – Jane Weitzel Studios Producer – Roy Salmond Recorded By, Mixed By – David R H Slagter
I have still been unable to find much info on The Stand but I’m starting to put the picture together. The version of The Stand on their first album is almost entirely different then this version. The entire band is different except for Tony Valenziano so I’m somewhat comfortable saying The Stand is actually Tony. Anyway this version of The Stand featured Mark Robertson who had to be one of the hardest working Bass players of this era. As for the album it’s just as good as the first one if not better. It continues the pop oriented rock sound that would have done well at any time in the 80’s. There’s also a pretty good cover of Nick Lowe’s (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding which was famously covered by Elvis Costello among others. Another good one you may not have heard in the day so give it a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Free Love – 4:10 2 – (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding – 3:39 3 – Billy – 3:26 4 – Can You See It – 3:51 5 – Look At The Way – 4:11 6 – The Rain – 4:38 7 – Round & Round – 4:57 8 – Holding Back – 4:12 9 – Fallen Tear – 4:16 10 – Believe – 4:10
Credits Backing Vocals – Caesar Kalinowski, Christopher Mosher, Dave Palmer, Leah Thomas, Mark Robertson, Michelle Thompson, Tony Valenziano Bass, Vocals – Mark Robertson Drums, Vocals [Additional] – Dan Holter Engineer [Second] – Christopher Mosher Keyboards, MIDI Controller – Christopher Mosher Lead Guitar – Paz Vega Lead Vocals, Guitar [6 String & 9 String], Acoustic Guitar, Drum [Tambo] – Tony Valenziano Mastered By – Eddie Schryer Producer – Mark Robertson, Tony Valenziano Producer, Executive-Producer, Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski
Mortal was Jerome Fontamillas and Jyro Xhan and these are 2 of the hardest working guys in the Christian music industry. They had been in a previous band called Mortal Wish, but that band morphed into this one. Jerome and Jyro were born in the Philippines, but I can’t find out much about their early life other than that. Anyway, they had a great demo/EP while named Mortal Wish which got them a record deal with Intense Records. The record company brought in Terry Taylor (Daniel Amos) to produce the album, and he brought in Rob Watson (Daniel Amos) to engineer the album. They did a great job and this quickly became the premier Industrial style album of the period. The next part of the story for these guys and the band is quite interesting, but we’ll get into that in one of their future releases. As for the album, this is a pretty good album that was quite popular with the metal crowd, though I don’t hear much metal. I have read the album referred to as an Industrial Metal album. I don’t really hear the metal part, but it’s a great album and let’s face it, we all have different ways of describing things. Give this one a listen if you like your music a little more fringe and less top 40.
Tracklist 1 – Enfleshed (The Word Is Alive) – 4:39 2 – Mytho-X – 4:26 3 – If Ever Maria – 4:21 4 – Fisherman – 4:39 5 – Painkiller – 4:51 6 – Tuesday Assassin – 5:39 7 – Rescinding – 4:54 8 – Cryptic – 5:38 9 – Miracle Man – 3:53 10 – Santa Cruz – 4:30 11 – S.F.N. – 1:00 12 – Sinister – 5:23 13 – Enfleshed (Alive Is The Word Remix) – 4:38
Credits Art Direction – Ed McTaggart Design – Joe Potter Engineer – Rob Watson Mastered By – Doug Doyle Music Consultant [Pre-production Consultant] – Ramald Domkus Performer [Mortal Is] – Jerome Fontamillas, Jyro Xhan Producer – Terry Taylor Songwriter [Songs Written By] – Jyro Xhan
As the story goes, the band while using the name A-180°, ran into Bob Herdman who wanted them to record a song he had written called “My God” which mixed metal and rap. Bob subsequently joined the band and suggested the name change to Audio Adrenaline. This recording made it’s way to Toby McKeehan (dc Talk) and he brought it to someone at Forefront Records. Forefront signed the band and sent them into the studio with Steve Griffith to record this album. This is where it all went wrong. I have NO idea what Steve was thinking when he produced this album but my suspicion is that he was trying to be the second coming of Rick Rubin who had essentially created the Beastie Boys sound. The Problem is that Steve didn’t understand this genre of music in the least and the result is an album that has no flow and doesn’t settle into a style that is recognizable. I’m comfortable saying this because the band said this themselves. Guitarist Barry Blair said in an interview with CCM Magazine about the album “If it was up to me, I would burn them all, make them disappear” and the rest of the band wasn’t much nicer about the album. They did have a demo as A-180° that I haven’t heard yet but I want to hear it as it probably represents the sound they were going for. Now all that said I actually like the album. Aside from “My God” and DC-10 being absolutely horrible there are some good tracks on this album. It also could have done with the silly “J-E-S-U-S Is Right” track but I’m assuming Forefront thought it would be a good single. It wasn’t. In fact the eventual single was “PDA” which isn’t a horrible track but don’t watch the music video for it. Anyway I look forward to hearing subsequent albums from the band as they had some real talent even if the record company had no clue what to do with it.
Tracklist 1 – One Step Hyper – 4:21 2 – What You Need – 4:26 3 – Who Do You Love – 3:49 4 – PDA – 4:09 5 – The Most Excellent Way – 4:25 6 – J-E-S-U-S Is Right – 4:31 7 – Revolution – 5:15 8 – Audio World – 4:33 9 – DC-10 – 3:12 10 – My God – 3:39 11 – Life – 4:22
Credits Arranged By, Producer, Mixed By, Recorded By – Steve Griffith Art Direction, Design – Stephen Murray Backing Vocals, Arranged By – Dave Stuart, Ron Gibson Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Drum Programming – Barry Blair Choir – Helen DeCanio , Mary DeCanio Engineer – Steve Hoffman Engineer, Choir – Steve Murphy Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock Executive-Producer, Drums, Backing Vocals – Ron W. Griffin Instruments, Backing Vocals, Bass Guitar, Keyboards, Programmed By – Will McGinniss Keyboards, Programmed By – Dan Kellerby, Jeffrey Mingle Lead Vocals, Rap, Choir – Mark Stuart Mastered By – Hank Williams Percussion, Backing Vocals, Rap – Bob Herdman Photography By – Russ Harrington
Companies, etc. Recorded At – The Salt Mine Recorded At – A Cut Above Studio Recorded At – Quad Studios Recorded At – Landmark Studios, Chesapeake, OH Mixed At – Quad Studios
