Tag: 1992

Connie Scott – Live To Tell – 1992

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

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Image 7 Music Inc.
Copyright © – Image 7 Music Inc.
Manufactured By – Image 7 Music Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Made By – Disque Americ
Produced For – Whitewater Productions, Richmond, B.C.
Recorded At – Whitewater Studio
Mixed At – Whitewater Studio
Mastered At – Future Disc

The Stand – In Three Days – 1992

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

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Wonderland
Copyright © – Wonderland
Manufactured By – Word
Made By – JVC
Recorded At – The Sonic Temple
Mastered At – Future Disc

Mortal – Lusis – 1992

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

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Mixing Lab B
Mixed At – Mixing Lab A
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Intense Records
Copyright © – Intense Records
Published By – Carlotta Publishing
Mastered At – Digital Brothers
Distributed By – FMG Distribution
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Audio Adrenaline – Audio Adrenaline – 1992

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

Michael Sweet – Unstryped – The Post Stryper Sessions – 2000/1992

While this album was released in 2000 the material was apparently recorded in 1992. Things were a little more complicated for Stryper in 1992 with Michael announcing his departure and the joining/not joining of Dale Thompson. Apparently they did hit the studio in 1992 and recorded these 5 tracks but with all the turmoil they never got released. Somehow Michael got the rights to these songs and self released them in 2000. Anyway let’s not get hung up on the turmoil and give the EP a listen. These are excellent tracks and are pretty well produced. Tony Palacios (Guardian) played lead guitar on the first 2 tracks. I really enjoyed these 5 tracks, they have a great arena rock feel and I’m sure would have sold well in 1992 if they could have been released. Michael rerecorded/remixed “All I Wanna Do” for his self titled album in 1994.

Tracklist
1 – Love You Crazy – 3:55
2 – Give What You’ve Got – 4:53
3 – All I Wanna Do – 3:57
4 – When I’m Lonely – 4:05
5 – I Need You Now – 4:13

Credits
Bass – Baba Elephante
Drums – Jamie Wollam
Guitar – Tony Palacios (tracks: 1,2)
Keyboards – Terry Usler
Lead Guitar – Michael Sweet
Lead Vocals – Michael Sweet
Piano – Terry Usler
Producer – Michael Sweet
Rhythm Guitar – Michael Sweet

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – MSP Prod, Inc. – MSPCD 772
Copyright © – MSP Prod, Inc. – MSPCD 772
Manufactured By – Artist Development Associates

Bride – Snakes In The Playground – 1992

Snakes in the Playground is the fifth studio album from Bride. Strangely many of the reviews for this album say “it was their breakthrough album”. I am assuming most these reviewers actually had no idea about Christian metal. Bride was well established and already revered as one of the best Metal acts of the period. That said it was a great album and I think everyone recognized that including the Dove Awards who gave it 2 nominations for “Hard Music Recorded Song of the Year” which they won for 1992 (Rattlesnake) and 1993 (Psychedelic Super Jesus). Interestingly the album featured several guest musicians, Peter Furler and John James from the Newsboys, Rick Florian from White Heart for backing vocals, Greg Martin from the Kentucky Headhunters, Rick Elias, and Derek Jan from Novella for some solo guitar spots. As for the naming of the album Dale Thompson gave us the story “We were in the beginning stages of recording, and took a break to drive to the store. A large reptile was lying beside our car sunbathing on the pavement. In my attempts to chase the snake away, I chased it under the car. To make matters worse, the effort to move the snake from under the car drove it up into the fender wells. We spent the next hour and a half trying to get the snake to come out. We sprayed it with the water hose, poked at it with a broom handle, even shook the car, but it would not come out. Finally, when we thought we would just have to let the snake have the car, it crawled out and back into the wooded area next to the studio.” If you were living on the moon in 1992 and missed this album it is a must listen.

Tracklist
1 – Rattlesnake – 4:34
2 – Would You Die For Me – 3:35
3 – Psychedelic Super Jesus – 4:18
4 – Fallout – 4:03
5 – Saltriver Shuffle – 0:38
6 – Dust Through A Fan – 3:08
7 – I Miss The Rain – 3:52
8 – Don’t Use Me – 4:01
9 – Picture Perfect – 4:21
10 – Love, Money – 3:48
11 – Some Things Never Change – 4:09
12 – Goodbye – 5:20

Credits
Art Direction – Toni Thigpen
Bass – Rik Foley
Design, Layout – Tufts Design Studio
Drums – Jerry McBroom
Edited By [Digital Editing] – Alan Douches
Executive-Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar, Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, Cello, Viola – Troy Thompson
Illustration – Todd Tufts
Mastered By – Denny Purcell
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer – Salvatore Giglio
Recorded By, Mixed By – Salvatore Giglio
Vocals, Backing Vocals, Tambourine, Shaker – Dale Thompson

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Star Song
Copyright © – Star Song
Recorded At – The Saltmine
Recorded At – West West Side Music
Mixed At – The Saltmine
Mixed At – West West Side Music
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters
Published By – Dawn Treader Music
Published By – Plink Publishing
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Dance House Children – Jesus – 1992

This is the second and last album for Dance House Children though the brothers would go on to work on other projects together. The album continues the dance club sound that really didn’t have that much of a market but the people who liked that style loved this album. I was pretty heavily into the secular dance club scene at the time and I will admit that this album measures right up there with any secular release of the period. My only real criticism for the album is the ugly album cover. I really wish Michael Knott would have stepped in and said no to it. As for the brothers Jason would go on to form Starflyer 59 and Ronnie would form Joy Electric which are both excellent projects by their own right. To say these brothers had great talent would be an under statement.

Tracklist
1 – Once Upon Your Lips – 4:58
2 – The Locket Maker – 4:24
3 – Old And True – 3:45
4 – Eve Leaf – 3:05
5 – Autumn Comes But Once, Dear – 4:19
6 – Homespun Is Happy – 4:19
7 – Simon Sister – 3:31
8 – Keepsake Melody – 3:54
9 – A Lull In The Fairest Maple – 4:43
10 – Uncle Art – 4:02
11 – A Cottage Song – 4:40
12 – Oleanders (Our Happy Place) – 4:02
13 – Sea Breeze – 3:25
14 – Merry – 3:49
15 – Wisteria Time – 4:47

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Ed McTaggart
Design Concept [Cover Art Concept] – Jason Martin, Ronnie Martin
Design [Cover Logo By] – Ronnie Martin
Engineer – Christopher Colbert, Dave Hackbarth, Greg Kemble
Keyboards, Sampler [Samples] – Jason Martin
Mastered By – Doug Doyle
Mixed By – Christopher Colbert
Photography By – Rob Powell
Producer – Dance House Children
Vocals, Keyboards, Sampler [Samples], Programmed By [Rhythm Programming] – Ronnie Martin
Written-By – Ronnie Martin, Jason Martin

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Disco House Publishing
Copyright © – Ttonk
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Blonde Vinyl Records
Copyright © – Blonde Vinyl Records
Distributed By – Spectra Distribution
Recorded At – Neverland Studios
Mastered At – Digital Brothers
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

Russ Taff – A Christmas Song – 1992

This is Russ’s only Christmas album and I don’t have much to say about it. It is a collection of traditional Christmas carols with very traditional arrangements. Often these albums they lay down the music track with studio musicians then the singer comes in and does the vocals and it’s off to the stores. But credit to Russ here, he used his band for the album and the engineering/production group is his usual team. That makes me respect this album a little more though it’s still not my style. This one is for people looking for traditional songs with traditional arrangements and stand out vocals.

Tracklist
1 – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – 4:34
2 – Angels We Have Heard On High – 2:57
3 – The Christmas Song – 2:19
4 – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – 4:01
5 – I’ll Be Home For Christmas – 4:01
6 – Let It Snow, Let It Snow – 2:39
7 – White Christmas – 3:51
8 – What Child Is This? – 2:41
9 – It Came Upon A Midnight Clear – 4:07
10 – What A Wonderful World – 2:27

Credits
Bass – Byron House
Conductor [Strings Conducted By] – John Darnall
Drums, Bells [Sleigh Bells] – John Hammond
Executive-Producer – John Huie
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Piano, Vibraphone [Vibes] – Matt Rollings
Producer, Arranged By, Guitar, Backing Vocals, Recorded By, Mixed By – James Hollihan, Jr.
Recorded By [Strings Recorded By] – Lynn Fuston
Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Strings – The Nashville String Machine
Trumpet – Mike Haynes

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The Sparrow Corporation
Copyright © – The Sparrow Corporation
Produced For – Russ Taff Productions
Recorded At – Interociter Studio, Nashville, TN
Mixed At – Interociter Studio, Nashville, TN
Mastered At – Mastermix
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus, Virginia

TRB (Toni Rossi Band) – TRB – 1992

This is the one and only album using the TRB (Toni Rossi Band) moniker. After Daniel band Toni Rossi did a few projects and all of them were excellent. I’ve not heard anything from him I didn’t like and this album is no exception. While in a way it’s typical Toni on the other hand it is somewhat distinctive. I don’t really know who was involved in the project other than Frank Catrambone on drums. Frank was also involved with the obscure Canadian Christian band Ammi who had 2 singles neither of which I can find but I hear they are good. Anyway as I said, other than Frank I don’t know who was helping out with this project but they were pretty tight and the album meshed really really well. The album is the typical Rossi hard rock and is probably my favourite work from him outside of Daniel Band.

Tracklist
1 – Edge-U-Cate – 4:00
2 – Are You Listening – 3:34
3 – End Of Time – 3:42
4 – Love Survives – 4:27
5 – It’s Who You Know – 3:51
6 – Son Comes Down – 4:30
7 – The Answer – 4:05
8 – Take It – 4:27
9 – Chickens – 0:20
10 – Down By The River – 4:24
11 – Stay – 5:04

Credits
Drums – Frank Catrambone
Guitar, Mandolin, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Producer, Composed By – Toni Rossi

Companies, etc.
Mixed At – Phase One Studios

Lisa Bevill – My Freedom – 1992

I am willing to guess that almost all fans of 80’s CCM have heard Lisa. We may not have known her name until this introductory album but her vocals were all over the industry. I’m not going to even bother with a list but she sang backup for a lot of our favourite 80’s artists. For those of you who liked the Prism albums she made an appearance on Blue and Red. Anyway this album started out her solo career but yet I don’t find many people talking about this album. I see more discussion of her later albums but quite frankly I think this is a great album. With Brown Bannister pulling the purse strings and Chris Harris and Mark Heimermann producing it I knew this would be a great album. Now I readily admit this album isn’t exactly my style but I always enjoy a great album and this album falls in that category. It has a fun 90’s hip hop pop feel and also has a great music video for the single “Chaperone”. That video also features DC Talk’s Toby Mac and was nominated Video of the Year at the 1993 Dove Awards. Regarding the “single” it seems like originally the single was “Place In The Sun” but they decided to cut a video for “Chaperone”. Now singles aside the album did produce 2 top 10 songs on the CCM charts. “My Freedom” made it to #4 and “Alone In Love” made it to #9. The album also did very well on Christian radio and I read somewhere that both “My Freedom” and “Place in the Sun” made it to #1. Hopefully Jay Whitehurst will chime in and confirm that. Anyway give the album a listen if you missed it back in the day especially if hip hop dance stuff is what you like.

Tracklist
1 – Chaperone – 4:43
2 – It’s Gonna Worth It – 3:47
3 – Falling Off The Face Of The Earth – 4:32
4 – Love Oughta Be – 3:56
5 – My Freedom – 4:31
6 – Place In The Sun – 4:02
7 – Second Chance – 4:41
8 – Alone In Love – 4:28
9 – I Took A Tumble – 3:32
10 – Shirley (Keep It To Yourself) – 5:31

Credits
Lisa Bevill – Songwriter, Vocals
Carolyn Arends – Songwriter
Paula Carpenter – Songwriter
John Catchings – Strings
George Cocchini – Guitars
David Davidson – Strings
Mark Douthit – Sax
Julius Drummin – Songwriter, Drums
Chris Eaton – Vocals
Mark Hammond – Drums
Chris Harris – Producer, Songwriter, Vocals
Mike Haynes – Brass
Mark Heimermann – Producer, Songwriter, Keyboards, Drums, Vocals
Joe Hogue – Drums, Vocals
Wayne Kirkpatrick – Songwriter
Sam Levine – Sax
Gary Lunn – Bass, Drums
Chris McDonald – Brass
Toby McKeehan – Songwriter, Vocals
Jerry McPherson – Guitars
Tommy Sims – Songwriter, Keyboards, Bass, Drums
Pam Sixfin – Strings
Jackie Street – Bass
Kristen Wilkinson – Strings