1992 – Real 80s CCM

In Reach – Waterline – 1992

Brett Williams formed The Reach in 1984 and yo have to respect his dedication as the band didn’t get a record deal until 1992. In 1989 they had an independent release, “Under The Same Sky” using the band name The Reach. I haven’t had a chance to hear it yet but I’m looking forward to it. One of my compliments for the band is that even though they formed in the 80’s this is a purely 90’s album. It’s always great to see a band that even though they were unsigned they continued to evolve and move their music forward. David Zaffiro (Bloodgood) stepped in to produce the album and even played guitar on a few tracks. The album is very well produced and quite frankly is as good as anything that was being released in the secular market at the time. The album is a guitar oriented Pop album that is very easy to listen to and if you missed this one it’s worth a listen. The title track is good enough that it’s going in my personal regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Waterline – 4:33
2 – Faded Love – 3:58
3 – My Heart – 3:14
4 – The Other Fall Of Cambrai – 3:24
5 – God You Are – 4:00
6 – River – 4:08
7 – Giving Me Reasons – 3:33
8 – In The In Between – 3:32
9 – Manner Of Man – 3:05
10 – Not So Easy – 3:41

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Dale Wéhlacz
Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Marlene Cochran
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Scott Burell
Creative Director – Tony Thigpen
Drums – Vince Grant
Engineer – David Dysart
Executive-Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar – Charles Mesrole, David Zaffiro
Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals [Background Vocals] – Brett Williams
Keyboards – Mike Bell
Mastered By – Denny Purcell
Mixed By – Charles Mesrole, Chris Fuhrman, David Zaffiro
Mixed By [Mix Assistent] – David Raneses, Eric Janko
Photography – Karen Moskowitz
Producer, Engineer – Charles Mesrole, David Zaffiro
Sequenced By – Scott Weiss

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Star Song
Copyright (c) – Star Song
Recorded At – Triad Studios
Overdubbed At – Extra Sensory Productions
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters
Mixed At – Klub Key’s

Ordained Fate – Ordained Fate – 1992

Ordained Fate is odd in that 3 or the 4 members are female. The three girls started out the band in the mid 80’s under the name Cryptic Axe in Zion, IL. They started out as a secular metal band and even recorded a demo. The band became Christians in the late 80’s and went into the studio in 1989 to record a demo as Ordained Fate. The demo did fairly well and they recorded a second one in 1990. They were subsequently signed to a one album contract with Wonderland which was a sub label of Word. The album was well received but not widely available unfortunately. Wonderland/Word didn’t bring the band back in for a second album. They did however do a self produced effort in 1995 but of course with no distribution it was not widely available. This album is refreshing as it’s nice to hear some fairly hard metal from a female band. While not my style I was really surprised at the high quality of this release and I’m a little surprised it didn’t do better. I am guessing that it may not have been well promoted as Word really shouldn’t have been meddling in the Metal market as they knew nothing about it.

Tracklist
1 – Let’s Make A Deal – 4:33
2 – Gethsemane – 6:13
3 – Holy Wars – 4:45
4 – Wonderful Love – 4:15
5 – Gold Cross – 4:33
6 – Tame The Tongue – 5:23
7 – The Election – 3:53
8 – One Of The Insane – 5:19
9 – No Death – 4:26

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Marge Curtner
Design [Sleeve Design], Photography By – Lark
Drums, Vocals – Terry Cvengros
Engineer [2nd Engineer], Keyboards – Christopher Mosher
Executive-Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, Peter Gavin Morkel
Lead Guitar, Vocals – Anette Cvengros
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Pam Scott
Producer, Engineer – Caesar Kalinowski

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word Communications Ltd.
Distributed By – Word Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word Ltd.
Manufactured By – JVC
Copyright © – Big Rage! Productions
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Big Rage! Productions
Recorded At – The Sonic Temple

Darrell Mansfield – Get Ready – 1980/1992

Several months ago someone asked me if there were and “jam albums” in CCM. Off the top of my head I struggled to come up with any according to my friends definition. What was being sought after was a rock and roll album that wasn’t afraid to have the musicians take over a song for a while and letting each instrument have it’s share of the spotlight. Get Ready is such an album! The average song lasts longer then 5 minutes with a very simple blues verse chorus structure which leaves ample time for long instrumental jams featuring guitar and harmonica (Mansfield’s instrument of choice). Solos are loud and long and a heavy blues influence. The album was actually released on Polydor and had very limited Christian distribution when originally released. There was hope of Mansfield breaking into mainstream AOR radio but it never really happened despite relatively positive reviews. It may have had to do with the very evangelistic lyrics, something artists has never compromised on. The title track sounds like something from Dylan’s “Saved” album with a gospel choir accompanying the great guitar work. There are no ballads on the original 8 song release and only one song that could be categorized as “pop.” This would be the last album before Eric Turner would be added to the band n guitar. Turner’s heavier rock influence would be felt on future releases, but here it is original guitarists, Dennis Carothers, who handles the slide and electric lead perfectly. Fans of blues and southern rock like Molly Hatchet, 30 Special, Lynard Skynard and the Allman Brothers will find something here to like, In fact, this is the album I originally hoped Rick Cua would have made with the Outlaws influence. Mansfield’s importance to Jesus Music and later CCM should not be understated, even though he primarily remained a Southern California regional star. Along with Glen Kaiser Mansfield single-handedly kept the influence of blues music alive in CCM.

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

Tracklist
1 – Get Ready – 4:45
2 – Mr. Rock ‘N’ Roll – 4:08
3 – Above The Water – 5:17
4 – Billy Joe – 3:45
5 – Heaven Southwestern – 6:45
6 – Never Be The Same – 3:37
7 – Power Of Love – 4:18
8 – Life Saver – 4:57
CD Bonus Tracks
9 – Not Far Away – 4:18
10 – When The Curtain Falls – 3:47
11 – Flow Like A River – 4:56

Credits
Backing Vocals – Biff Vincent (tracks: 1 to 8), Bryan Duncan (tracks: 1 to 8), Christina Dent (tracks: 1 to 8), Kathy Hazzard (tracks: 1 to 8), Katy Mahoney (tracks: 1 to 8), Lisa Whitcomb (tracks: 1 to 8), Robin Glick (tracks: 1to 8), Rosemary Butler, Scott Galbraith (2) (tracks: 1 to 8), Susan Curley (tracks: 1 to 8), Virgil Beckham (tracks: 1 to 8), Virgil Beckham (tracks: 9, 10, 11)
Bass – Abraham Laboriel (tracks: 9, 10, 11), Charlie Sousa (tracks: 1 to 8)
Bass, Vocals – Jimmy Perez (tracks: 1 to 8)
Drums – Bill Maxwell (tracks: 9, 10, 11), Donny Vosburgh (tracks: 1 to 8), Paul Angers (tracks: 1 to 8)
Guitar – Hadley Hockensmith (tracks: 9, 10, 11)
Keyboards – Harlan Rogers (tracks: 9, 10, 11)
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar – Anthony Dean (2) (tracks: 1 to 8)
Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Vocals – Dennis Corothers (tracks: 1 to 8)
Percussion – Alex Acuña (tracks: 9, 10, 11)
Producer – Skip Konte (tracks: 1 to 8), Virgil Beckham (tracks: 9, 10, 11)
Slide Guitar – Jerry Swallow (tracks: 9, 10, 11)
Vocals, Harmonica – Darrell Mansfield (tracks: 1 to 8), Darrell Mansfield (tracks: 9, 10, 11)

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Polydor Incorporated
Manufactured By – Polydor Incorporated
Marketed By – Polydor Incorporated
Recorded At – International Automated Media
Mixed At – International Automated Media
Mastered At – International Automated Media
Pressed By – Bestway Products Inc.

Chris Lizotte – Chris Lizotte And Soul Motion – 1992

Chris Lizotte was part of the Wild Blue Yonder/Crystal Lewis group of friends in the late 80’s. He did not play with Wild Blue Yonder but did several albums with Crystal Lewis who actually helped with this album cover. This is Chris’s second album and is probably the best Christian Blues album I have heard up to this point. The album has a couple tracks that distinctly remind me of Stevie Ray Vaughn and the closing track actually reminds me of a Guns N’ Roses ballad. Interesting point of trivia is that Chris Wimber (The Lifesavors) produced this album. All in all probably one of the best CCM albums I have ever heard and definitely in my top 50.

Tracklist
1 – You Keep On Givin’ To Me – 3:52
2 – When It Dawned On Me – 4:19
3 – Change My Heart Oh God – 5:26
4 – Brother It’s Alright – 3:58
5 – Don’t Let My Heart Turn Back To Stone – 4:38
6 – Shine Your Light – 4:15
7 – Come Unto Me – 5:43
8 – At The Cross Of Jesus – 4:58
9 – I Cried Like A Baby – 2:45
10 – Tell Me – 4:49

Credits
Bass – Paul Martin
Cover [Cover Writing] – Crystal Lewis-Ray
Drums, Percussion – Brian Eichler
Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Raymond McDonald
Engineer [Assistant] – Jeff Dykhouse
Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Chris Lizotte
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Mixed By – Stephen Anderson (tracks: 1, 4)
Organ [Hammond Organ], Piano, Resonator Guitar [Dobro], Accordion, Backing Vocals – Kevin Prosch
Photography, Art Direction – Brian Ray (2)
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By – Chris Wimber
Technician [Guitar Technician] – Shawn Tubbs

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Vineyard Music Group
Copyright (c) – Vineyard Music Group
Recorded At – Vineyard Studios (2)
Mastered At – Future Disc

Russ Taff – A Christmas Song – 1992

Russ Taff gives us his version of several traditional Christmas tracks both Christian and secular. Included is his version of “What A Wonderful World” which is not really a traditional Christmas song but works well on this album and others have used it on their Christmas albums.

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 (p) – The Sparrow Corporation
Copyright (c) – 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

Holy Soldier – Last Train – 1992

This was Holy Soldier’s second album and in my opinion was a step up from their first album. Turns out most fans at the time disagree with me. The album did not sell well. In fact it sold poorly enough that Word records dumped the band. After reading up on this I personally believe Word in fact dumped them as they wanted to take a turn at trying to attract a secular audience. If you were in the industry at the time Stryper was the only band allowed to do this for some reason. When anyone else tried it usually the label was not interested. It was a strange time in the industry. The cut that also probably caused them some problem is a cover of the Rolling Stones Vietnam era song “Gimme Shelter”. I actually think it’s a pretty good cover though they could have put a little more of their own signature on it. Anyway, that said this album leans to a more hard rock feel on several tracks and overall I think is well done.

Tracklist
1 – Virtue & Vice – 4:30
2 – Crazy – 4:44
3 – Hallow’s Eve – 4:18
4 – Gimme Shelter – 4:23
5 – Love Is On The Way – 4:54
6 – Dead End Drive – 3:53
7 – Tuesday Mourning – 4:23
8 – Fairweather Friend – 3:25
9 – Last Train – 4:34

Credits
Bass – Andy Robbins
Drums – Terry Russel
Guitar – Jamie Cramer, Scott Soderstrom
Producer [Produced By] – David Zaffiro
Vocals – Steven Patrick

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word Communications Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Word Communications Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Produced For – Zaffiro Productions

Novella – A Liquid Earth – 1992

When I started researching this band I was really surprised at how little information I was able to find. I stumbled on the album and as it was a 90’s album I wasn’t very optimistic. Wow was I wrong, this is one great Rock & Roll album. I found several people refer to it as a Metal album which it is not!!! This is a straight up hard rock album. Anyway as I said I can’t really find out too much about these guys. This was their second album but I have read that their first album is even better. We have it too but I haven’t listened to it yet. I did find some comments from the guitarist “Derek Ferwerda” (who was a new guitarist for this album) and I quote him here “It was the true inspirational and creative song writing of Jonathan Pagano before a clueless record company agenda got in the way.” Normally I would pile on the record label but I think Derek’s words say it all. Anyway it’s a bit late from the 80’s but it’s a great Rock & Roll album. Give it a listen, I promise you won;’t be disappointed.

Tracklist
1 – Story – 3:22
2 – Bad Place – 4:18
3 – Don’t You Run – 5:28
4 – Fire In The House – 4:09
5 – Heaven’s On My Mind – 4:15
6 – Let’s Talk About Love – 4:48
7 – Right In The Middle – 4:43
8 – Colour Of Love – 4:35
9 – Missionary – 4:39
10 – Stranger – 4:47

Credits
Art Direction – Tony Thigpen
Art Direction, Layout – Jeff Spencer
Bass Guitar – Jon
Bass, Engineer [Assistant] – Steve Evetts
Drums – Adam
Edited By [Digital Editing] – Alan Douches
Engineer [Assistant Mix Engineer] – Graig White
Engineer [Pre-Production Engineer] – Shawn Tom
Executive-Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar – Derek
Keyboards, Backing Vocals – Plinky
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards – Jonathan
Mastered By – Denny Purcell
Photography [Band Photography] – Russ Narrington
Producer, Recorded By [Assistant], Mixed By [Assistant] – Jonathan
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Plinky

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Trax East
Overdubbed At – Allies Studio
Mixed At – Sound Stage Studios
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters

Ron Collins – Simple Man – 1992

In the mid eighties there was a CCM band called Twenty Twenty. They had 2 albums and though not the biggest name in CCM music they were very good and had a pretty good following. I’d say almost a cult following but I hate using the word cult in connection with Christian music. The lead singer of that band was Ron Collins and in 1992 he reappeared with this album. Ron was joined by what was essentially David and the Giants and the album was released on their label, Giant Record. It is a very good album with a very strong 80’s pop sound but I think the sound might have been a little late for 1992 but what do I know. It’s 2020 as I write this and I love it.

Tracklist
1 – Run The Race – 4:41
2 – All I Know – 4:01
3 – Beautiful Day – 3:43
4 – There Is A Place – 4:07
5 – I’ll Never Stop – 4:03
6 – Sing For Freedom – 4:51
7 – Nothing But The Best – 4:22
8 – Where Do We Go From Here – 3:55
9 – Into Your Will – 4:07
10 – I Don’t Want To See You Fall Away – 4:11

Credits
Lead Vocals – Ron Collins
Keyboards, Harmonica – Rayborn Huff
Percussion, Drums – Lance Huff
Bass – Clayborn Huff
Guitars – David Huff
Keyboards – Nate Sabin
Producer – David Huff

Allies – Man With A Mission – 1992

The final album from Allies was a very confusing album. The intro track “In My Life” almost has a 60’s feel. Then we get to a couple of Rockin tunes which are some of the best CCM songs available in 1992. Both “Man With A Mission” and “Feather In Your Cap” are excellent Rock tunes with a blues feel. From there however the album starts to go downhill. Actually it might be uphill depending on what you were looking for when listening to this album. After the first 3 tracks the album takes a turn to AOR and even makes it to straight out easy listening at times. I guess the album is good in that it can appeal to such a diverse audience. That said it’s a good album but just a little confusing.

Tracklist
1 – In My Life – 3:28
2 – Man With A Mission – 3:57
3 – Feather In Your Cap – 4:55
4 – Grand Facade – 4:18
5 – Devoted To You – 5:24
6 – The Deepest Part Of Me – 3:23
7 – Heaven – 6:32
8 – Just Like A Father To Me – 3:31
9 – I’m Crying – 4:40
10 – Last Chance Cafe – 6:05

Credits
Art Direction – Amy Linde, Ed Goble
Bass, Vocals – Mark Hill (2)
Design – Tufts Design Studio
Drums, Percussion, Programmed By [Programming] – “Shoeless” Brian Fullen*
Edited By [Digital Editing] – Carlos Grier
Executive-Producer – Bubba Smith (2)
Guitar, Soloist [Guitar Solos], Vocals – Randy Thomas (2)
Keyboards, Vocals – Scott Sheriff
Lead Vocals – Randy Thomas (2) (tracks: 8)
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Guitar – Bob Carlisle (2)
Mastered By – Denny Purcell
Mixed By – Rodney Good
Mixed By [Assistant] – Steve Ledet
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer, Arranged By [Vocal & String Arrangements] – Bob Carlisle (2)
Producer, Recorded By – Randy Thomas (2)
Recorded By [Assistant] – Kirk Eberhard
Soloist [Solo Violin] – Chris Fullen (tracks: 9)
Vocals [Choir On] – Bob Carlisle (2) (tracks: 7), Dawn Thomas (4) (tracks: 7), Londell Ivan Alvestad (tracks: 7), Lori Cotton Thomas (tracks: 7), Scott Sheriff (tracks: 7)
Vocals [Co-Vocal] – Randy Thomas (2) (tracks: 6)

REZ Band – Twenty Years Live – 1992

Recorded Live in 1992 at Capernicus Centre in Chicago this album chronicles their hits from the previous 20 years. It is an excellent collection of the hits of the previous 20 years but of course the album can’t feature every hit from the previous 11 albums. The album is very well recorded and is a must have for your Rez collection.

Tracklist
1 – Waves – 2:49
2 – Military Man – 3:29
3 – Afrikaans – 3:02
4 – Attention – 3:47
5 – Colours – 3:36
6 – Players – 3:25
7 – The Struggle – 3:50
8 – Fiend Or Foul – 5:00
9 – Alienated – 2:00
10 – Paint A Picture – 4:26
11 – Wendi’s Rap – 4:43
12 – Right On Time – 5:10
13 – Love Comes Down – 3:25
14 – White Noise – 5:09
15 – My Jesus Is All – 4:42
16 – Lovespeak – 3:25
17 – In Your Arms – 3:36
18 – Bargain – 4:50
19 – Shadows – 4:47
20 – Somebody To Love – 2:50
21 – Every Time It Rains – 4:29
22 – Where Roses Grow – 9:12
23 – Light/Light – 4:00
24 – Glenn’s Rap – 5:56
25 – I Will Do My Last Singing – 4:27

Personnel
Guitar – Glenn Kaiser vocals
Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Keyboards, Guitar – Stu Heiss
Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy
Drums – John Herrin

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Grrr Records
Copyright (c) – Grrr Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded Live in 1992 at Capernicus Centre in Chicago