Modest Attraction Featured Christian Liljegren (Narnia) and Mick Nordstrom (Leviticus) and rose from the ashes of Swedish band Borderline. This album is actually their first 2 Demos put together. These may have been demos but the production is fantastic. Mick Nordström is credited with production and this was one of the first albums he produced and he nailed it. This was only released in Sweden until 2021 when Retroactive Records did a U.S. re-release so you may have missed this one. This is without a doubt one of my favourite Metal albums I’ve reviewed yet. Everyone knows that Metal is not my preferred genre but wow this album is just so good it doesn’t matter. If you like hard rock I think you’ll like this one as its well produced and the guitar is decipherable so give it a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Action – 3:30 2 – King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll – 3:47 3 – Get Ready! – 4:31 4 – Come On! – 4:08 5 – Unfailing Love – 3:25 6 – Be Your Child – 2:40 7 – Love Shot Me Down – 4:08 8 – Calm Before The Storm – 4:47 9 – Shake The World – 3:29 10 – Down On My Knees – 4:11
Credits Arranged By – Modest Attraction Artwork [Album Cover By] – Jonatan Samuelsson Bass, Vocals – Simeon Liljegren Drums, Keyboards [Keys], Vocals – Mick Nordström Engineer [Engineered By] – Mick Nordström, Peter Jingsäter Executive-Producer – Matthew B. Hunt Guitar [All Guitar Parts on Side A Played By] – Stefan Selvander Guitar [All Guitars] – Stephan Mohlin Layout, Design – Scott Waters Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Christian Liljegren Liner Notes – Christian Liljegren Producer [Produced By] – Mick Nordström
This is an interesting project from Randy but not for the music as much as for who was the band. Rob Watson and Tim Chandler from DA are here as well as Rick Elias and drums were handled by long time LA studio musician David Raven. That’s quite the band and you can hear all their influences through the album. This album has in my opinion some of Randy’s best writing though with so many albums that’s kind of a silly thing to say. Strangely the album didn’t have a CCM single but then again while Randy indeed did have CCM singles he had very few considering the volume of his work. The CCM charts never really supported Randy’s work.
Tracklist 1 – Wonderama – 6:20 2 – I Will Follow – 3:00 3 – Barbie Nation – 4:57 4 – Don’t Be Sad – 4:15 5 – Rachel Delevoryas – 3:19 6 – Intermission At The Wonderama – 1:05 7 – Great Big Stupid World – 5:47 8 – Sing In Portuguese – 4:05 9 – Mice & Men – 3:13 10 – The Lost Parade – 4:14 11 – Lantern In The Snow – 4:36 12 – Wonderama Postlude – 0:42
Credits Arranged By [Strings & Horn], Written-By [String & Horn Arrangements Written By], Conductor [String & Horn Arrangements Conducted By] – Rob Watson Art Direction [Art Director] – Roz Artwork, Design – Court Patton, Tom Gulotta Bass – Tim Chandler Drums – David Raven Guitar [Guitars] – Rick Elias Keyboards – Rob Watson Lead Vocals, Guitar [Guitars] – Randy Stonehill Concept By – Court Patton, Terry Taylor, Tom Gulotta Executive-Producer – Mark Maxwell, Ray Ware Mastered By – Steve Hall Photography By – Linda Krikorian, Nic Nacca Producer [Produced By], Directed By – Terry Taylor Recorded By – G. Eugene
I have to admit yet again that I was not a Michael W. Smith in the 80’s. But this album is a fantastic early 80’s keyboard oriented pop album. But that’s actually the problem with this album, It’s a great 80’s album but it came out in 1992. This is an ongoing problem with Michael as he did some really good stuff but he always seemed to be 5 years behind. But the good news is that I didn’t really care for 90’s music so I get to enjoy this album just as it is. As per normal the album was great success on the CCM charts with 2 top 10 singles, “Give It Away” made it to #1 and “I Will Be Here For You” to #2.
Tracklist 1 – Picture Perfect – 4:06 2 – Love One Another – 4:51 3 – I Will Be Here For You – 4:32 4 – Color Blind – 5:37 5 – Somewhere Somehow – 4:17 6 – Cross Of Gold – 4:32 7 – Out Of This World – 4:23 8 – Somebody Love Me – 4:19 9 – Give It Away – 5:04 10 – I Wanna Tell The World – 4:26 11 – Friends – 4:39
Credits Arranged By [Horns] – Chris McDonald, Jerry Hey Arranged By [Strings], Conductor – Ronn Huff Art Direction – Janet Wolsborn Backing Vocals – Angelo & Veronica Choir – Christ Church Choir, Music City Mass Choir Concertmaster, Contractor – Carl Gorodetzky Creative Director – Robin Sloane Directed By – Landy & Joy Gardner, Reverend Lawrence Thomison Executive Producer – Michael Blanton Management – Blanton/Harrell, Inc. Mixed By – Humberto Gatica Mixed By [Assisted] – Alejandro Rodriguez Photography By – Timothy White Producer – Mark Heimermann, Michael W. Smith Recorded By [Horns] – Humberto Gatica Recorded By [Strings] – Brent King Strings – The Nashville String Machine
I figured I would introduce this album by quoting Mylons statement about the album. “FROM 1980 TO 1990 “BROKEN HEART” AND I RELEASED 10 ALBUMS, SOLD A MILLION RECORDS, AND TRAVELLED A MILLION MILES WORLDWIDE LEADING OVER 180.000 IN DECISIONS FOR CHRIST. BUT IN 1991. THE ORIGINAL MINISTRY VISION THAT GOD GAVE US HAD BEEN COMPLETED. AT THAT POINT OUR LIVES HAD BECOME OUT OF BALANCE BECAUSE WE WERE SPENDING MORE TIME MAKING HIM KNOWN THAN KNOWING HIM. SO WE TOOK A YEAR TO SEEK GOD AND COMMIT TO KNOWING HIM ABOVE ALL ELSE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES. I NEEDED TO HEAR HIS VOICE CLEARLY AND NEEDED TO RECEIVE MY INSTRUCTIONS. I NEEDED A FRESH VISION AND DIRECTION FROM THE LORD, AND AS I GOT QUIET, GOD MET WITH ME IN AN INCREDIBLE NEW WAY. THE RESULTS OF THAT SABBATICAL ARE THESE 11 SONGS WE CALL FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE. THIS ALBUM IS THE REFLECTION OF THE CHANGES GOD MADE IN ME, MY FAMILY, AND MY BAND BY THE PROMISES AND PROVISIONS IN HIS WORD. THESE SONGS SIMPLY TESTIFY TO GOD’S POWER, LOVE, AND FAITHFULNESS TO US. PRAISE GOD FOR THE VICTORY WE HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS. HE IS LORD! I FEEL LIKE A NEW MAN AND I THANK GOD FOR THIS NEW DIRECTION, NEW FRIENDS. NEW MUSIC, AND HIS FRESH NEW ANOINTING. IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR. LOVE, MYLON”
Well there it is, now we know why this album exists. First lets talk about the positives of this album. It had 4 singles on the CCM charts, “Invincible Love” went to #1, “Closer Than A Friend” also made it to #1, “Give Thanks” made it to #6, and “Faithful” made it to #29. That’s actually pretty good. Any album with 2 #1 singles is a huge success. Now the downside. If you look at the album cover that indicates where were headed with this album. It is certainly not the Mylon that we were more accustomed to but instead a pretty AOR oriented album. Strangely it was also the end of his albums until 2003. Mylon however stayed very active. To quote Wikipedia “LeFevre increasingly turned to preaching and teaching as his vocation. He and his wife Christi minister in about 75 churches a year. He has also spoken at motorcycle rallies, NASCAR owner/driver chapel services, NFL and NBA chapel services, and in Russia, Australia, Canada, the Philippines, the Cayman Islands, and Mexico.” Bottom line this is a pretty mellow album for Mylon but if you want to hear a little of the Mylon we all loved check out “Callin’ Down Fire” which is easily the best track on the album.
Tracklist 1 – Invincible Love – 5:05 2 – The Name Of The Lord – 4:12 3 – Holy Is The Lord – 3:37 4 – The Power Of Love – 3:40 5 – Don’t Say It’s Over – 4:10 6 – Give Thanks – 3:58 7 – Closer Than A Friend – 4:59 8 – Humble Yourself – 3:55 9 – Masterpeace – 4:47 10 – Callin’ Down Fire – 4:08 11 – Faithful – 4:59
Credits Bass – Anthony Sallee, Joe Hardy Bass, Vocals – Paul Chapman Creative Director – Toni Thigpen Design, Layout – Jackson Design Drums – Ben Hewitt, Liberty DeVitto Drums, Vocals – Tony Miller Edited By [Digital], Mixed By [Mixing Coordination] – Leland Bennett Engineer – Dave Wagner, Scott Allen Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Sal Oliveri, Skip Benicky Executive-Producer – Jeff Moseley, Stan Moser Guitar – Joe Hardy, Steven Curtis Chapman Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle – Ricky Skaggs Guitar, Vocals – Scott Allen, Skip Benicky Keyboards, Vocals – Sal Oliveri Liner Notes – Mylon LeFevre Mastered By – Doug Sax Mixed By – Win Kutz Percussion – Carlos Jorge Photography By [Photo Of Mylon LeFevre] – Russ Harrington Producer – Mylon LeFevre, Scott Allen Programmed By [Additional Programming] – Ben Hewitt, Cheryl Rogers, Joe Hardy, Joey Holder, Larry Rust, Rick Crow, Sal Oliveri, Scott Allen Saxophone – Todd Nystrom Vocals – 4Him, Carman, Dez Dickerson, Kenneth Bentley, Larry Rust, Michael English, Michael Gleason, Michael W. Smith, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman
This is David’s third solo album and he is still mellowing out at this point but not in a bad way. Yes I generally lean towards liking harder Rock album but this is a great album. It’s a solid Pop album that some say is AOR but it leans Pop for me. The album has 3 acoustic tracks which I think are really well done. While they aren’t really my style they are very well done and we can really appreciate David’s vocals on these tracks. Interestingly Aussie Randall Waller stepped in and assisted David with the production on the album.
Tracklist 1 – Find My Way – 4:03 2 – To The Heavens – 4:15 3 – Carousel – 4:14 4 – Silas And Serai – 5:15 5 – In A Box – 4:05 6 – Attitude – 3:56 7 – Calling Out To Me – 4:47 8 – Surrender Absolute – 3:56 9 – Every Little Thing – 4:17 10 – No Long Goodbyes – 4:58
Credits Art Direction, Design – Brian Godawa Co-producer [Production Assistance], Engineer [Assistant] – Randall Waller Engineer – David Zaffiro Executive-Producer, A&R – Matthew Duffy Mastered By – Ron McMaster Photography By – Joe Potter, Mark Wilkins, Susan Waller Producer – David Zaffiro
To say this was a successful album is an understatement as it had 2 #1 hits and 4 #2 hits. Yet it did not get a Grammy or Dove award nomination. Until the end of time I will never ever understand the Christian Music industry. When 60% of an album goes to #2 or #1 it obviously should have been in the running. Furthermore the best track on the album, “Five Smooth Stones”, a duet with Crystal Lewis, wasn’t even released as a single. I am again left speechless by the industry. Anyway, the album has a few tracks where we get to hear that big band sound that Bryan loved and perfected and other than that we have some very solid pop tracks. I feel the album leans a little more to the ballads than his previous ones but it’s not a problem. This is a great album and several tracks are on my regular rotation.
Tracklist 1 – Mercy Me (Love Is My Responsibility) – 3:17 2 – Step By Step – 4:41 3 – Into My Heart – 3:55 4 – You Don’t Leave Me Lonely – 3:59 5 – When It Comes To Love – 5:58 6 – Looks A Lot Like Me – 3:45 7 – Love Takes Time – 3:51 8 – Faithful To You – 5:04 9 – I’ll Not Forget You – 4:27 10 – Five Smooth Stones – 3:31
Credits Arranged By, Keyboards [Arranged By] – Michael Omartian, Peter Wolf, Robbie Buchanan Art Direction – Diana Barnes Backing Vocals – Alexis England, Darrell Brown, David Pack, David Robertson, Diana DeWitt, Gene Miller, Leslie Smith, Suzie Benson, Tom Burns Bass – Neil Stubenhaus Brass – Bill Reichenbach, Dan Higgins, Gary Grant, Jerry Hey Design – Larry Vigon, Rowena Rivera Curtis Drums – John Robinson Engineer – Mike Mierau Engineer [2nd] – Slamm Andrews Engineer [Additional] – Al Phillips, Paul Erickson, Terry Christian Guitar – Glenn Pearce, Paul Jackson Jr. Mastered By – Steve Hall Mixed By – Daren Klein Organ [B-3], Keyboards [Additional] – Alan Pasqua Percussion – Mike Fisher Photography By – Denise Milford Producer – Dan Posthuma
This is the fifth studio album from the guys. Strangely it’s also the last one that founding member Mike Pendleton and guitarist Brent Gordon are on. Nothing has ever been officially said about their departures but to quote Roger Rose, “they didn’t really quit the band–they kinda quit and got fired all at the same time.” Anyway that aside this album continues there new Rock/Grunge style we were introduced to on their previous album. It’s not as good as their previous album which I found kind of odd as I thought they would be perfecting this sound but it’s still a pretty darn good album and if you really like this style of music this is probably still in the 10 of this style.
Tracklist 1 – That Lonesome Road – 4:27 2 – Trapped – 3:44 3 – Lost In The Forest – 3:35 4 – If I Lose My Way – 3:31 5 – Always Be My Love – 4:08 6 – M.A.T.W. (Reprise) – 4:22 7 – Alone – 5:45 8 – I’ve Got A Heaven – 4:25 9 – I’ll Never Go Back There – 3:54 10 – If I Can Dream – 2:53
Credits Art Direction – Brian Godawa Bass – Mike Pendelton Cover – Brent Gordon Design – Brian Godawa Drums – Randy Rose Guitar – Roger Rose Lead Guitar – Brent Gordon Lyrics By – Roger Rose Photography By – Patrick House Producer – Roger Rose Rhythm Guitar – Brent Gordon Vocals – Mike Pendelton, Randy Rose, Roger Rose
This is Twila’s 1992 compilation album. I really think she might hold the record for her amount of compilation albums. The album did contain two new tracks including the title track that was a charting single. I have indicated the original album for all the tracks below.
1 – A Heart That Knows You – New Track 2 – Destiny – New Track 3 – How Beautiful – Cry For The Desert – 1990 4 – I See You Standing – Cry For The Desert – 1990 5 – Every Heart That Is Breaking – For Every Heart – 1988 6 – Prince Of Peace – Same Girl – 1987 7 – Wandering Pilgrim – It’s The Thought… – 1989 8 – Runner – Kingdom Seekers – 1986 9 – The Warrior Is A Child – The Warrior Is A Child – 1984 10 – Holy Is The Lamb – From Dick Tunney album Twila Paris Piano Classics 11 – Sweet Victory – For Every Heart – 1988 12 – True Friend – For Every Heart – 1988 13 – Bonded Together – Same Girl – 1987 14 – Release Of The Spirit/He Is Exalted – Kingdom Seekers – 1985 15 – Lamb Of God – Kingdom Seekers – 1985 16 – Do I Trust You Medley – The Warrior Is A Child – 1984
Tracklist 1 – A Heart That Knows You – 4:41 2 – Destiny – 5:12 3 – How Beautiful – 4:42 4 – I See You Standing – 4:05 5 – Every Heart That Is Breaking – 4:12 6 – Prince Of Peace – 4:37 7 – Wandering Pilgrim – 4:06 8 – Runner – 4:04 9 – The Warrior Is A Child – 4:09 10 – Holy Is The Lamb – 3:26 11 – Sweet Victory – 4:29 12 – True Friend – 3:00 13 – Bonded Together – 4:59 14 – Release Of The Spirit/He Is Exalted – 5:59 15 – Lamb Of God – 4:11 16 – Do I Trust You Medley – 5:50
Credits Art Direction – Buddy Jackson, Toni Thigpen Design – S.Combs Executive-Producer – Darrell A. Harris, Jack Wright Mastered By – Doug Sax Photography By – Mark Tucker
Two Hearts are the husband and wife team of Michael Hodge and Carrie McDowell. Michael was a very talented studio musician and Carrie had released an album on Motown records in 1987 and actually had a top 40 hit with “Uh Uh, No, No Casual Sex”. Carrie next showed up in 1989 on a Maranatha! Music sampler with a fantastic cover version of Randy Stonehill’s “Shut De Do” which was the song that started my hunt to learn more about her. This is a solid pop album and Carrie handles most the vocal work and Michael mainly handles the guitar work but does supply some vocals. Definitely well worth a listen if you missed it back in the 90’s.
Tracklist 1 – Hold On Me – 4:03 2 – Celebrate New Life – 3:54 3 – Stand Your Ground – 4:06 4 – Holy Fire – 3:38 5 – Miracles – 3:33 6 – Promise Me Tonight – 4:40 7 – Are You Ready? – 3:29 8 – Heaven Help Me – 3:40 9 – Teach Me How – 3:25 10 – Heaven Help Me (Instrumental Mix) – 2:23
Credits Art Direction – Buddy Jackson Backing Vocals – Carrie Hodge, Cris Willis, Guy Penrod, Michael Hodge, Robert Street, Vicky Hampton, Yvonne Hodges Bass, Drums, Keyboards – Brian Tankersley Creative Director – Toni Thigpen Design – L. Franke Executive-Producer – Jeff Moseley Guitar, Vocals – Michael Hodge Keyboards [Additional] – Bo Cooper, Don Koch, John Andrew Schreiner, Michael James, Paul Mills, Phil Kristianson Lead Vocals – Carrie Hodge Mastered By – Hank Williams Photography By – Mark Tucker Producer – Brian Tankersley Recorded By, Mixed By – Brian Tankersley
I really Can’t find much about The Brave other than they formed in 1991 in Lancaster, California. I do know that they came to the attention of John and Dino Elefante over at Pakaderm Records. This album is the result of their work together and what an album it is. I often struggle with the line between hard rock and metal and this album really dances that line for me. In the end I say it’s hard rock and is one of the best hard rock albums I’ve heard in CCM. The album has 10 solid rock tracks with two remixes thrown in as bonus material. Judging from the bonus tracks I am assuming they felt the singles were “All Together Now” and “Running All My Life”. Personally I think “Little Love” is the single of the album as the intro guitar rifts get you ready for a great song which doesn’t disappoint. All that said here’s the problem with the album. It was released in 1992 and that was right at the tail end of this style. After this much harder metal became more popular and this arena rock style just didn’t fit. Lucky for us it’s years later and we can just enjoy the album as a great hard rock album.
Tracklist 1 – All Together Now – 4:28 2 – The Waiting – 4:33 3 – If That Ain’t Love – 4:59 4 – Running All My Life – 4:45 5 – Tears Of A Broken Heart – 4:31 6 – Little Love – 4:27 7 – Never Live Without Your Love – 4:38 8 – Big World – 4:23 9 – Ride With The Rythm – 3:53 10 – Just A Man – 4:42 11 – All Together Now (Studio Mix) – 4:28 12 – Running All My Life (Studio Mix) – 4:44
Credits Backing Vocals [Additional] – Doug Beiden, Jeff Gunn Bass – Malcolm Paris Design, Art Direction – Terry DeGraff Drums – Randy Roberts Drums [Additional], Percussion [Additional] – Dave Raven Engineer – Dino Elefante, Doug Beiden, J.R. McNeely, John Elefante Engineer [Assistant] – Chuck Swindoll Jr. Guitar – Freddie Tierra, Stayce Roberts Guitar [Additional], Bass [Additional] – J.R. McNeely Guitar [Solo, Guest] – Tony Palacios Lead Vocals – James Salters Mastered By – Chris Bellman Mixed By – Neil Kernon Photography By – Patrick House Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante Vocals – Freddie Tierra, Malcolm Paris, Randy Roberts, Stayce Roberts Written-By, Arranged By – Brandon Starr, Dino Elefante, Ian Sabretti, Jean-Luc Lajoie, John Elefante, The Brave
