Tag: 1994

Mortification – Break The Curse 1990 – 1994

This album is partially a rerelease of the 1990 Lightforce demo Break The Curse. It includes 4 other tracks from the period as well as a bonus track. I read a few reviews of this album and it appears to have been well received. One of the stranger things I read said “The album focuses on Mortification’s thrash metal style rather than their later death metal.” I have to be completely honest and say that I don’t even really know the difference. In fact I just have no knowledge of this genre at all. I can definitely hear some talent on this album especially the guitar work of Cameron Hall. I read the lyrics are pretty good too but unfortunately my ears are just not tuned to this style of music. Anyway the album is well liked by people who like this style so if you are a thrash kind of person this is one you should give a listen to.

Tracklist
1 – Blood Sacrifice – 3:35
2 – Brutal Warfare – 4:02
3 – Impulsation – 4:29
4 – Turn – 0:57
5 – New Beginning – 2:37
6 – Break The Curse – 2:38
7 – Illusion Of Life – 4:56
8 – Your Last Breath – 3:24
9 – Journey Of Reconciliation – 4:27
10 – The Majestic Infiltration Of Order – 1:08
11 – Butchered Mutilation (Bonus Track Recorded 1993) – 4:46

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Steve Rowe
Drums – Jayson Sherlock
Executive-Producer – Markus Staiger
Guitar – Cameron Hall
Producer, Engineer, Remastered By – Doug Saunders

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – SPV GmbH – CD 077-140832
Pressed By – Pilz Compact Disc – K 40303 A
Remastered At – Toybox Studios
Recorded At – Timbertop Studios

Sleepy Ray – Under The Mighty Blood – 1994

Sleepy Ray has an interesting back story. His parents were only 15 years old when he was born and as a result he grew up in a relatively impoverished home. But growing up Ray says he knew he wanted to be a preacher at the age of 6. He dedicated his life to the church at age 10. He did however struggle with the usual teenager musician stuff and was actually caught with drugs in high school. He actually met Chris Lizotte in music school in California in his early 20’s and performed with him in the LA area. This is his first album and what an album it is. While for the main part it’s a blues rock album the track “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout” is a fantastic Stevie Ray Vaughan style track and easily the best track on the album. I’m looking forward to his second album as this one is definitely in my top 50 albums.

Tracklist
1 – Station To Station – 4:08
2 – Love That’s Really Real – 5:01
3 – Cloud Rollin’ In – 4:16
4 – Magi’s Lead – 4:33
5 – Greatest Of These – 4:05
6 – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout It – 3:22
7 – Way Into The House – 4:00
8 – High Time – 3:12
9 – That You Are My Lord – 4:32
10 – Lord Rescue Me – 2:44
11 – Let It Flow – 3:13
12 – Dancin’ On A Heavenly Hill – II Samuel 6 – 5:33

Michael Been – On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakthrough – 1994

I have written extensively elsewhere regarding the sad and sudden death of Michael Been of The Call. He was a brilliant, amazing, passionate, powerful artist. His work with The Call will be discussed several times throughout this countdown and his impact on CCM and the music world at large cannot be overstated. The call was simply the most underrated band in history…period! Much hyperbole? Nope. He also created an amazing solo project here that unfortunately went overlooked both in mainstream and CCM circles. The lead track, Us, is so good, so very, very good, that if it was the good song on the whole album it would still make this list! But fortunately the entire album is filled with amazing and powerful tracks. I find the album to be “heavier” than the albums by The Call, but still just as passionate, melodic and poignant. It’s also just as spiritual, introspective and authentic. Been had this amazingly uncanny ability to make deep spiritual truths sound simple and not so “preachy” while stating very blatant and undeniable truths. To list the “highlights” I would simply just cut and paste the entire track list! This is most definitely an AYSO!

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

Tracklist
1 – Us – 3:48
2 – When You’re With Me – 4:48
3 – Nearly Fell – 3:55
4 – This World – 4:43
5 – In My Head – 5:02
6 – This Way – 6:59
7 – Luminous – 5:37
8 – She – 4:14
9 – Worried – 4:16
10 – For Your Love – 3:18
11 – Invitation – 3:57
12 – Now I Know High (Part 2) – 7:43
13 – To Feel This Way – 4:56
14 – To Feel This Way (2006 Remix) – 6:00

Credits
A&R – Hugo Burnham
Bass – Robert Been
Bass Guitar – Dave Allen
Drums – Hugo Burnham
Drums, Percussion – Scott Musick
Engineer – Joel Jaffe
Engineer [Additional] – Bruck Dawit
Engineer [Assistant] – Alfred Brand, Larry Brewer
Guitar – Tom Ferrier
Guitar, Drums [Additional], Vocals – Ralph Patlan
Lead Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboards – Michael Been
Mastered By – Bernie Grundman
Mixed By – Michael H. Brauer
Producer – David Z, Michael Been
Producer [Associate] – Ralph Patlan
Vocals – Eli Braden

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Studio D, Sausalito, CA
Mixed At – Quad Recording Studios

Guardian – Swing Swang Swung – 1994

To say this album was not well received would be an understatement. Guardian had garnered a strong following of their Metal/Hard Rock sound. I really don’t understand what either the band or the Elefante brothers were thinking. I feel sorry for their fans thinking they were buying a hard rock album and they got this instead. Now it should be said the band were successful with this sound and had many more albums with what I assume were new fans of the band. Personally I don’t mind when a band evolves but in this case they changed not evolved. As for the album it’s actually pretty good as the band avoided the grunge sound that was becoming popular but instead went with a pop sound. As I was never a fan of either of the bands styles I can enjoy both sounds equally but wow, it really was a slap in the face to their hard rock roots.

Tracklist
1 – The Way Home Back – 4:31
2 – Endless Summer – 4:32
3 – C’mon Everyone – 4:48
4 – Like The Sun – 5:19
5 – Rich Man Over The Line – 4:03
6 – Your Love – 4:47
7 – Don’t Say That It’s Over – 4:47
8 – See You In Heaven – 4:39
9 – Let The Whole World – 5:02
10 – Preacher And The Bear – 3:15
11 – Still On My Mind – 3:45
12 – Why Don’t We – 1:28

Credits
A&R – Mark Maxwell
Arranged By, Directed By – Tom Howard
Art Direction, Design – Diana Barnes
Band [Guardian Is], Bass, Vocals – David Bach
Band [Guardian Is], Drums, Vocals – Karl Ney
Band [Guardian Is], Guitar, Vocals – Tony Palacios
Band [Guardian Is], Lead Vocals – Jamie Rowe
Bass [Additional], Guitar [Additional Nashville Guitar] – J.R. McNeely
Clarinet – Matt Davich
Design – David Bach
Drums [Additional] – Jon Knox
Drums [Additional], Mellotron, Keyboards [Assorted Digital Claviers] – John Elefante
Engineer, Mixed By – J.R. McNeely
Management – Marc Whitmore
Mastered By – Ken Love
Photography By – Michael Wilson
Piano – Michael W. Smith
Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Strings – The Nashville String Machine
Trombone – Bill Huber
Trumpet – David Balph

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Myrrh
Copyright © – Myrrh
Engineered At – The Snack Bar
Mixed At – Sound Kitchen
Mastered At – Mastermix
Distributed By – Nelson/Word
Distributed By – Nelson/Word, UK
Manufactured By – JVC
Published By – Dayspring Music
Published By – Straggletoons Music

Kid Promise – My Generation – 1994

When the band Seraiah shut down Quinton Gibson and Bradley Beckey formed the band Kid Promise. Now if you are expecting a metal album like Seraiah you’ll be disappointed because this is a pop rock album. In fact it’s a very good pop rock album. Unfortunately this was a one album project and the band went separate way with Quinton working in the industry on several more projects but Bradley appears to have retired and moved on from the industry. This is actually a great pop rock album and probably should have done much better but history said otherwise.

Tracklist
1 – Groove – 4:45
2 – Two Hearts One Love – 4:16
3 – Neverending Love – 4:54
4 – First Time We Met – 4:50
5 – This Time – 4:21
6 – My Generation – 5:36
7 – Whatever It Takes – 5:12
8 – Come Home – 4:28
9 – What Do We Call Love – 3:59
10 – Your Love Is Real – 4:26
11 – Heal Me – 5:17

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Jimmy Abegg
Backing Vocals – Murray
Band, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Quinton Gibson
Band, Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar – Bradley Beckey
Creative Director – A. Dawn Allen
Executive Producer – Dez Dickerson
Layout, Design – Nosegrind Creative
Mastered By – Hank Williams
Mixed By, Backing Vocals, Sounds, Loops, Keyboards – Dave Frank
Photography – Jeff Frazier
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By, Programmed By – Steve Griffith

Companies, etc.
Produced At – Gaga Productions
Mastered At – Mastermix

Undercover – Forum – 1994

I was considering saying that this album was the real end to Undercover but I’m pretty sure their fans will eviscerate me. That said I actually like this album so my statement is more historical that commentary. For this album Rob Gallas took over lead vocals from Sim Wilson who left the band. Though I read several reviews that did not like his vocals I thought they were okay. Not as good as Wilson but still pretty good. Anyway I can see that I liked this album much more than the critics. I really like the style and feel of the album. I think Rob’s vocals were a great sound for them. But the album didn’t do well and their label was in trouble so this would mark the end of an era. Yes I know there were more albums but I think this is the one that marked the end.

Tracklist
1 – Spill – 4:41
2 – The Moon And The Blue Around – 5:19
3 – Forum (Lullaby) – 7:32
4 – Symbol – 4:36
5 – Carmenita – 3:44
6 – Whoa Nelly – 4:09
7 – Pocket Full Of Money – 4:34
8 – The Overlook (Hosanna) – 3:45
9 – (Tell Me) Everything About You – 4:00
10 – Union – 4:55

Credits
Art Direction, Design – Darin Beaman
Band [Undercover], Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Gym Nicholson
Band [Undercover], Bass, Organ, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Keyboards – Ojo Taylor
Band [With], Vocals – Rob Gallas
Executive-Producer – Gene Eugene, Ojo Taylor
Mastered By – Chris Bellman
Mixed By – Gene Eugene
Photography By – Mark Takeuchi
Producer [Produced By], Arranged By – Ojo Taylor
Recorded By – Gene Eugene, Ojo Taylor

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – WAL
Copyright © – WAL
Record Company – Word Records & Music
Recorded At – The Green Room
Mixed At – The Mixing Lab
Mixed At – Desert Moon
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering
Manufactured By – JVC
Published By – PU Music
Published By – My Devotion Music
Published By – Dayspring Music

Daniel Amos – BibleLand – 1994

At this point Daniel Amos had album writing down to a science. Wikipedia states “The album is unusual for its loud, distorted noise pop sound, atypical of the band’s other recordings.” Really? All I hear is a typical DA album. I don’t hear any sound I haven’t heard from them before. Maybe I’m wrong though as I have a much more simple view of music and don’t get into small nuances like whomever wrote that Wikipedia entry. Anyway it’s a great album and while I may disagree with the message of the title track I don’t have to agree with Terry Taylor on everything.

Tracklist
1 – Broken Ladders To Glory – 4:05
2 – Bibleland – 2:56
3 – Theo’s Logic – 3:21
4 – Low Crawls And High Times – 3:41
5 – Bakersfield – 6:20
6 – Out In The Cold – 5:03
7 – The Bubble Bursts – 4:16
8 – Pete And Repeat – 4:11
9 – Constance Of The Universe – 4:09
10 – I’ll Get Over It – 4:39
11 – She’s Working Here – 4:16
12 – Stone Away – 4:48

Credits
Art Direction, Design, Photography By, Computer [Digital Chicanery, etc.] – Court Patton, Tom Gulotta
Bass – Tim Chandler
Drums – Ed McTaggart
Engineer [Engineered By] – Gene Eugene, Terry Taylor
Executive-Producer – Gene Eugene, Ojo Taylor
Film Technician [Scanning, Color Proofing & Film Output] – Ed McTaggart
Guitar – Greg Flesch, Jerry Chamberlain
Illustration – Douglas TenNapel
Mastered By – Doug Doyle
Mixed By – Gene Eugene
Photography By [Band Photo] – Trisha Kluck
Producer [Produced By] – Terry Taylor
Vocals, Guitar – Terry Taylor

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – WAL
Copyright © – WAL
Produced For – Stunt Productions
Recorded At – The Green Room
Mixed At – Mixing Lab A
Mixed At – The Green Room
Mastered At – Digital Brothers
Published By – Twitchen Vibes Music
Published By – B-1 Music
Published By – Chenka, Chenka Music
Published By – Word Music
Manufactured By – JVC

The Strawmen – At Home – 1994/1996

So The Strawmen are/were a version of The 77s or at least that’s the traditional view. Whether you consider them that way or not is up to you. The band is/was Mark Harmon and Dave Leonhardt, the bass player and rhythm guitarist for The 77s. They were joined by Mark’s brother Bill on Guitar. It has been reported that this album gave a spark to Mike Roe and Aaron Smith to get the band back together with Mark and Dave. As such this album is kind of held out as a 77s album by a lot of people. Several of the tracks were subsequently re-recorded for the 77s album “Pray Naked”. Bottom line is that you are a 77s fan then this album is a must listen to as it was pivotal in the 77s history in the mid 90’s. The original CD Release had 13 tracks. The 1996 re-release only had 11 of those original tracks but had 4 bonus tracks. Our release here has all of the tracks for a total of 17.

Tracklist
1 – Sometimes – 3:53
2 – Phony Eyes – 4:55
3 – Deep End – 3:49
4 – Come Back – 3:31
5 – Rattles – 3:42
6 – Hard To Say – 4:21
7 – Rant & Rave – 4:11
8 – Hate’m – 4:01
9 – Sometimes (Vocal Mix) – 3:10
10 – Let Love Live – 3:24
11 – The Chop – 3:24
12 – Holy Hold – 3:45
13 – Raging Tomb – 6:23
14 – Talk To Me – 3:48
15 – Ray Of Hope – 3:49
16 – Pick Up The Pieces – 4:26
17 – If We’re So Innocent – 4:00

Credits
Artwork [Cover Art By] – Jimmy Abegg
Bass, Programmed By [Programming], Backing Vocals – Mark Harmon
Guitar [Guitars], Backing Vocals – David Leonhardt
Lead Vocals, Guitar [Guitars], Backing Vocals – Bill Harmon
Liner Notes – Bill Harmon
Written-By [All Songs By] – Strawmen

Companies, etc.
Copyright © – Fools Of The World
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Fools Of The World
Glass Mastered At – DADC – DIDX-021258

Bryan Duncan – Slow Revival – 1994

Slow Revival is the seventh album from Bryan Duncan. This one made it to #5 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Christian chart and had 3 #1 CCM chart hits. “Traces Of Heaven”, “Things Are Gonna Change”, and “United We Stand”. “Don’t Look Away” also made it to #3. 4 top 10 singles on one album is quite the achievement. It was also nominated in the Best Contemporary Album category at the 26th GMA Dove Awards but bizarrely lost out to Take 6. Having listened to both albums now I have no idea how the Dove’s came to that conclusion but whatever. Brian followed up the album with a tour and several people have written that this may have been his best tour.

Tracklist
1 – A Heavenly Light – 4:28
2 – United We Stand – 4:13
3 – Don’t Look Away – 4:32
4 – Your Love, My Saving Grace – 5:17
5 – Traces Of Heaven – 4:53
6 – My House – 4:17
7 – Lonely Tonight – 4:33
8 – Things Are Gonna Change – 5:43
9 – Wheels Of A Good Thing – 3:35
10 – Safe Harbor – 5:08

Credits
Arranged By – Michael Omartian, Peter Wolf, Robbie Buchanan
Arranged By [Strings] – John Darnall
Art Direction – Diana Barnes
Backing Vocals – Ann Bailey, Carol Perry, Dan Posthuma, Darrell Brown, David Pack, Lori Perry, Sharon Perry, Shawn Murphy, Tony Gillis
Bass – Cedric Lee, John Peano, Neil Stubenhaus
Co-producer – Michael Omartian
Design – Franke Design Company
Drums, Percussion – Carlos Vega, Curt Bisquera, Eric Darken, John Robinson, Steve Latanation
Engineer – Mike Mierau
Engineer [Additional] – Aaron Swihart, Anthony Thomas, Bert Stevens, Bryan Davis, Dan Garcia, Doug Bieden, Doug Sarrett, Paul Erickson, Ross Pallone, S. Husky Hoskulds, Terry Christian
Executive-Producer – Ray Ware
Guest, Vocals – Anointed
Guitar – Dann Huff, Gary Chapman
Keyboards [Additional] – Alan Pasqua, Randy Lee
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – Bill Schnee
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Alan Pasqua
Photography By – F. Scott Schafer
Producer – Dan Posthuma
Saxophone – David Lhebo
Strings – The Nashville String Machine
Technician – Eric Slaughter
Trombone – Dennis Good

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Myrrh
Copyright © – Myrrh
Manufactured By – Word Records & Music
Distributed By – Word Records & Music
Manufactured By – Nelson Word
Distributed By – Nelson Word
Manufactured By – Nelson/Word, UK
Distributed By – Nelson/Word, UK
Manufactured By – JVC
Recorded At – Embassy Studios, Simi Valley, CA
Recorded At – Tejas Recorders
Recorded At – Bunny Hop Studios
Recorded At – The Shelter Studio
Recorded At – Hollywood Sound Recorders
Recorded At – Studio 3319
Recorded At – OmniSound Studios
Recorded At – Quad Studios
Recorded At – Pack’s Place
Mixed At – Bill Schnee Studios
Mastered At – Gateway Mastering
Glass Mastered At – JVC

Michael Sweet – Michael Sweet – 1994

This was the first solo album from Michael after leaving Stryper in 1992. He actually had a demo in 1992 and a few tracks from it made it onto this album. I was really surprised when I first listened to this album. I was expecting something much heavier but this is a rock/pop album and a damn good one. I have criticized Stryper in the past as I think they rode the “we’re heavy metal” horse a little too much. But after listening to this album I think I might have been wrong. This album shows some real talent by Michael and quite frankly the songwriting is excellent. The album was produced by Gregg Fulkerson (Blue Tears) and he also wrote 4 of the tracks. He also provided some guitar and keyboard work. All in all this is a really good album and while I shied away from it at first I’m really happy I took the time to listen to it. There’s a few tracks here that are going into my regular rotation.

Tracklist
1 – Together – 4:10
2 – Take Me Home – 4:40
3 – Tomorrow, Tonight – 4:37
4 – All This And Heaven Too – 4:07
5 – Someday – 4:52
6 – J.E.S.U.S. – 4:27
7 – All I Wanna Do (Is Love You) – 4:06
8 – Forever Yours – 4:24
9 – I Think You Hear Me Knockin’ – 3:56
10 – Ain’t No Safe Way – 3:14

Credits
Art Direction – Connie Harrington
Artwork By [Hair] – Debbie Frayer
Artwork By [Make-up] – Kyle Sweet
Backing Vocals, Organ [Additional], Keyboards, Programmed By – Doug Beiden
Bass Guitar – Michael Spears
Co-producer – Doug Beiden
Design – The Riordon Design Group Inc.
Drums, Percussion – Jamie Wollam
Engineer, Mixed By – Doug Beiden
Executive-Producer – Troy J. VanLiere
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Lead Guitar, Programmed By – Michael Sweet
Management – Rendy Lovelady Artist Management
Mastered By – Chris Bellman
Photography By – Mark Tucker
Producer – Gregg Fulkerson, Michael Sweet
Rhythm Guitar, Organ, Keyboards, Backing Vocals, Programmed By [Additional Programming] – Gregg Fulkerson
Written-By – Gregg Fulkerson, Michael Sweet

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Copyright © – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Distributed By – Benson Music Group, Inc.
Distributed By – R.G. Mitchell Family Books, Inc.
Published By – LifeSong Music Press
Published By – Sweet Milena Music
Published By – Fulkersongs
Published By – Irving Music, Inc.
Published By – Could Be Music
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Pakaderm Studios
Recorded At – Sound Revolution
Mastered At – Bernie Grundman Mastering