Holy Soldier – Promise Man – 1995

While Metal is not my preferred music style I have grown to like it a little more and I was looking forward to hearing some good anthem rock from Holy Soldier on this album. Holy cow was I in for a surprise. Eric Wayne is back on vocals and some how the band decided it was a good idea to completely change their style. They decided to turn their back on all their fans and do a grunge album. To be clear while I struggle with liking Metal sometimes I don’t struggle with grunge at all. I hate it, period. I just wonder how all the Holy Soldier diehards reacted to getting a completely different style album. I also believe this was the downfall of the band. Yes they had one more album after this but it was a self release because I kind of doubt any record company wanted anything to do with them. I am a little surprised that Eddie Degarmo was an Executive Producer for the album. I strongly respect Ed but he should have known that completely changing styles was not a good idea. Okay lets mover onto the album. As much as I dislike grunge this is a well done album. They actually nailed the sound and did a good job of it. The one exception is the cover of Larry’s “Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus” which is just horrible. So were you a Holy Soldier fan? Did you like the new sound?

Tracklist
1 – Promise Man – 4:35
2 – Mumbo Jumbo – 4:33
3 – My World – 4:02
4 – Rust – 5:45
5 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus – 4:05
6 – Break It Down – 3:55
7 – Cover Me – 4:33
8 – Grind – 3:14
9 – Love Conquers All – 5:13
10 – Sand – 4:29

Credits
Bass – Andy Robbins
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Scott Soderstrom
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin – Michael Cutting
Engineer – Doug Beiden
Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Sean McLean
Executive-Producer – Dan R. Brock, Eddie Degarmo
Mastered By – Ken Love
Producer – David Zaffiro
Vocals – Eric Wayne
Written By – Andy Robbins, David Zaffiro, Eric Wayne, Michael Cutting, Scott Soderstrom

Companies, etc.
Marketed By – Alliance Music
Distributed By – Alliance Music
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.
Copyright © – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc.

Vector – Temptation – 1995

This was essentially the final album from Vector though they did do a reunion album in 2021. They continued their style of very light evangelical lyrics giving the album a low JPM like their previous work. It is pretty strong New Wave which was really falling out of favour by 1995 which is probably why it wasn’t a very popular album. That said I love New Wave so it was a nice treat for me in 1995. The CCM genre didn’t have very many good New Wave bands in my opinion but these guys were one of them.

Tracklist
1 – The Power of Love – 5:27
2 – It Comes Down to You – 5:04
3 – All I Need – 4:41
4 – When It All Stops – 4:47
5 – Watch Over Me – 4:49
6 – I Can’t Get Enough of You – 5:48
7 – Let It Slide – 4:53
8 – Mr. Color Wheel – 5:06
9 – Rhythm of Life – 4:58
10 – Temptation – 5:05
11 – Why Did We Wait So Long – 5:10
12 – 10,000 Wishes – 5:33
13 – My Own Eyes – 6:31
14 – She Won’t Say Goodbye – 4:18

Credits
Jimmy Abegg – Songwriter, Guitars, Mandolin, Vocals
Steve Brewster – Drums, Percussion, Loops
Dave Frank – Keyboards, Percussion, Background Vocals
Steve Griffith – Producer, Mixed, Songwriter, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Loops, Vocals
Phil Madeira – Hammond B3, Blues Guitar Solo
Stephen Murray – Background Vocals
Davia Vallesillo – Vocals

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Liquid Disc Records
Copyright © – Liquid Disc Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Gigantic Planet, Inc.
Copyright © – Gigantic Planet, Inc.
Distributed By – Diamante Music Group
Distributed By – CMC Distribution
Produced For – Gaga Productions (2)
Recorded At – Gaga Studios, Franklin TN
Mastered At – Mastermix
Published By – Gigantic Planet Music
Published By – Grilled Fish Music
Published By – Twin Angels Music
Pressed By – Disctronics USA – 130331

Daniel Amos – Songs Of The Heart – 1995

The story goes that the band while in their rehearsal hall saw an album hanging on the wall released in the early 1960s and entitled Songs of the Heart by Bob and Elsa Beckendorf. The album cover was a simple picture of the two artists. The concept was a trip down Route 66 with the couple they renamed as Bud & Irma Akendorf. They actually used the original album cover with their name as the artist. This is the concept of the album track;

Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You – We look back to the time when Bud first fell in love with Irma

The Glory Road – Bud, now retired, takes Irma on vacation

Get Into The Bus, Aloha – The Akendorf’s witness a strange occurence at a rest stop

Evangeline – The Akendorf’s get a surprise when they visit a Faith Healer our of curiosity

Uneasy Liews The Head Of The Confidence Man – Bud and Irma discuss faith and flim-flam

The Organ Bar – Meanwhile, in L.A., we encounter a mysterious stranger

Donna Nietche And Her Super Race Of Kick Boxing Uber Parrots – The mysterious stranger offers us a questionable proposition

Our Night To Howl, Time To Go Dancing – Bud gets frisky

Sins Of The Fathers – Back home, Bud has coffee at his favorite diner and is tempted to offer some words of wisdom

Turn This Off – Bud complains about today’s music and the state of the world

Loveland – Relieved to be back home, the Akendorf’s find a better view of the world from their love seat

When Everyone Wore Hats – The Akendorf’s reminisce

My Hand To God – The mysterious stranger reappears as Bud says his last goodbye to Irma

I’m not the biggest fan of concept albums as they always seem to concentrate too hard on the concept rather than the songs but if you’re a DA fan you’re gonna like this one anyway.

Love Song – Welcome Back – 1995

In 1994 a version of Love Song came together to rerecord some of their top songs from their 3 albums in the 70’s along with a couple that were previously unreleased. The versions recorded here are updated and for the main part better I think and it’s nice to here Keaggy’s guitar work on these updated versions too. For me the highlight of the album is a fantastic blues rendition of “Take No Chances” which was previously unreleased at this point in history. Keaggy’s guitar work on that track is just awesome.

Tracklist
1 – A Love Song – 2:38
2 – Little Country Church – 2:46
3 – Let Us Be One – 3:44
4 – Little Pilgrim – 4:59
5 – Two Hands – 3:51
6 – Freedom – 3:45
7 – Take No Chances – 7:17
8 – Feel The Love – 5:14
9 – Changes – 2:21
10 – Front Seat, Back Seat – 3:04
11 – The Cossack Song – 3:43
12 – And The Wind Was Low – 3:35
13 – Welcome Back – 4:44
14 – Jesus Puts The Song In Our Hearts – 6:02

Credits
Alex Acuna – Percussion
John Barbour – Vocals
Chuck Butler – Songwriter
Tommy Coomes – Producer, Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals
Denny Correll – Songwriter
Koji Egawa – Mixed
Fred Field – Songwriter, Violin, Mandolin, Vocals
Chuck Girard – Producer, Songwriter, Vocals
John Hendrickson – Engineer, Mixed
Hadley Hockensmith – Guitar
JB Baird – Engineer
Jesse Johnston – Songwriter
Phil Keaggy – Guitar
Alan Pasqua – Engineer, Keyboard
John Patitucci – Bass
Tim Pierce – Guitar
Jim Scheffler – Engineer
Bill Schnee – Mixed
Tom Stipe – Songwriter
Chris Taylor – Engineer
Jay Truax – Vocals
Ron Tutt – Drums
Bob Wall – Vocals

Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Mixed At – Bill Schnee Studios
Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
Recorded At – Bill Schnee Studios
Recorded At – Roman Foods Studio
Recorded At – Crossroads Studios, Santa Ana, CA
Recorded At – It’s All Music
Recorded At – The Salt Mine

Darrell Mansfield – Mansfield & Co. – 1995

I am a huge Darrell Mansfield fan so I rarely say anything negative about him. But I have heard one criticism that I have to somewhat agree with and it’s that Darrell’s albums started to become very repetitive. Darrell has tendency to go to the same songs over and over again and I understand that if you’re not a huge fan like I am it gets repetitive. Put that aside for a moment though and remember this album came out in 1995. Several of the tracks on this album would become regular tracks for him but this was the first time he released them. As such if you had heard this album for the first time in 1995 it would have been pretty amazing. Now even if you’re tired of hearing the same songs over and over again there is one track here that is a must listen. Willie Dixon’s Spoonful is a real treat and one we don’t hear Darrell do it often so it is a must listen to.

Tracklist
1 – Crossroads – 4:16
2 – Let’s Work Together – 3:19
3 – Heavy Load (Song For Jessica) – 5:36
4 – Flyin’ Free – 5:31
5 – The Mission – 4:31
6 – Boom Boom – 2:38
7 – Spoonful – 7:48
8 – Everybody’s Business – 3:45
9 – Starry Sea – 4:09
10 – He Has Overcome – 7:51

Credits
Backing Vocals – Jaymes Felix
Bass – Greg Chaisson
Engineer – Abe Senna, David Mansfield, Eric Smith, Jonathan Mansfield, Mark Uehlein
Engineer, Mixed By [Mix Down Engineering By] – Tim Lauber
Executive-Producer – Freddie Piro
Graphics – Atom Smith
Guitar – Craig Erickson, Eric Turner (tracks: 3, 5, 10)
Keyboards [Hammond B3 Keyboards] – Steve Wood
Percussion – Burleigh Drummond
Photography – Tom Ferguson
Piano – Rob Rinderer
Producer – Darrell Mansfield

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Ocean Records
Copyright © – Ocean Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded At – Ocean Studios
Recorded At – Mama Jo’s
Mixed At – Mama Jo’s

Breakfast With Amy – Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt – 1990/1995

Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt is the first studio album by Breakfast with Amy and was first released in 1990. I’m a little confused at the release of this album. The band claims it was an Independent release but I see it was released on Narrowpath Records which was a small but established label. Also strangely it was reissued in 1995 on Gray Dot Records which was a new label that year. Furthermore the original version was distributed by Refuge and had a Refuge catalog number assigned to it. Oh and by the way the 1995 version had 3 bonus tracks which are demo’s from their previous sessions. We have included those tracks. Breakfast with Amy is/was an alternative/punk band out of La Habra California. It’s said that the band formed as “Friends Of Amy” as an emergency fill in for a cancelled act for a church in California. You certainly wouldn’t have heard anything like this is my Church which makes me wish I grew up in these California Churches. Apparently this album sold very well and this was the reason for a reissue but the fact that the reissue is on a different label leaves me to believe there was probably more to the story.

Tracklist
1 – Icky – 4:31
2 – Power – 4:09
3 – Cavewoman – 6:04
4 – This Train – 4:18
5 – Mr. Ed – 2:46
6 – Funeral – 3:44
7 – Everything – 4:02
8 – Ferris Wheel – 3:32
9 – Abandoned Houses – 3:37
10 – Social Studies – 4:10
Bonus Tracks
11 – Ferris Wheel (Demo Version) – 9:07
12 – Love Song (Demo Version) – 4:43
13 – Funeral (Demo Version) – 5:32

Credits
Drums – Paul Pelligrin
Electric Bass – Bob Wholer, Tennesee Beans
Engineer [Engineered By] – Dan Bush
Guitar – Christopher Colbert
Guitar, Vocals – Caryn Colbert
Photography By [Cover Photo] – Jack A. Smith
Producer [Produced By] – Amy
Recorded By – Chaz Ramirez
Vocals, Guitar – David Koval
Written-By [All Songs] – Breakfast With Amy

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Narrowpath Records
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Gray Dot Records
Copyright (c) – Gray Dot Records
Distributed By – GDR Distribution
Distributed By – Refuge Records
Recorded At – Casbah Studio
Recorded At – Half Moon Studio
Published By – Doll Light Music, Inc.
Pressed By – American Multimedia, Inc.

1990 Cover
1995 Cover
1995 Back

Rick Cua – Times Ten – 1995

This was Rick’s first album after the formation of his new label “United Christian Alliance”. Well technically he did release a compilation album first but I generally don’t classify compilation albums the same. Unfortunately the label didn’t appear to have been a success having only ever signed one artist, Morgan Cryar, and only to a one album deal. I am assuming Rick was seeing the decline of the CCM market and thought he could step in and help but alas the industry was in a decline that was not within artists reach to fix. Rick also produced this album and did a real good job. If the industry hadn’t been tailing off I think he could have done some real good production work. The album itself is pretty good but suffered from lack of distribution. I hadn’t heard any of Rick’s later work and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a good pop rock album and had the industry been healthier it likely would have had a few singles. “Build A Bridge” definitely would have been a fan favorite and a top 40 single.

Tracklist
1 – Italo Americano – 4:17
2 – Never Give Up – 4:07
3 – High Country – 3:57
4 – Slow Salin’ – 4:32
5 – Build A Bridge – 3:26
6 – Brothers & Sisters – 3:52
7 – Whenever I – 2:59
8 – Can’t Come Down – 3:28
9 – I Know You’ll Be There – 4:08
10 – Bull By The Horns – 4:05
11 – Italo Americano (Reprise) – 0:49

Credits
Leonard Ahlstrom – Songwriter
Larry Arlotta – Piano
Mike Caputy – Drums
Chris Carmichael – Violin, Cello
George Cocchini – Guitars
Rick Cua – Producer, Songwriter, Bass, Vocals
Tony DeCrescenzo – Translation
Bob Halligan, Jr. – Songwriter, Background Vocals
Robert White Johnson – Background Vocals
Andreas Krause – Technical Assistance
Tom Lane – Acoustic Guitar
Randy Leroy – Mastered
Russ Long – Engineer, Mixed
Phil Madeira – B3
Will McFarlane – Guitars
Terry McMillan – Harmonica
Mike Mead – Drums
Dino Pastin – Accordion
Dave Perkins – Engineer, Guitars
Emedin Rivera – Percussion
Pino Squillace – Translation

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Salt Incorporated Music, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Salt Incorporated Music, Inc.
Recorded At – Dave’s Garden Of Eden
Recorded At – The Carport
Mixed At – The Carport
Mastered At – Final Stage Mastering

Mark Heard – Fingerprint – 1980/1995

The story goes that in 1980 Mark was having difficulties with Larry Norman and Solid Rock Records. As he was on contract in the USA he went to Europe to record and release this album. However there is a secondary story that is much simpler and in my opinion more possible. It is that Mark was essentially living in Europe and as such chose to release his next album there. The album was originally released on his own label in Switzerland which is a relatively odd business decision. All that aside this album was missed by most Mark Heard fans as it wasn’t released in the US until 1995. By now he was free and clear of Larry and Solid Rock Records so he released it on VIA Records. The album is about three quarters Mark’s signature acoustic guitar work but there are a few 70’s style rocking tunes. Mark rerecorded a few of these tracks between 1980 and 1995 to put on his North American releases so some of these versions may surprise you.

Tracklist
1 – I’m In Chains – 3:30
2 – Nowadays – 3:25
3 – One More Time – 3:03
4 – Epistle – 2:57
5 – Just The Same – 3:16
6 – Well-Worn Pages – 2:48
7 – Gimme Mine – 3:51
8 – All The Sleepless Dreamers – 3:33
9 – Negative Charge – 3:58
10 – Brown-Eyed Sue – 3:20
11 – Es Tut Mir Leid – 2:04
12 – Remarks To Mr. McLuhan – 2:02
13 – Threefold Amen – 0:20

Credits
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass, Lead Guitar, Slide Guitar, Mandolin, Synthesizer [Moog], Percussion, Vocals, Backing Vocals – Mark Heard
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lead Vocals, Slide Guitar – Jon Linn
Backing Vocals, Photography By – Janet Sue Heard
Drums – Peter Johnson
Piano, Synthesizer – Tom Howard
Producer, Engineer, Mixed By, Written By, Photography By – Mark Heard

Companies, etc.
Distributed By – King’s Records
Recorded At – Peace In The Valley Recording
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Palmfrond Communications
Copyright (c) – Palmfrond Communications
Manufactured By – King’s Records
Pressed By – Turicaphon AG

1980 Jacket Front
1980 Jacket Back
1995 Cover

The 77s – Tom Tom Blues – 1995

A lot of stuff happened between 1984’s All Fall Down and Tom Tom Blues. Six other albums in fact, so the fact that this one stands stark against their 1980s style isn’t that strange. However, here at Real 80s CCM we really like the 80s stuff so I have to talk about it. I first discovered this album in the used CD bin at a local record shop in the mid-90s. I think someone else must have bought it expecting that cutting, pop-new wave and found something else instead. Not that this isn’t a good collection of songs, but it required seriously resetting some expectations. Having said that, I don’t like it as much as some of their other work, such as their self-titled album in 1987. This 1995 release isn’t what I would call grunge, but it came from the grunge era and in retrospect, that is probably the most noticeable influence on the sound. 77s do not really excel at the grunge sound. The lead track, Rocks In Your Head comes on strong, and may be the most memorable one here. Throughout the album there is a lot of rumbly bassline and gutsy guitar. It did make me think back to Ping Pong Over the Abyss with the guitar sound. If there is such a thing as new wave grunge, maybe this is it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPcTOx34g9XRXbJ9vRQ1CpVQtjCAKdvOn

Tracklist
1 – Rocks In Your Head – 3:37
2 – Honesty – 6:21
3 – You Still Love Me – 5:22
4 – Outskirts – 4:42
5 – Flowers In The Sand – 4:51
6 – Don’t Leave Me Long – 4:21
7 – Gravy Chain – 3:17
8 – Five In The Nave – 1:01
9 – Earache – 6:06
10 – Deliverance – 8:53

Credits
Band [Seventy Sevens Are], Bass, Backing Vocals, Other [Bottom] – Mark Harmon
Band [Seventy Sevens Are], Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals, Other [Everything In Between] – Bruce Spencer
Band [Seventy Sevens Are], Guitar [Guitars], Lead Vocals, Other [Top] – Michael Roe
Cover, Illustration – Rachel Thornton
Design Concept [Art Concept By], Design – Seventy Sevens
Engineer [Engineered By] – Craig Long, Kirt Shearer, Scott Reams
Engineer [Engineered By], Mixed By – Guy Niosi, John Flanagan
Executive-Producer – Gene Eugene, Ojo Taylor
Featuring, Percussion, Other [Cool Vibes] – Cary Avery
Illustration [Inside B/W Illustration] – Kathryn Garcia Smith
Mastered By – Michael Romanowski
Photography By – Pat Johnson
Producer [Produced By] – The 77’s
Songwriter [All Songs Written By] – The 77’s

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Brainstorm Artists International
Copyright © – Brainstorm Artists International
Distributed By – Diamante Music Group
Recorded At – Paradise Studios, Sacramento, CA
Recorded At – Plaid Jacket
Mixed At – Plaid Jacket
Mastered At – Rocket Lab
Pressed By – Disctronics USA – 138314
Published By – 7 And 7 Is Music

CD Case Front
CD Case Back
Inside 1
Inside 2
Disc

Wild Blue Yonder Featuring Crystal Lewis – Wild Blue Yonder – 1986/1995

Wild Blue Yonder were a new incarnation of the CCM Rockabilly band The Lifters minus Rex Harvey and of course the addition of Crystal Lewis doing lead vocals. The album essentially came out on Crystal’s 17th birthday so ignore the “she was 15” stuff on the internet. The album was released September 9th 1986 and her birthday is September 11th 1969. Both Terry Taylor and Rob Watson from DA were involved in the project and they bring some quality production to the album. The album has a Rockabilly sound in places and is often referred to as Cow-punk but it’s not really Cow-punk in my opinion. It’s just a fun 80’s album with Rockabilly influences though Crystal’s vocals are so strong she really dominates the album almost making you forget about the rest of the band. The album was re-released in 1995 with 2 bonus tracks (this upload is that 1995 release) and is catalogued as being a Crystal Lewis album titled Wild Blue Yonder.

Tracklist
1 – Just One Look – 3:49
2 – You And Me – 3:07
3 – This Love’s For Real – 4:05
4 – Where Can I Go (Bonus Track) – 2:24
5 – Heart Beat – 2:34
6 – Over The Rainbow – 3:20
7 – Every Day (Bonus Track) – 3:23
8 – Only One – 3:42
9 – Revival Meeting – 2:35
10 – You’re My Love – 3:19
11 – Only You – 2:45
12 – Crying Eyes – 3:07
13 – If I Could Write A Poem – 5:01

Credits
Art Direction, Layout [Original] – Phillip Kim
Artwork By [Logo] – Dave Gibson
Artwork, Design [New] – Timothy McCaig
Backing Vocals – Terry Taylor
Bass – Paul Martin
Drums – Joey Mitchell
Engineer – Doug Doyle
Guitar – Chris Brigandi
Pedal Steel Guitar – Garry Brandon
Photography By – Brian Ray
Piano, Organ, Backing Vocals – Rob Watson
Producer – Terry Taylor
Remastered By – Dave Hackbarth
Remix – Chris Brigandi, Gene Eugene
Vocals – Crystal Lewis

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Metro One, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Metro One, Inc.
Distributed By – Diamante Distribution
Glass Mastered At – Disctronics USA – 131230