Tag: Eric Champion

I’ll be honest that for some reason I knew nothing about Eric in the 80’s. However after listening to his work I can honestly say I think he was the synth king of CCM era for his period and this was his greatest achievement in that genre. While his album up until now had a synth pop feel this one took a turn towards sci-fi synth. This may actually be one of the best sci-fi synth albums I have ever heard. It came completely out of left field because as I said Eric was a pop artist. While I’m not saying he wasn’t a great artist his stuff was mainly just simple pop. Not this album. This album is more like a piece of art and I’m comfortable categorizing this as a conceptual album though it may not have a traditional conceptual structure. It should also be said that it is strongly influenced by Tommy Sims (White Heart). He helped Eric with everything from production to instruments, in fact he played most of the instruments on the album. The album sold very well especially considering the genre with over 100,000 sold. If I had one small criticism for the album is that it was 1994 and this style fit better into the mid 80′. That said who cares, this is a great album.

Tracklist
1 – Transmit – 1:55
2 – N2 The Next Dimension – 5:09
3 – Verticality – 3:29
4 – Walk On Water – 4:16
5 – More About You – 4:28
6 – My Life Is In Your Hands – 4:34
7 – Dancing In The Fire – 4:40
8 – Endless – 4:59
9 – Journey – 4:49
10 – Touch – 6:21
11 – Believe It To See It – 5:18

Credits
Accordion – John Painter
Art Direction – Diane Barnes
Backing Vocals – Angelo & Veronica Petrucci, Chris Eaton, Cindy Morgan, Danny Duncan, Eric Champion, Fleming Painter, Tommy Sims
Classical Guitar – George Cocchini
Design – Dylan Tran, Gabrielle Raumberger
Drums – Chris McHugh
Engineer [Assistant Engineer] – Greg Parker, Martin Woodlee, Pete Martinez, Wayne Mehl
Executive-Producer – Mark Maxwell
Flugelhorn – Mike Haynes, – John Painter
Guitar [Sci-Fi Guitar] – George Cocchini
Management [Artist Management] – Champion & Smallbone
Mastered By – Ken Love
Organ [Hammond B-3] – Phil Madeira
Photography By – Ruth Leitman
Producer, Concept By [Vertical Reality Concept And Story By], Recorded By, Arranged By, Programmed By [Keyboard Programming], Drum Programming, Keyboards, Backing Vocals [All Others] – Eric Champion
Producer, Executive-Producer, Recorded By, Arranged By, Arranged By [Horn And String Arrangements], Programmed By [Keyboard Programming], Drum Programming, Keyboards, Bass, Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals [All Others] – Tommy Sims
Recorded By, Mixed By – Rick Will
Recorded By, Producer [Production Assistant], Programmed By [Keyboard Programming Assistant] – Danny Duncan
Saxophone [Sax] – Mark Douthit
Trombone – Chris McDonald

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word Records & Music
Copyright © – Word Records & Music
Produced For – 1 World Productions, Theopolis Productions
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus
Recorded At – Lo-Key, The Dugout, Theopolis, Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mastered At – Mastermix

This is Eric’s first album and he came into CCM with a bang. Well not really a bang but more of a keyboard entrance. This was my first exposure to him and I really like this album. That said me liking this album is not really a good thing. I love this album because of it’s mid 80’s sound but the problem is that the album came out in 1990. Personally i feel it was a few years late but in CCM that’s not really a big deal. This album has a real mid 80’s pop feel with overtures of Prince. Some reviewers say there’s a feel of Michael Jackson which I can see musically but not vocally. In fact Eric owns his vocals and as such I’m going to stop comparing him to other artists.

Tracklist
1 – Forever Love – 4:38
2 – Brother, Brother – 5:20
3 – Peaceful – 6:16
4 – We Are The Young – 6:05
5 – River’s Edge – 5:32
6 – Everyday People – 7:29
7 – Heaven On Earth – 5:04
8 – Friends In High Places – 4:29
9 – Ready And Willing – 3:44
10 – Above It All – 4:21

Credits
Art Direction [Associate Art Director] – Roz
Art Direction, Design, Artwork [Logo] – F2 Design
Engineer – Paul Salveson, Ronnie Brookshire
Engineer [Overdub Engineer] – Jon Carey
Executive-Producer, Mixed By, Keyboards – Chris Christian
Guitar – Jerry McPherson
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Mixed By – Paul Salveson, Ronnie Brookshire
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer, Mixed By, Keyboards, Programmed By [Programming], Backing Vocals – Eric Champion
Production Manager [Production Coordinaton] – Michelle Hodges
Saxophone – Mark Douthit
Snare [Snare Fills] – John Hammond
Voice [Lord’s Prayer On] – Michelle Hodges
Voice [People Yelling And Screaming At Each Other On] – Michelle Hodges, Ronnie Brookshire, Tim Craft

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Word, Inc.
Copyright © – Word, Inc.
Produced For – Home Sweet Home Records
Distributed By – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Pressed By – Disctronics S
Made By – Player Print & Design
Printed By – Player Print & Design
Recorded At – Gold Mine Studio
Mixed At – Gold Mine Studio, Dallas, TX
Mastered At – Future Disc