Tag: Gideons Army

The third and last album from Gideon’s Army picks up where Warriors Of Love left off but it has a feel of maturity to it. At this point I think the band had settled into the style that they liked as there was some style fluttering in their first 2 releases. Unfortunately this was the last album from their band and I feel they were just hitting their stride. Darin Warren stepped in to replace Dave Angles on guitar and his sound fit in well with the band. I missed this band entirely in the 80’s and really wish I could have seen them live, I just get the feel that they were good live. Original copies of this release are apparently few and far between which suggests to me that it just didn’t sell well. Luckily it was re-released in 2015 by Retroactive Records so it’s easy to get a copy now.

Tracklist
1 – Knowing You – 3:45
2 – Lonely Lover – 4:20
3 – Christina – 4:45
4 – Grace – 5:21
5 – Make Up Your Mind – 3:10
6 – Open Arms – 4:23
7 – Tough Love – 3:24
8 – With The One I Love – 4:21
9 – Turn Up The Heat – 4:11
10 – Sending You – 4:08

Credits
Mark Greves – Lead Vocals & Bass
Darin Warren – Lead Guitar
Doug Naruo – Keyboards
Jerry Anderson – Drums & Lead Vocals
Brenda Perdue – vocals
Melody Lynn – vocals
Ron Davis – vocals
Dave Angeles – guitars on 7, 8, 10
Don Walker – drums on 7, 8, 10

The second album from Gideon’s Army heard them stray from their 70’s influenced sound to a very pop oriented hard rock sound. I was actually surprised at their new sound. The first album was pretty good but nothing special but this album does have something special. Admittedly this is a very commercial sound but wow is it well done. This album would have fit in perfectly with the commercial radio Metal/Rock sound of the era. I’m actually kind of surprised I had never heard of these guy’s back in the 80’s. This album they switched over to A&R Records who were essentially a all in one place to record, produce, and press an album. I don’t believe they had any distribution deals for this album so I don’t know how widely it was heard. Luckily it was re-released in 2013 by Retroactive Records. I am assuming most of you missed this one in 1986 so today’s the day you should listen to it so you don’t miss out.

Tracklist
1 – Moment By Moment – 3:33
2 – It’s Your Love – 4:20
3 – Warriors Of Love – 4:26
4 – No Fun – 3:44
5 – I Know Someone – 4:18
6 – Runaway – 4:19
7 – I Know You Could See – 3:33
8 – Video – 4:55
9 – Backsliding Brother – 4:27
10 – Face To Face – 4:01

Credits
Jerry Anderson – Drums, Vocals
Dave Angeles – Lead Guitar
Ron Davis – Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Producer
Mark Greves – Bass, Blues Harp, Vocals
Joseph Linn – Percussion
Tom Long – Synthesizer
Doug Naruo – Piano, Hammond B-3, Percussion, Arp String, Oberheim, Sequential
Nor Sivad – Effects

San Francisco Bay Area’s Gideon’s Army got their start ministering in the prison system both juvenile and adult throughout California. After many years they finally put out this album in 1982. The album was released on Santa Ana’s Calvary Chapel’s own label “Asaph Records”. This was the second album on the label and as such was not well promoted or known outside of the local California area. Later this label would actually get much better known but in 1982 it was barely known. The band have a strong Late 70’s Southern Rock sound that I think was rather unique for the CCM market. One of the other strange things about the album is the length of some of the songs. There are 4 tracks over the 5 minute mark which was a little more common in the mid 70’s. Because of this the album is limited to only 8 tracks. This album is very unique and you should give it a listen if not just for the historical sound of it.

Tracklist
1 – Light – 6:17
2 – Dream – 4:28
3 – Lift Your Heart – 4:33
4 – What Is Love – 7:12
5 – Better Days – 6:35
6 – On The Move – 3:39
7 – New Man – 6:32
8 – Can You Still Turn Away? – 4:41

Credits
Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Rob Carey
Backing Vocals – Ron Davis
Drums, Lead Vocals – Jerry Anderson
Lead Guitar – Dave Angeles
Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Mike Banke
Lead Vocals, Bass – Mark Greves
Organ, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Doug Naruo
Percussion – Tom Long
Trumpet – Jim Gabel, Rob Brockman