Apparently Jamie Rowe and some of the rest of the band were fluent in Spanish and decided to release a few albums in Spanish for the Mexican and South American market. One of the things I have learnt through this project is that CCM music was huge in South America. In fact Brazil has the 3rd most listeners on our YouTube channel followed by Mexico placing them above The U.K. and Australia. Most of these tracks are actually just Spanish covers of previous tracks but the went back into the studio to re-cut the music. I really like Spanish music and was delighted to discover these Spanish Guardian releases. The quality is fantastic and these tracks do not come off as just a new language cover.
Tracklist 1 – Que El Mundo De Su Gloria Llene – 5:02 2 – Todos Vamos Ja – 4:52 3 – Te Veo en el Cielo – 4:39 4 – El Capitán – 4:21 5 – ¿Sabes Que Es El Amor? – 4:51 6 – Nunca Te Diré Adiós – 4:54 7 – Toma Tu Cruz – 4:49 8 – Uno Para el Otro – 4:03 9 – Como el Sol – 5:24 10 – Creo en Ti – 5:10
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
This is a rather odd sampler from Pakaderm Records. I’m not entirely sure but I think the point of this sampler was to hear these artists doing sort of an acoustic track. This is a little weird because there are a few artists here that usually only do this style of music so like I say I’m a little confused at what the Elefante brothers were trying to achieve here. I’m even further confused as most of the tracks seem to be newly written and the recordings are only with the performer as the vocalist and the album appears to utilize a studio band. I honestly don’t think most of the artists understood what was going on either because most of the tracks just don’t work in my opinion. There are 3 tracks that in my opinion did get it. The 2 tracks form Richie Furay are absolutely excellent and include an appearance form Darrell Mansfield on harmonica. The other track that “got it” is the one from Guardian where they absolutely nail the vocals. Anyway it is what it is and I’d suggest a listen even if it’s just for the 3 tracks I mentioned.
Tracklist 1 – David Robertson – The House Of The Lord – 3:17 2 – Richie Furay – Man Of Many Sorrows – 4:23 3 – Brighton – Taking Back The Land (Jericho) – 4:20 4 – Sara Tennison – What Did I Ever Do – 4:57 5 – X-Sinner – Shelter Me – 3:12 6 – Mark Pogue – Thou Shalt Love – 3:49 7 – Richie Furay – Song Of The Lamb – 3:06 8 – Guardian – Take Up Your Cross – 4:50 9 – Halo – Real Life Conversation – 3:47 10 – The Heard – We Need Jesus – 5:05
Credits Art Direction, Design – Terry DeGraff Backing Vocals [Additional] – Doug Beiden, Sara Tennison Bass – W.C. Jr Cover – David Del Sesto, Terry DeGraff Engineer – Dino Elefante, Doug Beiden, J.R. McNeely, John Elefante Guitar [Additional] – Rock Lobster, Tex Mex Keyboards, Drums – Mack Jack Mandolin, Violin – Matt Brislawn Mastered By – Chris Mixed By – Dino Elefante, Doug Beiden, John Elefante Percussion – “Chi Chi” Allison Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
This is a rather odd release. in 1998 Guardian released their own version of the Stryper original cassette “The Yellow And Black Attack” EP from 1984. Not one or two tracks but the entire 6 song EP. Also strangely it’s not their interpretation of the songs but almost exact copies. It was a private release which I imagine was the only option considering they directly covered someone else’s album. Even the CD visuals are all inspired by Stryper. I really don’t have much else to tell you about the album. The covers are excellent and well if you’re either a Guardian or Stryper fan this one is a must listen.
Tracklist 1 – Loud N Clear – 3:42 2 – From Wrong To Right – 4:00 3 – You Know What To Do – 4:54 4 – Co’Mon Rock – 3:49 5 – You Won’t Be Lonely – 3:51 6 – Loving You – 4:22
Credits Design [Original Design] – Kewi Dee Liner Notes – Brett Christensen Mastered By – Damon Riley Mixed By – Russ Long, Tony Palacios Producer [Produced By] – Guardian, Tony Palacios Recorded By – Tony Palacios
This is Guardian’s 3rd studio album and apparently most of their fans think this is their best album. Personally I don’t listen to them enough to make that judgment but I can say that this is indeed a very good album. It has a 90 Rock sound that isn’t ugly grungy but instead a Rock sound that hearken back to the 80’s but is solidly in the 90’s. The band had settled into the lineup they would best become known for and the guys had it all together for this trip to the Elefante studios in Los Alamitos California. The Elefante brothers also produced the album and it’s probably some of their best work. Interestingly Tom Howard came into the studio to arrange the strings and contributed some strings. Seems kind of strange to see Tom involved with an album like this but great musicians go wherever they are needed.
Tracklist 1 – Dr. Jones & The Kings Of Rhythm – 5:13 2 – Shoeshine Johnny – 4:16 3 – Long Way Home – 4:31 4 – I Found Love – 5:24 5 – Sweet Mystery – 3:58 6 – Let It Roll – 4:11 7 – Mr. Do Wrong – 5:05 8 – Curiosity Killed The Cat – 4:28 9 – Sister Wisdom – 4:12 10 – The Captain – 4:19 11 – You & I – 4:06 12 – Do You Know What Love Is – 7:27 13 – Untitled – 2:07
Credits Arranged By, Directed By [Strings] – Tom Howard Art Direction, Design – David Bach Artwork By [Art Production] – Joe Potter Drums, Vocals – Karl Ney Guitar, Vocals – Tony Palacios Lead Vocals – Jamie Rowe Bass, Vocals – David Bach Engineer – Dino Elefante, Doug Beiden, J.R. McNeely, John Elefante Management – The Whitmore Company Mastered By – Chris Bellman Mixed By – Dino Elefante Mixed By [Assisted] – Doug Beiden Mixed By [Extra Special Thanks To The Master Of Sonic Illusion…] – Gil Griffith Accordion – Glen Hirami Backing Vocals – Brandon Starr, Jameeca LaFleur, JoJo Beiden, Olivia McClurkin Bass – J.R. McNeely Drums – Jamie Wollam Horns – The Fabulous Martin Brothers Percussion – Ian Sabreti Piano, Organ – John Elefante Strings – The Orange County Wire Choir Photography By – Neil Zlozower Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante
Larry Howard was joined on stage by several other performers at the Cornerstone Festival in 1992 for this fantastic blues session. The album is actually credited to Larry but really this is a various artists album. The last 6 tracks are credited as “Tribute To Mahalia Jackson”. If your a fan of the blues this is a must listen to. I had not heard this one before we recently received it and it was an excellent addition to our collection.
Tracklist 1 – Larry Howard – Good News Blues – 3:38 2 – Larry Howard – Love Will Make You Change Your Ways – 3:35 3 – Margaret Becker – Lean On Me – 4:19 4 – Larry Howard and Darrell Mansfield – Evangelistic Blues – 5:02 5 – Larry Howard & Glenn Kaiser & Darrell Mansfield – Presence Of The Lord – 4:36 6 – Guardian – Take Up Your Cross – 4:59 7 – Mark Farner – Judgement Day Blues – 4:55 8 – Larry Howard – Trouble No More – 3:49 9 – Eddie DeGarmo & Larry Howard – Here Am I – 3:49 10 – Mark Farner & Margaret Becker – Some Kind Of Wonderful – 4:42 11 – Jessy Dixon – Operator – 5:32 12 – Elsa Harris – If We Ever Needed The Lord Before, We Sure Do Need Him Now – 2:13 13 – Jessy Dixon & Elsa Harris – Keep Your Hand On The Plow – 2:39 14 – Margaret Becker – Walk Over God’s Heaven – 1:56 15 – Mark Farner – Search Me Lord – 3:13 16 – Elsa Harris & Vernessa Mitchell – Precious Lord – 4:22 17 – Larry Howard – Nobody But You – 4:19
Credits A&R [A&R Manager] – Lisa Stutts Backing Vocals – Clare Ford, Phyllis Duncan Bass Guitar – Slim Powell Design – Franke Design Co. Drums – Willie Smith Engineer – Malcolm Harper, Roger Heiss Engineer [Dyaxis Engineer] – Pat Scholes Engineer [Live Engineer], Technician [Technical Advisor] – Doug Jones Engineer [Monitor Engineer] – Chris Michaelessi Engineer [Sound Production] – Phil Zeo & Zeo Brothers Engineer [System Engineer] – Tom Wilson Guitar – Roscoe Meek Illustration [Cover Illustration] – Susan DeGarmo Keyboards – Lester Snell Mixed By – Greg Morrow Mixed By [Assistant] – Dave Perkins, Russ Weaver Other [Custom Tailoring] – Jane Cowan Other [Light Contractor] – Tone Zone Producer, Executive-Producer – Eddie DeGarmo Saxophone – Mark Townsend Stage Manager – Denny Keitzman Technician [Crew Chief & Stage Technician] – Tony Capacchione Technician [Larry’s Guitar Tech] – Tory Torstenson
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc. Copyright (c) – The ForeFront Communications Group, Inc. Distributed By – Star Song Communications Recorded At – Cornerstone Festival
This is the second album from Guardian. There were a few personnel changes with Jamie Rowe coming in on vocals and Karl Ney on drums. Jamie Rowe had been with Tempest and was a great fit with Guardian. Though this album is often called a metal album I disagree. To me it’s more Hard Rock but I admit does have a few metal “moments”. Often it’s compared to Bon Jovi but again I don’t really agree. It really does have it’s own sound but I more often hear Def Leopard than Bon Jovi. Further enhancing this album is the fact that John & Dino Elefante were involved in the project with John helping with Songwriting and Keyboards. Both brothers engineered and produced the album. There was a music video produced for “Power Of Love” but no one seems to know if MTV ever played it. Guardian definitely turned it up a notch for this album and it definitely deserves a listen.
Tracklist 1 – Power Of Love – 4:33 2 – Send A Message – 4:00 3 – Time Stands Still – 4:26 4 – Forever And A Day – 5:11 5 – Takin’ On The World – 3:52 6 – Fire And Love – 3:25 7 – Turnaround – 4:18 8 – Time And Time Again – 4:52 9 – The Rain – 5:31 10 – Never Say Goodbye – 5:06
Credits Accordion – Glen Hirami Art Direction, Design – Terry DeGraff Backing Vocals – Max Alpha, Dino, Jamie, John, Tony Bass – David Bach Cover [Consultant] – Sandra Ney Drums – David Raven, Karl Ney Engineer – Dino Elefante, Jeff Simmons, John Elefante, Mike Mierau Guitar – Tony Palacios Keyboards – John Elefante Lead Vocals – Jamie Rowe Mixed By – Dino Elefante, Mike Mierau Mixed By [Assisted By] – Gil Griffith Pedal Steel Guitar – Ron Eglit Photography By – Jeff Jones Producer – Dino Elefante, John Elefante Vocals – David Bach, Karl Ney, Tony Palacios
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pakaderm Records Copyright (c) – Pakaderm Records Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Distributed By – Word, Inc. Pressed By – Denon Digital Industries Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios Mastered At – Precision Mastering
This was the first studio album from Guardian though they did have a demo using the name Fusion and another using the name Gardian. They inked the deal for this album in 1985 with Enigma Records but the wheels of production and release moved very slowly. The album was to be produced by Oz Fox from Stryper and he wasn’t immediately available. Recording did finish in 1988 but then for some reason it didn’t get released until 1989. Quite frankly Enigma really screwed this one up. By the time this album came out they should have been on their follow up album and another tour but the screw ups over at Enigma cost themselves and the band a lot of success and the resulting money. To top this all off Enigma did a short run of the album making it difficult for people to get their hands on. This was a great metal album and if it had been properly promoted, pressed, and distributed it might have been one of the biggest Christian Metal releases. I’m not even going to bother telling you about the album, give it a listen, I know you will be impressed. Another annoying thing Enigma did was to put 2 extra tracks on the CD release. This idea wasn’t’ unique to Enigma, lots of others did it but it was a dumb idea.
Tracklist 1 – I’ll Never Leave You – 4:32 2 – Mystery Man – 4:07 3 – Livin’ For The Promise – 4:09 4 – Miracle – 4:56 5 – Saints Battalion – 3:47 6 – Kingdom Of Rock – 3:25 7 – The Good Life – 4:41 8 – One Of A Kind – 3:33 9 – World Without Love – 3:56 10 – Rock In Victory – 3:50 —CD Bonus Tracks— 11 – Hyperdrive – 4:17 12 – Marching On – 3:55
Credits Art Direction, Design – Dean Van Eimeren Backing Vocals [Additional Backing Vocals] – Oz Fox Bass – David Bach (2) Drums – Rikk Hart Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Allen Isaacs, Gene Eugene, Jeff Simmons Engineer [Assistent Engineer], Coordinator [Studio Coordination] – Dave Hackbarth, Dino Elefante Engineer, Mixed By – Dan Nebenzal Keyboards – Brent Jeffers Lead Guitar – Tony Palacios Lead Vocals, Guitar – Paul Cawley Mastered By – Eddy Schreyer Mixed By, Engineer [Assistent Engineer] – Mike Mierau Photography By – Steve Cooper Producer, Mixed By – Oz Fox Vocals – David Bach, Tony Palacios
Companies, etc. Record Company – The Benson Company, Inc. Made By – Discovery Systems
