Tag: Holy Soldier

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.

This was Holy Soldier’s second album and in my opinion was a step up from their first album. Turns out most fans at the time disagree with me. The album did not sell well. In fact it sold poorly enough that Word records dumped the band. After reading up on this I personally believe Word in fact dumped them as they wanted to take a turn at trying to attract a secular audience. If you were in the industry at the time Stryper was the only band allowed to do this for some reason. When anyone else tried it usually the label was not interested. It was a strange time in the industry. The cut that also probably caused them some problem is a cover of the Rolling Stones Vietnam era song “Gimme Shelter”. I actually think it’s a pretty good cover though they could have put a little more of their own signature on it. Anyway, that said this album leans to a more hard rock feel on several tracks and overall I think is well done.

Tracklist
1 – Virtue & Vice – 4:30
2 – Crazy – 4:44
3 – Hallow’s Eve – 4:18
4 – Gimme Shelter – 4:23
5 – Love Is On The Way – 4:54
6 – Dead End Drive – 3:53
7 – Tuesday Mourning – 4:23
8 – Fairweather Friend – 3:25
9 – Last Train – 4:34

Credits
Bass – Andy Robbins
Drums – Terry Russel
Guitar – Jamie Cramer, Scott Soderstrom
Producer [Produced By] – David Zaffiro
Vocals – Steven Patrick

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Word (Uk) Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word Communications Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Word Communications Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Produced For – Zaffiro Productions

Holy soldier formed in the 80’s by bassist Andy Robbins and guitarist Jamie Cramer and they quickly gained popularity in their hometown of Los Angeles. They commonly played secular outlets but maintained an evangelical message. In 1988 they released a demo and it was very popular in both secular and Christian circles. They were subsequently signed to some sort of deal between Word (Myrrh) and A&M Records. I’m not sure but I think they may have been the first Metal band sign by Word but admittedly I could be wrong. The album did really well in Christian circles and actually had some moderate success with secular audiences. The album achieved two Dove Awards in the hard rock song and album of the year categories. Point of trivia of the album is that is was produced by Bloodgood guitarist David Zaffiro and he did a great job. The album has a polished commercial sound and was as good as anything published at the time in the secular Metal genre.

Tracklist
1 – Stranger – 3:25
2 – See No Evil – 5:28
3 – The Pain Inside Of Me – 6:35
4 – Cry Out For Love – 3:28
5 – Tear Down The Walls – 3:58
6 – When The Reign Comes Down – 5:17
7 – Lies – 4:58
8 – Eyes Of Innocence – 3:55
9 – Love Me – 4:15
10 – We Are Young, We Are Strong – 5:15

Credits
A&R [A&R Direction] – Mark Maxwell
Art Direction – Laurie M. Fink
Art Direction, Design – F2 Design
Backing Vocals – Andy, Jamie, Michael, Steven, Terry
Backing Vocals [Additional] – Charles Meserole, Donna Rood, Donny Russell, Evelyn Watson, Marc Anthony, Michael Plissner, Sherie Hopper, Vanessa Beckrum
Band, Bass – Andy Robbins
Band, Drums – Terry “The Animal” Russel
Band, Guitar [Guitars] – Jamie Cramer, Michael Cutting
Band, Lead Vocals – Steven Patrick
Bass [Bass Overdubs] – Jerry Watts (tracks: 3)
Coordinator [Artwork Coordination] – Roz
Edited By [Digital Editing By] – Daniel Hersch
Effects [Keyboard Effects] – Charles Meserole
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Bobby Salcedo, Dave Hackbarth
Engineer [Drun Track Engineer] – John Hanlon
Engineer [Overdub Engineer] – Charles Meserole
Engineer [Second Engineer] – Brian Herbert, Chuck Rodriguez, Jeff Piergeorge
Management [Managed By] – Daryn Hinton
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig
Mixed By – Joe Chiccarelli
Photography By [CD Portrait Photos (b/w)] – Aaron Rapoport
Photography By [Front Cover Photograph] – John Scarpati
Photography By [Live Photograph of Steven Patrick] – Perry Cooper
Photography By [Live Photographs] – Nigel Skeet
Producer [Produced By] – David Zaffiro
Technician [Drums By] – Ross Garfield

Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Word, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Word, Inc.
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Produced For – Zaffiro Productions
Published By – Most Triumphant Music
Published By – Dayspring
Published By – Barkloid Music
Published By – Word Music
Recorded At – Wayne Cook Studios
Recorded At – Neverland Studios
Recorded At – Mixing Lab B
Recorded At – Pakaderm Studios
Mixed At – Master Control, Burbank
Edited At – DigiPrep
Mastered At – Masterdisk