I’ll be honest that I had long lost interest in CCM by 1993 so I had never heard this album before processing it for upload to YouTube. I read some reviews and most of them sort of had a ho hum attitude towards the album. I on the other hand quite enjoyed the album. I hear a few tracks that have some of that old early 80’s feel but yes most of them were highly mixed tracks that they were doing in this era. Strangely the entire album music wise was apparently written by Bass player Roy Montroy. That definitely gives the album a different feel but there’s nothing wrong with this album. On their next album their would be quite a turn but this album is a solid piece of work.
Tracklist 1 – Heart’s Desire – 3:50 2 – If Your Love Grows Cold – 3:22 3 – Numbers – 2:31 4 – Sunrise – 4:02 5 – Dead To The World – 4:23 6 – Reach Of Love – 6:04 7 – Land Of Stolen Breath – 4:07 8 – Mannequin’s Dream – 1:30 9 – Empty Hearts – 3:17 10 – Thought I’d Never Love Again – 4:09 11 – White Lies – 3:58 12 – On My Dyin’ Bed – 4:55 13 – Heart’s Desire (Reprise) – 1:03
Credits Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy Drums – John Herrin Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Stu Heiss Engineer – Ed Bialach, Roy Montroy Engineer, Mixed By – Roger Heiss Mastered By – Steve hall Producer – REZ Producer, Mixed By – Tom Cameron Vocals, Backing Vocals – Wendi Kaiser Vocals, Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Slide Guitar, Harmonica – Glenn Kaiser
Companies, etc. Recorded At – Tone Zone Recording Mixed At – Tone Zone Recording Mastered At – Future Disc
The tenth studio album from Resurrection Band pretty well picks up where Innocent Blood left off. They continue their blues rock sound and the album is impeccable produced. Wendi is brought in for a few more vocals than usual on their albums and love her or hate her she does a great job on this album. The lyrics for the album seem to hit more on their social causes pattern with some strong evangelical themes. Lyrically I think this album has more in common with some of their early work but musically it is more of their late 80’s style. I had quit listening to Rez by the time this album came out which is too bad because this is a really good album and I’m glad I got a chance to listen to it all these years later.
Credits Arranged By [All Songs Arranged By] – REZ Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy Drums – John Herrin Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss Vocals – Wendi Kaiser Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica – Glenn Kaiser Cover [Cover Art], Design – Dick Randall Engineer [Engineered By] – Roy Montroy Engineer [Engineered With] – Ed Bialach, Roger Heiss Lyrics By – Arlene Maass (tracks: 7), Dave Canfield (tracks: 1, 3, 6, 8, 9), Glenn Kaiser (tracks: 11), Jace Seavers (tracks: 2, 4, 10), Jon Trott (tracks: 5) Mastered By – Steve Hall Mixed By – Roger Heiss, Roy Montroy Music By [All Music By] – REZ, Roy Montroy Photography By – Mike Tabor Producer [Produced By] – REZ, Tom Cameron
Companies, etc. Phonographic Copyright (p) – Grrr Records Copyright (c) – Grrr Records Manufactured By – Word, Inc. Distributed By – Word, Inc. Mastered At – Future Disc Pressed By – Disctronics USA – 114435 Published By – Grrr Music Published By – Irving Music Co.
REZ band finished off the 80’s with this excellent album. The album showed the blues side that Glenn would head down for future recordings. The album also contains some of their heaviest material in quiet awhile. Wendy’s vocals are strong as usual and I would personally say that this album may be her best vocal performance. The album is very well produced but that’s what we had come to expect from Rez. If you like the 48 second track “Rooster Crow” be sure to pick up Glenn’s 2001 album, Carolina Moon where there’s a full length version of the song. Strangely “Bargain” is actually a cover of a “The Who” tune from 1971. Bit of trivia and I quote Wikipedia here “Innocent Blood’s cover photograph is of an eight-year-old girl named Tricia who lived close to the Jesus People USA community in urban Chicago. She was tragically abducted by an unknown person(s) around the Chase Park area. Most disturbingly, Tricia was never seen again. In her memory, the band addressed this subject on the album as well.”
Tracklist
1 – Rooster Crow – 0:48
2 – Altar Of Pain – 3:15
3 – The House Is On Fire – 3:25
4 – 80,000 Underground – 3:14
5 – Fiend Or Foul – 4:41
6 – Where Roses Grow – 7:20
7 – Right On Time – 5:46
8 – Child Of The Blues – 3:40
9 – Laughing Man – 3:31
10 – Bargain – 5:31
11 – Great God In Heaven – 2:56
Credits
Band [REZ Is], Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy
Band [REZ Is], Drums – John Herrin
Band [REZ Is], Guitar, Vocals – Glenn Kaiser
Band [REZ Is], Lead Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss
Band [REZ Is], Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Design [Cover Design], Photography By – Cornerstone Graphics, Janet Cameron
Engineer [Engineered By] – Ed Bialach, Roger Heiss, Roy Montroy
Producer [Produced By] – Rez*, Tom Cameron
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Grrr Records
Copyright (c) – Grrr Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Engineered At – Tone Zone Recording
Published By – Rez Band Music
Published By – Suolubaf Music
Published By – ABKCO Music
Published By – Towser Tunes, Inc.
Made By – JVC
This was their fifth release, and their third and final for Light Records. D.M.Z. was the hardest rock that they had given us yet, and it fit the early 80s metal age perfectly.
Opening with a high energy track, Military Man, and pulling out a relentless guitar solo intro on White Noise, they sounded exactly like rock was supposed to in 1982.
The CCM industry at the time couldn’t figure this out but Resurrection band could.
== 1 == Military Man Military Man was the opening track and it became a signature piece for their live shows and a central part of their ceatalogue. The era was still post-Viet Nam. The movie First Blood came out in 1982, Missing in Action in 1984, and Rambo in 1985. Sympathy for soldiers was strong and Glenn’s writing reflected that. A call for pacifism was not the mainstream, but that’s what was different about the CCM world.
== 2 == Reluctance Wendi takes the lead on this song, as she does with three of the ten tracks on this album. She brought energy to the band that Glenn’s vocals, for all their intensity, could not. There were a few critics of Wendi’s vocal style, but there is no doubt she was an integral part of Rez.
== 3 == Babylon Typical Rez fashion was a hard sound like this paired with Glenn’s lyrics about human suffering. In Bablyon his desire to reach lost souls comes through again. The band had a ministry that always returned to the needs of the people, and the desire to share the gospel. At the same time, this is another great rock song from the earliest, hardest Christian rock band of substance.
== 4 == I Need Your Love A rough voice streaming out smooth vocals over a guitar ringing with a mean-streets tone is exactly what we expect from Rez Band. There is energy in the playing, the singing and the writing. This didn’t become one of their most popular tracks but it is just as strong, and a great part of the structure of this album.
== 5 == Area 312 Area 312 is the area code for Chicago’s core, in case you didn’t know. Kids that are born there, grow up there, and need to find hope there are what Rez was about. JPUSA was the birthplace of Rez, and JPUSA was essentially a commune in a needy part of Chicago.
== 6 == No Alibi Almost a hymn of confession, this connects with yet another part of the faith they professed. The process of confession is central to the Christian faith, and whether it is a formal part of your church service or not, here it is, right on your record player ready to bring you into it. Every Rez concert had an altar call where people came forward and members of the band would preach and pray with the people in small groups. This fits perfectly with their message.
== 7 == White Noise is a CCM guitar classic. I remember I was listenting to it and someone asked me, “Is this AC/DC?” I answered that no, it was Rez. “Reall? This isn’t Rez. This is For Those About To Rock.”
It wasn’t AC/DC, and I don’t think a music fan should be able to mix the two songs up, but you get the idea of what kind of music this is. It’s hard rock. It’s what the kids were doing in the 80s. Rez gave us an alternative to following the weird path of Ozzy Osborne, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, all the way to Twisted Sister. We were proud of the music we listened to because it was different, it was ours, and it was better.
== 8 == Lonely Hearts Loneliness is part of living in a city of 2 million people. It’s a different kind of loneliness, where people are surrounded and alone. Once again bringing the inner city message, this song connects.
Looking back at it from 2018, we look at this as a Tinder attempt to connect with people and finding everything hollow. Emotions stay relevant forever regardless of technology.
== 9 == The Prisoner Rez did a lot of “cause” songs. This one is written from the perspective of a wheelchair bound human being, struggling to be seen as such. I don’t know the back story but it seems clear there is one, and Glenn connected with it. Rez made a big effort to humanize marginalized people, whether it was the poor, the Black South Africans, or the wheelchair-bound.
== 10 == So In Love With You In with everything else, Resurrection Band also wrote praise songs. The Psalms are more blues (lament) than praise, but the praise is there and they never forgot to incldue some of that on their albums. This is a joyful sound, created in the style of Rez.
Tracklist
1 – Military Man – 3:39
2 – Reluctance – 2:14
3 – Babylon – 2:36
4 – I Need Your Love – 3:24
5 – Area 312 – 3:56
6 – No Alibi – 4:39
7 – White Noise – 3:41
8 – Lonely Hearts – 3:00
9 – The Prisoner – 2:54
10 – So In Love With You – 3:38
Credits
Artwork By [Other Art & Layout] – JPUSA Graphics
Artwork, Cover – Dick Randall
Bass [Fretless Bass], Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Jim Denton
Drums – John Herrin
Engineer – Roger Heiss
Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Photography By – Denise Omernick, Linda Dillon (2), Pat Peterson (2)
Producer – Resurrection Band
Saxophone – Steve Eisen
Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Vocals, Guitar – Glenn Kaiser
Companies, etc.
Manufactured By – Word Records Limited
Resurrection Band billed themselves as “Rez” during this phase of their highly influential career in Christian Rock. They were one of the first out of the gate to define the hard rock genre within CCM.
1988’s Silence Screams introduces a new band member, Roy Montroy on bass, replacing original member Jim Denton. Roy gets writing credits for the music on six of the ten tracks on the album, paired with Glenn’s lyrics. He obviously fit right in, easily making this band his home.
One of the things that always set Rez Band apart was the lyrical depth. Eight of the ten songs on this album were written by an Glenn Kaiser, an ordained minister with a heart for social issues. Lyrics and messages were never an afterthought for this band, and they never skimped on the content there.
This record started a new tradition that carried on for the next three studio albums. Namely, they started doing mainstream cover songs. Eric Clapton’s “Presence of the Lord” gets the Rez treatment here, which is their typical hard edged Chicago blues rock. This is probably my favourite version of this song.
Tracklist
1 – Silence Screams – 4:11
2 – You Got Me Rockin’ – 3:13
3 – Someone Sleeps – 5:18
4 – Waitin’ On Sundown – 4:04
5 – Presence Of The Lord – 4:33
6 – Light / Light – 3:43
7 – Rain Dance – 5:03
8 – Every Waking Hour – 4:05
9 – Three Seconds – 4:36
10 – You Get What You Choose – 4:30
Credits
Artwork [Cover Art By] – Dick Randall
Band [REZ Is], Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy
Band [REZ Is], Drums – John Herrin
Band [REZ Is], Guitar, Vocals – Glenn Kaiser
Band [REZ Is], Lead Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss
Band [REZ Is], Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Design [Cover Design], Photography By – Cornerstone Graphics
Engineer [Engineered By] – Ed Bialach, Roger Heiss, Roy Montroy
Guest, Keyboards – Percy Bady (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6)
Mastered By – Steve Hall
Producer [Produced By] – REZ*, Tom Cameron
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Grrr Records
Copyright (c) – Grrr Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Engineered At – Tone Zone Recording
Mastered At – Future Disc
Published By – Rez Band Music
Published By – Unichappell Music, Inc.
Recorded Live in 1992 at Capernicus Centre in Chicago this album chronicles their hits from the previous 20 years. It is an excellent collection of the hits of the previous 20 years but of course the album can’t feature every hit from the previous 11 albums. The album is very well recorded and is a must have for your Rez collection.
Tracklist
1 – Waves – 2:49
2 – Military Man – 3:29
3 – Afrikaans – 3:02
4 – Attention – 3:47
5 – Colours – 3:36
6 – Players – 3:25
7 – The Struggle – 3:50
8 – Fiend Or Foul – 5:00
9 – Alienated – 2:00
10 – Paint A Picture – 4:26
11 – Wendi’s Rap – 4:43
12 – Right On Time – 5:10
13 – Love Comes Down – 3:25
14 – White Noise – 5:09
15 – My Jesus Is All – 4:42
16 – Lovespeak – 3:25
17 – In Your Arms – 3:36
18 – Bargain – 4:50
19 – Shadows – 4:47
20 – Somebody To Love – 2:50
21 – Every Time It Rains – 4:29
22 – Where Roses Grow – 9:12
23 – Light/Light – 4:00
24 – Glenn’s Rap – 5:56
25 – I Will Do My Last Singing – 4:27
Personnel
Guitar – Glenn Kaiser vocals
Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Keyboards, Guitar – Stu Heiss
Bass, Keyboards – Roy Montroy
Drums – John Herrin
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Grrr Records
Copyright (c) – Grrr Records
Manufactured By – Word, Inc.
Distributed By – Word, Inc.
Recorded Live in 1992 at Capernicus Centre in Chicago
As the story goes there were 3 Resurrection Band “Demos”. “Music to Raise the Dead” and “All Your Life” were recorded in 1974 and sold at their concerts in cassette form. This release is supposed to be the actual Demo that was presented to the Record companies. It has a few remixed songs from those 2 “demos” and some new tracks. It sounds like Stu Heiss is on a few tracks so those tracks would have to have been recorded in 1976 or later. Of interest on this release is a very early version of “Broken Promises”. Other than that it is all unreleased stuff except for “Quite Enough” which appeared on the Bootleg Live album.
Tracklist
1 – There Will Be Fire – 4:17
2 – Free – 5:02
3 – Help Us – 3:55
4 – Jesus Is The Rock – 4:31
5 – Quite Enough – 5:50
6 – Ocean Of His Love – 6:11
7 – He Speaks To Me – 2:17
8 – Broken Promises – 7:36
Credits
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Jim Denton
Drums – John Herrin
Harmonica – Tom Cameron
Lead Guitar, Piano – Stu Heiss
Lead Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Glenn Kaiser
This Demo was one of two demos recorded by Resurrection Band. It was recorded in Gary Rotta’s moms basement and was mixed using headphones as she was sleeping. It was distributed at concerts and is very rare. This was recorded before Stu Heiss joined the band but the style is definitely the sound we became used to from Resurrection Band. I’m not familiar with any songs on this Demo except Quite Enough which showed up on the Live Bootleg album in 1984. This is a nice insight to where Rez came from and lets us hear what they were doing before we all got to hear them.
Tracklist
1 – Down Baby – 6:17
2 – I Can’t Help Myself – 4:17
3 – Crimson River – 6:04
4 – There Will Be Fire – 4:03
5 – We Can See – 4:42
6 – Better Way – 4:01
7 – Growin’ Stronger – 4:22
8 – The Man I Used To Be – 5:25
9 – Quite Enough – 5:58
Credits
Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals – Jim Denton
Drums – John Herrin
Harmonica – Tom Cameron
Lead Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Lead Vocals, Guitar – Glenn Kaiser
1984’s offering from Rez Band is a collection from their songs on Sparrow Records, recorded live in Chicago, the band’s hometown. There are three previously unreleased tracks on this album. Gameroom and Playground were new offerings intended to engage with 1980s teen culture.
Quite Enough is a solid blues piece like we had rarely heard from Rez up to this point, but it is clear that the band knows how to put this together and that Glenn Kaiser knows the blues inside and out. The song was on the band’s original demo tape, which was never formally released, and also showed up in a 3 CD compilation released in 1998.
The record is some 42 minutes long, with 6 1/2 minutes of message. Wendi does a ‘rap’ on side one and Glenn closes out side two with his ‘rap’. This seems like a gutsy move for a band that always had closed out their albums with memorable rock songs. Glenn, an ordained minister at JPUSA always made sure to include the gospel in every show, so this should come as no surprise.
There is a blistering live version of White Noise, from D.M.Z. which came out just prior to this release. The live version of Lovin’ You adds extra energy that wasn’t in the studio version, replacing some of the synth sound with a steady bass line.
This is the only official live release other than XX Years Live, which came out in 1992.
Tracklist
1 – Military Man – 4:50
2 – Gameroom – 4:19
3 – Wendi’s Rap – 2:00
4 – Playground – 4:00
5 – Medley – (6:20)
5a Waves
5b Awaiting Your Reply
5c Broken Promises
5d Autograph
5e City Streets
6 – White Noise – 3:57
7 – Quite Enough – 5:03
8 – Area 312 – 3:56
9 – Can’t Stop Lovin’ You – 3:34
10 – Glenn’s Rap – 4:24
Credits
Artwork [Back And Inside Artwork] – Cornerstone Graphics, Dick Randall
Artwork [Front Cover Concept And Art] – Janet Cameron
Bass – Jim Denton
Drums – John Herrin
Engineer – Phil Bonanno, Roger Heiss
Guitar, Keyboards – Stu Heiss
Mastered By – Steve Hail
Photography By – Dick Randall, Pat Peterson, Tom Wray
Producer – Resurrection Band
Synthesizer, Guitar – Jim Denton (tracks: A4)
Vocals – Wendi Kaiser
Vocals, Guitar [Solo] – Glenn Kaiser
Companies, etc.
Record Company – Sparrow Records, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Sparrow Corporation
Published By – Luminar Music
Published By – Rez Band Music
Mixed At – Hedden West Studios
Mixed At – Solid Sound Studios, Hoffman Estates, IL
Mastered At – Future Disc
Recorded LIVE at the Odeum, Chicago, Octorber 21 and 22, 1983
Vox Dei is one of the top Spanish Christian bands of all time and this was their first release in 1990. Of course I can’t understand most of it however I find the music to be well done and while a little raw, typical for a first album, they are very talented musicians. The album has 3 Spanish covers of English CCM songs.
Joe English – Power of Prayer – “El Poder de la Oracion”
Resurrection Band – Lovin’ You – “Siempre Te Amare”
Darrell Mansfield – Bible Study (La Droga No Es Solucion – Drugs are Not the Solution)
The Darrell Mansfield cover apparently has the lyrics reworked into a anti drug song.
If you only listen to one Spanish Christian album this should probably be the one.
Tracklist
1 – Quitate la Máscara – (Take off the Mask)
2 – Libre de Egipto – (Free of Egypt)
3 – Amor Verdadero – (True Love)
4 – Salmo 23 – (Psalm 23)
5 – Gloria Al Señor – (Glory to the Lord)
6 – El Poder de la Oracion – (The Power of Prayer)
7 – La Droga No Es Solucion – (Drugs are Not the Solution)
8 – Salmo 150 – (Psalm 150)
9 – Vivo Está – (Live)
10 – Siempre Te Amare – (Lovin’ You)
