Tag: Whitecross

This is the 4th studio album from Whitecross. To say it was successful would be an understatement. The album reached #12 on Billboard’s Top Contemporary Christian Albums chart and won a Dove award for Hard Music Album of the Year. The revolving door of members continued on this album with Butch Dillon on bass and Mike Feighan on drums for this album. I think it’s fair to say that at this point Whitecross was Scott Wenzel and Rex Carroll. Interestingly the track “Holy War” featured hip hop artist Alton Hood of Disciples of Christ. I’ve listened to this track a couple times now and one time I think it’s an excellent track and the next time I think it’s disjointed and doesn’t work. I don’t know if they were trying to reproduce the success of Aerosmith/Run-DMC but it’s certainly not of that level. One last point of trivia was that the music video for “No Second Chances” was the band’s first video ever seen on MTV’s Headbangers Ball.

Tracklist
1 – No Second Chances – 4:45
2 – We Know What’s Right – 6:06
3 – In The Kingdom – 5:20
4 – In His Hands – 3:37
5 – Good Enough – 3:58
6 – Love Is Our Weapon – 4:41
7 – The Eternal Fire (Guitar Solo) – 2:00
8 – You Will Find It There – 6:00
9 – If He Goes Before Me – 4:13
10 – Tell Me The Time – 4:29
11 – Holy War – 5:55

Credits
Backing Vocals – Butch Dillon, Dez Dickerson, Glenn Kaiser, Linda Clifford, Mike Feighan, Rex Carroll, Rey Parra, Scott Wenzel, Steve Watkins, Vicky Hubly
Bass [Musical Support] – Rick Cua
Bass, Vocals – Butch Dillon
Booking, Management – Gavin Markel, PGM Management
Creative Director – Toni Thigpen
Design, Layout – Jeff Spencer
Director Of Photography – Toni Thigpen
Drums [Musical Support] – Mike Mead
Drums, Vocals – Mike Feighan
Engineer [2nd engineer, mixing @ 16th Avenue Sound] – Graham Lewis
Engineer [2nd engineer, recording @ Jor-Dan Studio] – Glenn West
Engineer [editing @ Georgetown Masters] – Carlos Grier
Engineer [mastering @ Georgetown Masters] – Denny Purcell
Executive Producer – Dez Dickerson
Guitar, Vocals – Rex Carroll
Keyboards [Musical Support] – Chris Cameron
Lead Vocals – Scott Wenzel
Other [Make-up] – Michael Tyler
Percussion [Musical Support] – Richard Trelease
Photography By – Russ Harrington
Producer, Recorded By, Mixed By – Simon Hanhart
Rap – Alton Hood

Companies, etc.
Record Company – Star Song Communications
Distributed By – Word Ltd.
Manufactured By – Word Ltd.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Star Song Records
Copyright © – Star Song Records
Recorded At – Jor-Dan Studios
Mixed At – Sixteenth Avenue Sound
Mastered At – Georgetown Masters
Edited At – Georgetown Masters
Glass Mastered At – Nimbus

Whitecross released this EP shortly after releasing their first album. I’m not entirely sure what the strategy was here as 2 of the tracks from this EP are actually on that first album. If I had to guess I think they probably wanted this to be released before their first album but something went wrong along the way and it was delayed but that is strictly a guess. As I said the album contained 2 tracks from their first album the other 2 tracks wouldn’t appear on an album until much later. Anyway this must have been a treat for Whitecross fans and with 2 unreleased tracks it must have been a must own. Interestingly it was only released on vinyl and cassette with the same four tracks simply repeated on the flip side.

Tracklist
1 – Love On The Line – 6:00
2 – I Believe – 3:52
3 – No Way I’m Going Down – 4:12
4 – Enough Is Enough – 4:04

Credits
Bass – Jon Sproule
Drums – Mark Hedl
Engineer – Dan Rudin
Executive Producer – Gavin Morkel
Guitar – Rex Carroll
Producer – Rex Carroll
Vocals – Scott Wenzel

Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Grand Slam Studios

More metal, more hair in this 1988 release from Whitecross.

Hammer & Nail is their third album, still with “Pure Metal Records” (and other distributions in Europe). The name says it all.

The sound on this one is almost Queensryche, which is a little different than their earlier work.

The guitar work still shines on this album, with solid rhythm work and plenty of good lead guitar licks to keep the songs moving. It never gets boring, even though they really drive out the anthem choruses on songs like “When The Walls Tumble Down” and “Because of Jesus.”

The title track “The Hammer And The Nail” starts out with a good long guitar solo intro and plenty more of those flourishes that make the song fun to listen to.

The song “Walk With Me” is another ballad offering like we’ve been used to getting from the WC boys. That soft vocal sound is a little surprising to find among all the hard rock on this album, but the song sustains energy and still fits on the album.

Intersting note, the album title is not on the cover, just a picture of a hammer and a nail. The edge of the jacket and all the official release info though confirms the name is official.

Track Listing:
1 – Living On The Edge – 5:11
2 – When The Walls Tumble Down – 3:32
3 – The Hammer And The Nail – 1:35
4 – Take It To The Limit – 4:09
5 – Walk With Me – 4:44
6 – Because Of Jesus – 3:40
7 – When The Clock Strikes – 4:34
8 – Resist Him – 4:20
9 – Living In A Lost World – 3:51
10 – Top Of The World – 3:33

Credits
Band [Whitecross Is], Bass – Jon Sproule
Band [Whitecross Is], Drums – Mark Hedl
Band [Whitecross Is], Guitar [Guitars] – Rex Carroll
Band [Whitecross Is], Lead Vocals – Scott Wenzel
Cover, Art Direction, Design – Jeff Spencer
Engineer – Doug Oberkircher
Engineer [Assisted By] – Dan Rudin, Vince Micko
Executive-Producer – Gavin Morkel
Photography By [Band Photography] – Bill Bilsley
Photography By [Cover Photography] – Kevin Bubbenmoyer
Producer [Produced By] – Joey Powers, Rex Carroll

Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Star Song
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Star Song
Record Company – Star Song Communications
Recorded At – Grand Slam Studios
Recorded At – Opus Recording Studio
Manufactured By – EMI Jax
Published By – Girder Music

This debut album from Whitecross hit us in the peak of CCM’s metal heyday. The guitar sounds are unmistakably 80s metal, but Whitecross has a much more melodic sound to their songs than some of the other bands. It’s like a harder version of Bon Jovi and it’s fun to listen to.

Whitecross has the vocal harmonies are typical in this genre of music, and in addition to that, each song has a melody that the listener can follow along with. Some of the similar bands lack this distinction. All in all one of the better examples of this style of music.

Track Listing:
A1 Who Will You Follow
A2 Enough Is Enough
A3 He Is The Rock
A4 Lookin’ For A Reason
A5 You’re Mine
B1 No Way I’m Goin’ Down
B2 Seein’ Is Believin’
B3 All I Need
B4 Nagasake
B5 Signs Of The End

Companies, etc.:
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Pure Metal Records (3)
Copyright (c) – Pure Metal Records (3)
Distributed By – Refuge Music Group
Distributed By – Creative Music Canada
Recorded At – Opus Recording Studio
Mixed At – Opus Recording Studio
Published By – Girder Music

Credits:
Bass – Jon Sproule (The Human Harmonizer)*
Design, Graphics [Photo Tinting] – Jeff Spencer (2)
Drums – Mark Hedl
Engineer – Perry Miller
Executive-Producer – Gavin Morkel*
Guitar – Rex Carroll
Keyboards [Additional] – Joan Johnson (5), Kent Cantwell, Tonja Kataja
Photography By – Gary Trantafil
Producer – Caesar Kalinowski, Rex Carroll
Vocals – Scott Wenzel (Scottzilla!)*