One Year Anniversary!

Holy cannoly! Has it really been a whole year since I started this blog? I've been having a lot of fun with this blog, much to the consternation of my other blogs that sit there un-updated. So... question for those who may be regular readers (if I actually have any!)...

Is there anything you'd like to see? I've pretty much been doing whatever I feel like but I'd be open to suggestions. Probably the only thing I won't do is put whole albums for download - so don't ask. I don't know how and a lot of stuff is being reissued anyway. Also, blogspot tends to frown on that sort of thing and I've worked too much on this blog to have it shut down.

So... other than that... anything else?

Special thanks to my wife Lindy for giving up the computer for a few minutes to let me write reviews. Also special thanks to little Lexi.... the best little girl in the whole wide world!



Yes. It's Halloween. Yes... that's Lexi in a Christmas dress.

P.S. Taking suggestions for good Christmas albums. Which ones are your favorites?

Knott, Michael - "Alternative Worship: Prayer, Petitions, and Praise"

Knott, Michael - Alternative Worship: Prayer, Petitions, and Praise

1994, Alarma

1. On My Feet Again

2. Windows

3. River of Love

4. Simple Man

5. Everything For Stormie

6. Shine

7. Call on You

8. Never Forsaken

9. Lamb of God

10. Holy, Holy, Holy

11. Within

Rule of Acquisition #239 states, "Never be afraid to mislabel a product." So it is with Alternative Worship. An album that was originally billed as a worship album by Terry Taylor, Gene Eugene, and Michael Knott. However, what it really is is a Michael Knott solo album with Terry and Gene singing a song or two. I think that's why I originally didn't like this CD. I was expecting sort of a "Lost Dogs" type fusion and it wasn't that. It also dies down a bit toward the end with quiet, acoustic songs. That being said, this is going to end up being one of my top picks of the year. Strictly speaking it's not worship, per se - if we used the narrowest definition (the one I prefer is "being consumed with who God is"). It's more like... songs from a prayer closet. Honest and open, holding nothing back. Usually the phrase "Giving it all to God" is so cliche and trite but it certainly applies here especially in a song like "Call on You" where Michael sings, "But for now I call on you/For help with cash for bills overdue/ And strength to influence right/ The little one I hold so tight." Pretty much anything about little girls or parenting makes me cry these days. Can't help it, I'm a big softee. It's good to hear Gene again on the poignant "Windows" which is one of the most beautiful songs he's performed on. Then there's "Holy, Holy, Holy" - a very simple song but it captures something that the modern worship blitz with it's multi-million dollar production setups misses.... actual worship. I've never been a huge L.S.U./Michael Knott fan but this disc went from being a curiosity (because I didn't like it when I was a teenager) to an essential.

Useless Fact: I believe "Everything for Stormie" is about Michael's daughter. I know, I know, anyone with half a brain would pick up on that but I didn't have any tidbits for this one. I'm as disappointed as you are.

Various Artists - "Temporary Insanity: A Salute to Deliverance"

Various Artists - Temporary Insanity: A Salute to Deliverance

2010, Roxx Productions

Disc One:

1. Deliverance - "Flesh and Blood (25th Anniversary Recording)"

2. Deliverance - "In-U (25th Anniversary Recording)"

3. Oil - "Attack"

4. Applehead/Fasedown - "Belltown"

5. Lambs Among Wolves - "Greetings of Death"

6. Stricken - "No Time"

7. FaseUltified - "What a Joke"

8. Grave Robber - "Awake"

9. Ghostemple - "If We Faint Not"

10. Faith Factor - "Weapons of Our Warfare"

11. Whisper From Heaven - "Anymore"

12. Venia - "Desperate Cries"

13. Days of Affliction - "River Disturbance"

14. Grave Forsaken - "Bought By Blood"

15. Eternal Decision - "Belltown"

Disc Two:

1. Deliverance - "The Hunger and the Thirst"

2. Oil - "Screaming"

3. The Sacrificed - "Slay the Wicked"

4. Coriolis - "What a Joke"

5. Krig - "Weapons of Our Warfare"

6. Leper - "The Call"

7. Unforsaken - "Stay of Execution"

8. Crucible Divine - "Ramming Speed"

9. Walk on Water - "Learn"

10. Visions of Reality - "Blood of the Covenant"

11. Saint Spirit - "Prophets of Idiocy"

12. Bloodpaid - "Words to the..."

13. Bi-Polar Echo - "The Call"

14. Incarnate - "Victory"

15. Pastor Brad - "A Space Called You"

This year marks the twenty-five year anniversary of the formation of Deliverance. I can't believe it's been that long. I'm only 31 as of this writing. That means the band formed when I was six... SIX! Deliverance is one of my favorite bands of all time. I get in moods where I'm in the mood for this band or that band but Deliverance is one of the handful of bands that has always stood at the top of the heap. For whatever reason Jimmy P. Brown's songwriting just resonates with me in a way that few artists do. I have every D disc and love pretty much all of them to varying degrees.

About a year ago or so the posters from the Christian Metal Realm decided to contribute songs for a Deliverance tribute. I think it was originally supposed to be an EP. So many people responded that it became a 2-disc mega project and now we can finally reap the benefits of everyone's labor. I wasn't initially going to get this but when I looked at the track list and saw the artists involved my opinion changed. Deliverance themselves contribute three tracks along with Greg Minier (Applehead/The Crucified), Grave Robber, Josh Kramer (Saint) and Scott Waters (Ultimatum) to name just a few. Seeing some of those names... dang... the decision pretty much made itself. I love when that happens.

The question is... how is it? Honestly... pretty dang good. Well worth the fifteen bucks. No matter the recording quality of the track you can tell that everyone on here has put their heart and soul into these songs. It's truly a labor of love and that passion oozes through the speakers and is almost contagious. Instead of doing a track by track thing I'll just give you some highlights...

Disc one is the best of the two and contains the most well known talent. The D rerecordings of "Flesh and Blood" and "In-U" are awesome... especially "In-U." That's been a favorite of mine for a long time and it's great to hear it get an upgrade. It's great to see Greg Minier back in action with a great rendition of "Belltown" (which includes members of Fasedown). Hey Greg... when are we gonna see a new Applehead? Please, pretty please! Also... thank you Grave Robber for "Awake." I love you guys. Finally, I don't know who Whisper From Heaven is but their rendition of "Anymore" is stunning. They took the somber and minimalistic Camelot track (which I already liked in the first place) and turned it into something epic. Now just because I didn't mention the other tracks that doesn't mean they're bad, far from it. Probably the only track I didn't like on disc one was "River Disturbance." Mainly because the vocal performance is not really that great. It sounds like the singer is flat a lot of the time.

I don't think disc two is quite as strong but it does have some really cool moments. I've always liked "Hunger and the Thirst." Jimmy posted it on the old D website a long time and I never downloaded it so it's great to finally have it on CD. It's a little bit different in that it's along the lines of the Assimilation material or This Sad Veil of Tears. I dig the industrial covers of "What a Joke" (by Coriolis) and "The Call" (by Leper). "The Call" almost sounds like Deliverance as filtered through Devo! There are a few tracks on disc two that aren't that good - like it's Amatuer Hour at Deliverance Tavern, but the fact that I still listen to most of them is a testimony to the songwriting prowess of Jimmy and the guys. In fact throughout the course of this two-disc extravaganza you'll hear two "Belltowns," two "What a Jokes," two "The Calls," and two "Weapons of Our Warfares." I was surprised that even with the repeats I was still groovin.

If you're a long-time fan of the D - get this. Just get it. You won't be sorry. Out of the 30 tracks on here I'd say 24 of them are really good. Still well worth the money in my book.

Useless Fact: I find it odd that on a tribute called Temporary Insanity no one felt the need to cover "Temporary Insanity."

System of a Down - "Steal This Album!"

System of a Down - Steal This Album!

2002, Columbia

1. Chic 'n' Stu

2. Innervision

3. Bubbles

4. Boom!

5. Nuguns

6. A.D.D.

7. Mr. Jack

8. I-E-A-I-A-I-O

9. 36

10. Pictures

11. Highway Song

12. F**k the System

13. Ego Brain

14. Theatwaves

15. Roulette

16. Streamline

I've heard that most of Steal this Album! is tracks that were left off of Toxicity. Honestly, that's exactly what it sounds like - tracks not good enough to be on Toxicity. Granted, there's a few good tracks on here like "Innervision" and "Chic 'n' Stu" but for the most part the songs here just aren't as catchy or as heavy. I only paid a dollar for this because I got it as a trade on Music Boomerang and I'm glad because there's just not much here that grabs me.

Useless Fact: There's no actual cover art for this disc. They shipped it out intentionally to look like a bootleg. Different discs have different art on the disc itself. So yeah... no lyrics, no liner notes... no nothin'.

My Little Dog China - "The Velvis Carnival"

My Little Dog China - The Velvis Carnival

1994, Alarma

1. Listen

2. Her Machining

3. Puppets & Fools

4. See the Man Fall

5. Entanglement (The Web)

6. Iconland

7. Why?

8. Eggshells

9. Salvadori

10. Nothing

11. Swirl

It's I M P O R T A N T ! It's D E E P! It's E A R N E S T! It's..... COLLEGE ALTERANTIVE ROCK!!!!!! All joking aside My Little Dog China came out at a time when Christian music was sloughing off it's glam rock/metal skin and morphing into the pale alternative grunge clone that only the Christian music industry could produce. Um... anyway... where was I? Oh yeah, this is very fuzzy, feedbacky cacophony of sound with lyrics about being yourself, being miserable, and raging against the "machine" (no pun intended). You know what though? I like it. There's some cool melodic parts and lots of bass which I did not expect. It's probably not something that I'll listen to a lot, but it's fun to spin when I need something different. Or when I want to wear flannel.

Useless Fact: My Little Dog China came out with one more, more commercial album called Game Face and then no more was heard from them.

The Moshketeers - "The Downward Spiral"

The Moshketeers - The Downward Spiral

2010, Roxx Productions

1. Sin

2. The Downward Spiral

3. Locked in Chains

4. Ye!

5. The Myth

6. Self Extinction

7. Epicurus

8. Posers of Deceit

9. Grease the Duck

10. Nightmares

11. The Life of Emptiness

BONUS TRACKS

12. Return (1997 Demo)

13. Death or Life (1997 Demo)

14. Thelo Angolia (1997 Demo)

15. Take My Life (1997 Demo)

16. Ye! (1989 Demo)

The Moshketeers were a band that were a little bit like unicorns - a mystical entity that I had only heard about third hand through rumors and other band's liner notes. I had some friends that said they were awesome and the rumor mill seemed to indicate that they were awesome. Unfortunately, we never had much of a metal "scene" in my town so the band remained a mystery. Roxx Productions has reissued the bands one and only album so now I finally get a chance to hear these guys. They were exactly as I expected - plain ol' American thrash. Decent thrash too. I can't say I was completely "wowed" or anything but there's a lot here to like. The disc has been remastered which gives the guitars a nice thick "CHUG-CHUG-CHUG" and the bass is mixed in well which makes things sound nice and heavy. The band experiments with some different sounds going from a stoner/doom type metal in "Self Extinction" to more of a groove-type sound on "Grease the Duck" (a personal favorite). The vocalist sounds a like a cross between Kurt Bachman (Believer) and Joey Belladonna (ex-Anthrax). I'm sure if this band had been signed and released albums they would have taken their place among Deliverance, Tourniquet, etc. as a legendary band. While it isn't quite the awe-inspiring collection of songs that the rumors promised, it's still a really fun listen and I'm glad I bought it.

Useless Fact: When the band started out they were originally known as Rapture. I think The Moshketeers is a way cooler name.

Ethereal Scourge - "Judgement and Restoration"

Ethereal Scourge - Judgement and Restoration

1997, Rowe Productions

1. Through the Waters

2. Warcry

3. Refuge

4. Estranged From the Womb

5. Shroud of Mist

6. Earthshaker

7. Hecatombs

8. Restoration

9. Quiet Surround

10. Subconcious

11. Giver of Life

Based on the strength of "Death of Hades" and "Tombthroat," both of which appeared on the Hard and Heavy From Down Under compilation, I excitedly bought Ethereal Scourge's debut disc. Originally I was bored to tears with it. I'm not sure why exactly but I think at the time the songs seemed boring to me. I recently bought it to see if it was as boring the second time around. Good news... it's not. I really dig it now. Ethereal Scourge's brand of melodic death metal is powerful. They manage to weave textures together with clean guitar tones, acoustic guitar passages, and plain ol' thrash metal riffs. They use a lot of harmonics as well which I think adds a little spice. There are even some clean vocal lines like in "Warcry." "Giver of Life" has some groove in it too and was probably the only song I liked originally. The album definitely has more meat, both musically and lyrically, than your average death metal disc. Speaking of lyrics, these are some of the most beautiful, reverent, and worshipful (worshipful? is that a word?) lyrics I've heard on any Christian disc. I've always thought that metal could be worshipful but I hadn't seen anything that comes close until listening to this on the way to work. Pretty much everyone uses the word "majestic" to describe the band's sound but I can't think of any other word that fits. I guess I just had to be a little older to appreciate what was going on here.

Useless Fact: This is the band's one and only CD. Though according to Scott Waters at Nolifetilmetal the band is still together.