Throw Down Your Crowns (©1997 Grrr)

1: Wings Of The Wind 2: Throw Down Your Crowns 3: Let Us Glorify 4: I Surrender All To Thee 5: Light Of Dawn 6: You Are All To Me 7: Sanctuary 8: Blessed Rest 9: Never Can Repay 10: Immanuel 11: Fearfully, Wondrously Made 12: Holy Fire 13: Acceptable 14: Cause My Heart

Glenn Kaiser has a voice with enough power to light a small city. As a charter member of Resurrection Band, he was at the forefront of Christian hard rock in the 80’s. I lost track of the band for a long time, and was surprised there was a lot more going on with him than just belting out power chords.

Throw Down Your Crowns, is a praise album, without the heavy syrup. I have an aversion to most praise themed albums. I just can’t tell if it’s motivated by dollar signs, or if it’s really an honest reflection of the artist’s beliefs.

Glenn always struck me as the real deal, and someone who would quite frankly scare the crap out of me with the strength of his convictions. When reading the liner notes, he has some interesting words for those who would exploit worship music to their own ends. I don’t think Glenn is so arrogant as to think he’s immune to his own criticism. He makes a point of pulling a quote from Amos “I hate, I reject your festivals …” which I found to be an odd choice since he was so involved in the creation of one of the biggest festivals of them all: Cornerstone.

The songs here are thoughtful introspective words from an “I” point of view, which is refreshing. I don’t need someone pointing a finger at me, telling me how much I need to be saved. I know that already …

Throw Down Your Crowns is singing to the choir, and that’s what it’s for. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. It’s called fellowship. Glenn’s hymns are little sermons of encouragement, something we’re supposed to do for each other.

Can I get an amen?

Reviewed May 11, 2006

Time Will Tell (©1999 Grrr)

1: Memory 2: Postmodern Existential Ivy League Blues 3: Ya' Don't Say 4: Contact 5: Good Hope & New Philidelphia 6: Drive Me Down To Shonkin 7: Walkin' On Serpents 8: Deliver 9: Clear Blue Sky 10: Follywood Green 11: Plant The Seed Again 12: One More Step 13: My Strength, My Song

I’ve always loved the sound of Glenn Kaiser’s voice. I’ve been listening to Time will Tell off and on for several days and I’ve been having a heck of time trying to pull my thoughts together – this is a slippery album that doesn’t lend itself readily to an easy classification. It’s an acoustic album that isn’t rock, blues, or folk, nor is it a dreaded syrupy “worship” album. It’s a collection of songs – really good songs.

It’s an album that will appeal to fans of Americana. This is one of the better albums I’ve spun for a while, and it’s holding up pretty well – the power of a decent song will always shine through. I guess you could say that “Time has Told” Now if I could figure out how to find this stuff when it’s new.

Reviewed April 18, 2005

Neighborhood Watch by (©1996 OnOff)

the songs: The Sinking Song / O My Heart / Someone / Green Shirt / Hello ... Insane Asylum? The Leprechaun / Cut / Matthew / Last Boy / One More Time / The Porch Song / Tired Little Son

Kevin Kane is probably best known as part of the Grapes of Wrath. For a while it seemed like Kevin had dropped off the face of the earth. His old band carried on for a while without him, and there were rumours of legal battles and all that messy stuff.

Then in 1996 he resurfaced with a beautifully simple album. Mostly an acoustic album it showcases Kevin's strengths as a singer and musician. This is one of those albums you actually listen to. Everytime I play it I feel like he's sitting in the corner playing and singing just for me.

This album is long out of print, and the company that distributed it long out of business. I found my copy a few months ago at a record store for around 10 bucks. Sadly he'll never see a penny. This is well worth searching out. Welcome back Kevin.

Reviewed August 15, 2001

1: Watch My Back 2: Isle of Skye 3: The Moors of Bellevue 4: River of Life 5: Budapest Control 6: Angel Treads 7: More to be Revealed 8: 53 Days in June 9: Perspicuity 10: The Quote Jester 11: Something, Somewhere

Invention doesn’t really contain anything new, or all that innovative. It does however contain eleven finely crafted pop songs by three very talented players. Prior to picking this album the only name I really knew of the three was Phil.

Many of the songs come across a little like a PFR / Dogs of Peace type offering. The instrumental tunes run the gamut from pop to Eastern European surf music. "Perspicuity" borrows pretty heavily from Jimi Hendrix' "Manic Depression" it was either on purpose or it was a similarity that wasn't clearly obvious when they were recording the song. Still, it is an album I enjoy when it’s playing, but not something I play a lot. The quality of musicianship is not the issue. These projects tend to be very niche oriented anyway, and in terms of a meeting of talents this is pretty good stuff.

Reviewed October 20, 2005

Part of the Mystery (©1995 Ardent/Forefront)

the songs: Part of the Mystery / By Divine Design / Invisible Kingdom / That's What Love is About / Dear Mr. Clapton / Rain On / Daniel / Liar, Lunatic or Lord / Prisoner of Chillon / Mary

I have always liked DeGarmo and Key, but didn't really think much of Dana's first solo effort "The Journey." However, when I found this CD on sale for under 5 bucks I thought I'd give it a try.  Why do artists turn their backs on the music that made them agreeable in the first place and decide to go MOR?  This album is a fine listen but there's no spark, and sadly it won't make a lot of trips to my CD player.

KihnSolidation (©1989 Rhino/Beserkley)

1: The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em) 2: Jeopardy 3: Someday 4: Lucky 5: Reunited 6: Small Change 7: Can't Stop Hurtin' Myself 8: Any Other Woman 9: Happy Man 10: Testify 11: Sorry 12: Remember 13: For You 14: Madison Avenue 15: Rendezvous 16: In The Naked Eye 17: Anna Belle Lee 18: Love And Rock And Roll

Greg Kihn has been around a long time, and this collection pulls tunes from 1977 to 1986. He’s best known for The Breakup Song, and Jeopardy (immortalized by Weird Al) but he’s also put out a lot of pretty solid pop songs. Remember is a song I haven’t heard in years, and I’d forgotten how good it is. There are a bunch of pretty good tunes sprinkled throughout the collection. These guys had some of the best album titles in rock and roll. His name leant itself to puns and he pulled out some doozies.

I had a lot of these albums on vinyl way back when and there are a couple of songs that I’d have liked to seen (mainly from Rockihnroll), but life’s like that, and I wasn’t hired to choose the songs. Hell, if I was in charge this CD would probably only have five songs on it, so it’s better that someone else did the legwork.

These guys were never at the top of the heap, but they were a solid pop band, and had enough solid songs to make them worth remembering. They rode in on the new pop wave in the late 70’s when disco was choking out rock and roll, and managed to inject some good fun into music for a while.

PS I know it's hard to see in the picture but Greg is sporting a wonderful mullet. It was the late 80's so I'll cut him some slack - he did make it look good though.

Reviewed July 3, 2003

Classic Toto Hits (©1994 ISBA Music Entertainment)

the songs: Child's Anthem / Out of Love / Rosanna / I Won't HoldYou Back / Hold The Line / I'll Be Over You / Africa / Holyanna / Isolation / One Day At A Time / Cool Change

This is one of those weird albums that practically defies description. Years ago I found this filed under Toto, and thought that it was a greatest hits album. After all, it is called Classic Hits.

It turns out this is a German release featuring Bobby Kimbal (sic) with the HR Rundfunk-Orchestra. Poor guy, they couldn't even spell his name right on the album cover.

But don't write this off as a complete waste of time. The arrangements aren't terrible, and it's fun to hear Bobby singing Toto songs again, especially songs he wasn't a part of. I'm sure that the die hard Toto purists hate this album, but I'm a die hard fan too, and I kind of like it. So there.

Reviewed November 27, 2001

All I Ever Needed (©1999 Point Music)

the songs: 'Til Tomorrow / All I Ever Needed / My Kind of Lover / Two Souls / This Time / Kristine / Live the Groove / Do You Ever / Loves Gonna Find You / Hand in Hand

I've been a fan of Toto since their first album when I was in my teens. I never really gave Bobby his due as a singer. Being a guitar player I thought it was cool when Steve sang; and Dave sang great songs too. Looking back there really there was only one lead vocalist in the band and that was Bobby Kimball.

This album was a real surprise when I found it surfing around. I pulled out the Visa and after a few days the CD arrived. The first time through I thought, "Man does this ever sound like vintage Toto." Bobby's voice is stronger than ever for a guy who must be approaching (gasp) fifty. The guitar player is some guy named Buzzy Fieten, and I almost wonder if it's a pseudonym for Steve Lukather. The boy can play. The more I listened the more it didn't sound like Toto, this was truly a solo effort, and well worth seeking out.

Reviewed November 23, 2001

Celluloid Heroes (©2001 KOCH)

1: 20th Century Man 2: Complicated Life 3: Muswell Hillbilly 4: Alcohol (Live) 5: Celluloid Heros 6: Here Comes Yet Another Day 7: Sweet Lady Genevieve 8: One Of The Survivors 9: Sitting In The Midday Sun 10: He's Evil 11: Mirror Of Love 12: Artificial Man 13: Everybody's A Star (Starmaker) 14: (A) Face In The Crowd 15: You Can't Stop The Music 16: I'm In Disgrace 17: The Hard Way 18: No More Looking Back

This is an album I bought by accident. I thought it was the Kinks Greats Hits. What I got was a disc full of cuts from their RCA tenure (1971 – 1975). My first thoughts weren’t very charitable. Words like “Crap” and “Ick” came to my mind. I was expecting the Kinks! Not this weird organic stuff.

I can’t rewrite history so why not give it a chance? After all, I was what seven or eight when this stuff was being released. It was hardly on my musical radar. Not like the Monkeys or the Banana Splits. So I stuck with it, and let it play off and on for a couple of months – as a result I’ve come away with a better appreciation of the depth of this band.

Musically there are moments that remind me of the Grateful Dead of all things. There are a number of solid tracks where boys cut loose and go for the throat with the kind of music I was hoping to hear from the Kinks. "He’s Evil" is so good it puts a big ass grin on my face every time it comes on. Another stand out is The Hard Way.

I’m glad I took the time to learn a little from history.

Reviewed January 14, 2004

Sing Over Me (©2006 BRT Productions)

1: Burn (Send Your Love) 2: Soar 3: You Are Worthy 4: I Am Weak 5: I Will Follow You Always 6: Before Your Throne 7: Rain Down 8: Sing Over Me 9: Selah 10: Hold Me Jesus 11: Jesus is My Everything 12: Selah (pre-mix)

Based on Matt’s debut album, I’m left with the impression that young master Kline is a kid with a big heart, and even bigger convictions. I supposed you could call this a praise album by definition, but I hate to pigeonhole the guy into a label right out of the chute. Especially a label that for most indie alternative minded people is a fate worse than being stuck on a desert island with only Carman CDs as company.

Matt sees his music as a ministry, and that’s fine. Albeit in my opinion he's being naïve, and shows his trust in people’s ability to discern between product and profit. Hats off to him, for not being a jaded glass half empty pessimist. We need the enthusiasm of youth to move people.

I’m not about to get into the whole music as a ministry argument. As far as I’m concerned the minute you package something and offer it for sale, it’s product. Period. Matt has to eat and pay for stuff – so let him make money off it. If an artist can be positive and express his faith, as Petra used to say, “More power to ya.”

Enough rambling. I was sent this CD by Matt’s self-proclaimed biggest fan Craig, so that I could offer my opinion such as it is. I played it a few times and was immediately taken with the earnestness of Matt’s delivery. But more importantly, I liked what I heard. This was punchy power pop. He put some real effort (and money) into sounding good and it shows. It's too bad he didn't take the same time and effort with the packaging. This isn't going to get any second looks based on the cover. Hopefully he repackages this at some point.

For those people who like to read the credits, Tony Palacios mixed this at the prestigious Sound Kitchen in Nashville. Yes, that Tony. Guardian fans know him as a great player, but in more recent years Tony has been gaining deserved notoriety as a first class twiddler of knobs.

The albums opens with (wait for it) a scorcher in “Burn” and continues the pace for most of the album. This is pretty good stuff. Matt even throws in a decent cover of Rich Mullins’ “Hold Me Jesus”. He also has two versions of “Selah” on the album, which could have been spaced farther apart.

Matt is serious about making a go of it with music, and I wish him well. Musically I have to say, that there’s nothing new here. It’s not generic, but there’s nothing here that really puts him over the myriad of other similar artists vying for attention. What he has going for him is time. This is a debut, and it’s pretty strong, and he’ll only get better as he matures. Who knows, with a little luck and timing he could catch a break.

Reviewed May 11, 2006

Kill to Get Crimson (©2007)

1. True Love Will Never Fade 2. The Scaffolder's Wife 3. The Fizzy And The Still 4. Heart Full Of Holes 5. We Can Get Wild 6. Secondary Waltz 7. Punish The Monkey 8. Let It All Go 9. Behind With The Rent 10. The Fish And The Bird 11. Madame Geneva's 12. In The Sky

Kill to Get Crimson was a pleasant surprise. I've not heard a lot of Mark's solo work, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This isn't a rock and roll record, nor is it a journey into Americana. It's a quiet, thoughtful, and wonderfully laid back effort. At worst this could be dismissed as nothing more than pleasing background music - but there's more going than there first appears. The songs are front and centre here, and Mark's distinctive voice is front and centre. This doesn't mean that Mark's playing has taken on a secondary role. Far from it - rather than flash, there's substance. This is the work of a master who places notes carefully.

There are some really good songs. The album works well as a piece, so trying to pull out favourites is a bit tricky. Today as I listen to it I'm struck by "True Love Will Never Fade", "The Scaffolder's Wife", the beautiful "Heart Full of Holes" and the album's closer "In the Sky".

I have to admit that I never really made that big a deal out of Mark's solo stuff. Kill to Get Crimson is a really good album. There's a good chance that I'm going to have revisit the works of Mister Knopfler.

Reviewed January 5, 2007

It Is Time for a Love Revolution (©2008)

01. Love Revolution 02. Bring It On 03. Good Morning 04. Love Love Love 05. If You Want It 06. I'll Be Waiting 07. Will You Marry Me 08. I Love the Rain 09. A Long and Sad Goodbye 10. Dancin' til Dawn 11. This Moment is All There Is 12. A New Door 13. Back in Vietnam 14. I Want To Go Home

Lenny Kravitz is one of those guys who is stuck. He's still beating the same old musical horse, and as you'd expect there are hits, and there are misses. Lenny is one of those guys who has the look, sound, and groove of the stereotypical rock star.

He's not the most consistent performer out there, and each album misfires as often as it connects. But when he puts all the ingredients together he can be pretty freakin' amazing. "If You Want It" is one of such song. It's got the retro vibe and 70's Jesus Movement thing going on, with a solid riff. In short it's classic Lenny. Then he counters with his funka-cacaphonic "Will You Marry Me". I'm not sure what the heck that is, I'm reluctant to call it shit, because I hate using profanity in my writing. Besides I needed to save the word to describe "Back in Vietnam". Jeez-louise Lenny, we're the same age. You were what, nine years old when the war ended? I know that music you riff on was new when the war ended, but I'm not sure that grants you poetic license to write your own version of "Fortunate Son". Or maybe it does - what do I know.

Lenny is an artist who for me pulls of a few killer songs each album, and for me that's enough to justify picking up his stuff. Ultimately It Is Time for a Love Revolution collapses under the weight of its own pretentiousness. Maybe if Lenny was to allow himself a little more breathing room musically he could stretch himself. Isn't it time?

Reviewed February 22, 2008