Gideon's Army (USA)

[Horex]

Gideon's Army - Grace (1990)













Year : 1990
Style : Melodic Rock , AOR , Christian Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 101 mb

Bio:

Gideon’s Army was born in 1973, during the early years of CCM. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, the band worked to support the prison ministry that is now known as Follow Up Ministries. Gideon's Army worked closely with juvenile halls, the CA Youth Authority, and CA State and Federal prisons. Their sound started out as acoustic, laid back gospel similar to the Maranatha! bands out of L.A. Before long, the band would morph into a full-fledged aggressive Christian rock act. The change was better suited for their outreach which included street ministry (Jews for Jesus, S.O.S. San Francisco), Christian coffee houses, and concert ministry (Great America, Oakland Civic Auditorium, H.P. Pavillian San Jose) among many other ministry opportunities. It wasn’t until 1982 that the band recorded and independently released their debut album Rock n’ Roll For Your Soul. The album reflected what was happening in the S.F.B.A. music scene at the time - dual lead guitars, horns and an R&B feeling. Their follow up 1985 release of the now iconic Warriors of Love brought big changes both in personnel and sound. Gone were the horns, dual guitar leads and most notably there was a more aggressive rock format. The new sound stood shoulder to shoulder with bands like Van Halen, Night Ranger, Petra, and .38 Special. The album sold like crazy at shows, but with no formal distribution many people never got their hands on the now high dollar collectible vinyl of this legendary classic rock release. This problem continued with their third and final album, Grace, which was released in CS and CD formats on a small independent label that did not remain in existence for very long after the album's release. Original CD copies of Grace are some of the rarest and most sought after CD collectibles in the world of AOR and Christian rock, almost never selling on eBay for less than $100 whenever one comes up for sale, which is usually only a few times a year at most. However, 2013 may be a landmark year for fans of this legendary band.In June or July of 2013, Retroactive Records (see links) released a remastered reissue of Warriors of Love on CD for the first time ever. I have also heard rumors that the other two Gideon's Army albums, including the hyper-rare Grace, may also be in the pipeline for an eventual Retroactive reissue. In the meantime, it may be possible to obtain an excellent quality CD-R rip of the first album and a CD-R digital copy of an original Grace CD from Gideon's Army guitarist Dave Angeles, who is currently in a band called Sonhouse Bluesband.While he offered to make me the copies at no charge, I would suggest a small donation to his band and their ministry (maybe $8 to $10 per album) or the purchase of one or two of their Sonhouse Bluesband CDs to go along with a request for Gideon's Army material. I have added lyrics to the album entries, including an attempt at transcribing the lyrics from the Rock And Roll For Your Soul album. My original cassette copy of RARFYS did not come with a lyric sheet, so if anybody reading this does have an LP copy of that album, and if it did come with a lyric sheet...or if you happen to know the complete correct lyrics to any of the songs with missing words/lines or have better comprehension from the original recordings than I do (probably not a hard feat...), then please feel free to double check what I have posted, and email me with corrections or to fill in some of the blanks. Lyric sheets were included for the CS and CD packages of the other two albums, so those should be accurate.

Album:

Overlooked San Francisco Bay Area band debuted in 1982 with an album that sounds like a cross between Sweet Comfort Band, Petra, and the mainstream group Chicago. Their debut has many strong tracks that prove the band's expert musicianship. Their second album, however, dropped the horns and as a result sounds closer to the early Petra sound and is not as distinctive I gotta say that this band has been the most wonderful aunderground band that I ever found,this band has really blessed my life with their lirycs,its one the best metal bands ever Known On The Christian World,I Even Love More This Band Than Stryper,Shout, And OThers Just To Mention A few Of Them,Is One Of My Ten Top Band, They Knew Have To mixe Keybords and Guitars,its my second best metal band playing on my home,on my way to work,on my days of darkness,on my days of weakness,what a blessing has been this Band.Besides!. The professionalism that they have left,Their debut has many strong tracks that prove the band's expert musicianship. Their second album,'Warriors Of Love'. Well worth the effort to track down if you are a fan of uptempo Melodic rock with Keyboards and Great harmony Vocals. At times, they remind me of others great Christian bands,(D.O.X) (RUSCHA )and (LOST & FOUND)'Welcome To The Real World'!!The band was started around 1973 primarily as a prison ministry and quickly grew into a concert ministry. With 3 studio recorded efforts; Rock and Roll for Your Soul, Warriors of Love and lastly Grace, the band stayed together for about 16 years or so with various personal changes. The Band was in the vanguard when 'Jesus Music' was morphing from soft laid back accoustic praise music to aggresive electric evangelical music. A MUST for everybody who's digging news CHRISTIAN METAL BAND,,I hope one day those records will be transfered on cds,hope RETROACTIVE makes that for this band,it could be a reward for them,,sometime we talk about STRYPER as the cornerstone metal band ever on the christian Comunity BUT I WOULD LIKE TO place this band As david the young phaster that nobody wouldn't see him,But he was only in the GOD'S View,so this band has been just like that all this time,but its time that GOD start To show his Glory Through This band,he has Already started with me! Through This band, due that a few months ago I purchased it and the more I listen to this band the more I am blessed by GOD.

Line Up:

Mark Greeves - bass, lead vocals
Darin Warren - guitar
Jerry Anderson - druims, lead vocals
Doug Naruo - keyboards, vocals

Tracklist:

01. Knowing You
02. Lonely Lover
03. Christina
04. Grace
05. Make Up Your Mind
06. Open Arms
07. Tough Love
08. With The One I Love
09. Turn Up The Heat
10. Sending You




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Gideon's Army - Warriors Of Love (1985) (Retroactive Records Legacy Edition 2013)













Year : 1985 (Retroactive Records Legacy Edition 2013)
Style : Melodic Rock , AOR , Christian Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 103 mb

Bio:

Gideon’s Army was born in 1973, during the early years of CCM. Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, the band worked to support the prison ministry that is now known as Follow Up Ministries. Gideon's Army worked closely with juvenile halls, the CA Youth Authority, and CA State and Federal prisons. Their sound started out as acoustic, laid back gospel similar to the Maranatha! bands out of L.A. Before long, the band would morph into a full-fledged aggressive Christian rock act. The change was better suited for their outreach which included street ministry (Jews for Jesus, S.O.S. San Francisco), Christian coffee houses, and concert ministry (Great America, Oakland Civic Auditorium, H.P. Pavillian San Jose) among many other ministry opportunities. It wasn’t until 1982 that the band recorded and independently released their debut album Rock n’ Roll For Your Soul. The album reflected what was happening in the S.F.B.A. music scene at the time - dual lead guitars, horns and an R&B feeling. Their follow up 1985 release of the now iconic Warriors of Love brought big changes both in personnel and sound. Gone were the horns, dual guitar leads and most notably there was a more aggressive rock format. The new sound stood shoulder to shoulder with bands like Van Halen, Night Ranger, Petra, and .38 Special. The album sold like crazy at shows, but with no formal distribution many people never got their hands on the now high dollar collectible vinyl of this legendary classic rock release. This problem continued with their third and final album, Grace, which was released in CS and CD formats on a small independent label that did not remain in existence for very long after the album's release. Original CD copies of Grace are some of the rarest and most sought after CD collectibles in the world of AOR and Christian rock, almost never selling on eBay for less than $100 whenever one comes up for sale, which is usually only a few times a year at most. However, 2013 may be a landmark year for fans of this legendary band.In June or July of 2013, Retroactive Records (see links) released a remastered reissue of Warriors of Love on CD for the first time ever. I have also heard rumors that the other two Gideon's Army albums, including the hyper-rare Grace, may also be in the pipeline for an eventual Retroactive reissue. In the meantime, it may be possible to obtain an excellent quality CD-R rip of the first album and a CD-R digital copy of an original Grace CD from Gideon's Army guitarist Dave Angeles, who is currently in a band called Sonhouse Bluesband.While he offered to make me the copies at no charge, I would suggest a small donation to his band and their ministry (maybe $8 to $10 per album) or the purchase of one or two of their Sonhouse Bluesband CDs to go along with a request for Gideon's Army material. I have added lyrics to the album entries, including an attempt at transcribing the lyrics from the Rock And Roll For Your Soul album. My original cassette copy of RARFYS did not come with a lyric sheet, so if anybody reading this does have an LP copy of that album, and if it did come with a lyric sheet...or if you happen to know the complete correct lyrics to any of the songs with missing words/lines or have better comprehension from the original recordings than I do (probably not a hard feat...), then please feel free to double check what I have posted, and email me with corrections or to fill in some of the blanks. Lyric sheets were included for the CS and CD packages of the other two albums, so those should be accurate.

Album:

Retroactive Records remastered edition....first CD reissue of the classic 1985 album.We at our blog don’t need a lot of encouragement to review Warriors Of Love, the 1985 sophomore album from Bay Area based Gideon’s Army.Yes, Warriors Of Love might have fallen beneath the radar, independently released and lacking formal distribution, but also brings a bit more history behind it than you might think. It begins with how Gideon’s Army arose out of the early 70’s Contemporary Christian Music scene, starting as an acoustic Gospel act - with a corresponding concert ministry to prisons, juvenile halls and Christian coffee houses - prior to releasing (also independently) its 1982 rhythm and blues influenced full length debut Rock And Roll For Your Soul.I kept close watch of the mid-eighties CCM scene as a result of being Music Director of the radio station at the Christian college I was attending when Warriors Of Love came out. Yet, I barely have passing knowledge of the album (or Gideon’s Army for that matter). So it came as somewhat of a surprise - and great delight I might add - upon learning that Warriors Of Love was re-mastered and re-issued on Retroactive Records in the summer of 2013.Musically, Warriors Of Love finds Gideon’s Army doing away with the rhythm and blues of its past and delivering a heavy dose of melodic hard rock better suited for the radio friendly sounds of the time. I hesitate to invite direct comparison, but if you enjoy Idle Cure, Novella, Petra and early nineties Guardian then I can see the album appealing to your tastes. Likewise, those into melodic metal on the lighter side of things - think Shout, Angelica, Stryper or a more AOR influenced Daniel Band - should find a lot to be drawn to here as well.Warriors Of Love is at its best when heaviest, as the high energy sounds of “Moment By Moment” and “Runaway” in addition to its anthem-like title track attest in no uncertain terms. Maintaining the up-tempo demeanor are the pop based hooks to “I Know I Could See You” and “It’s Your Love” (polished vocal melodies defining both), while “No Fun” and “I Know Someone” temper things with their heavy keyboard basis (former coming across as a semi-ballad and latter a choir-like plodder). In between, you will also find a gritty blues rocker in “Backsliding Brother” and bass guitar driven groove to “Video”.Gideon’s Army takes a duel lead vocal approach (sort of like the aforementioned Daniel Band) with Mark Greves and Jerry Anderson trading off throughout the project. Due to lack of specific details with the packaging I am unable to “match a name with a voice”, but the vocal styles present by the two range from clean and smooth classic tenor to the soulful and heartfelt centered around the mid-ranged.Dave Angles executes well on lead guitar, letting loose with an extended stretch of soloing on “It’s Your Love” while taking a more blistering approach for “I Know You Could See”. He even gets involved in a lead guitar and keyboard duel with Doug Naruo on “Moment By Moment”. Naruo performed admirably as well, albeit on a few cuts keyboards are laid in a bit thick (keeping in mind eighties rock at times emphasized a heavier keyboard sound- so the overall effect is more vintage as opposed to distracting).Production fails to disappoint, at least when factoring how Warriors Of Love was independently recorded using mid-eighties technology. No, I never heard the original version, but mastering with the re-issue produces a balanced sound with guitars clean but firm and low-end on the pronounced side of things. Again, not a big budget effort but no shame either.As already reinforced, some shortcomings exist with packaging. In particularly, the 4-panel digi-pak neither allows for lyrics or extensive liner notes. A band photo or two would also have been nice along with detailed artist commentary.Lyrics are hope filled and faith based - leaving little doubt that ministry is the Gideon’s Army priority - in upholding God’s love, the importance of staying true to the faith and sidestepping the dangers of backsliding.Warriors Of Love adds up to a very good melodic hard rock album characterized by solid songwriting and able band performance throughout. Again, little encouragement is needed to review a work that, for a lack of better words, takes the listener down memory lane with its commercial eighties based sound. Give credit to Retroactive for making this available again.

Line Up:

Mark Greves - Lead Vocals, Bass & Blues Harp
Dave Angles - Guitars
Jerry Anderson - Lead Vocals & Drums
Doug Naruo - Piano, Hammond B-3, Arp String, Oberheim, Sequential & Percussion

Production:

Recorded At – Mastertrack
Mixed At – Mastertrack
Engineer, Producer – Ron Davis
Producer – Gideon's Army

Tracklist:

01. Moment By Moment
02. It's Your Love
03. Warriors Of Love
04. No Fun
05. I Know Someone
06. Runaway
07. I Know You Could See
08. Video
09. Backsliding Brother
10. Face To Face




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/