Amaziah "Say Goodnight" 1979 UK Christian Hard Rock
- 9 years ago
Amaziah “Straight Talker” LP 1979 Rare Private UK Hard Rock
When I found this LP in a thrift store I felt certain I had found the next big thing. Just look at these guys! While this was obviously a Christian Rock outfit, the band is totally Punked-out and what’s up with the dripping blood lettering? Very weird. Was it an attempt to rope non-Christians into buying the record? Who knows? At any rate, I was doomed to disappointment for, upon throwing down the needle, I found that the only Punk thing about them is that they can barely play their instruments and that the type of music they were barely playing seemed more derived from Deep Purple, Boston and Bad Company than the Stones, Ramones or the Sex Pistols. For some reason this record actually fetches a few bucks; are there Christian Rock record geeks, too?..
Copies of this lp have been spotted recently for upwards of 500 pounds. “Wow!” you say, “I’ve got that one!” Oh no you don’t. That’s because more than likely you’ve got the pressing distributed by the Canadian Tunesmith label (TS 6002). Originally this was released in England as a custom and that’s the one that has sky rocketed in value. Though not hugely appreciated by Christian collectors in general, those with an ear trained to home-made heavy rock monster sounds will find a real treasure here. A few progressive influences such as on ‘Way, Truth, Life’ but mostly just loud cranking hard rock with aggressive, guitar coupled with power synths and organ. Great stomping head-banger riff on the closing ‘He Is Lord’. They can be melodic too when they want and there’s one ballad ‘All Is Peace’. Derek Elliott’s vocals may be an acquired taste for some. Tunesmith picked up the lp and released it on luscious red vinyl, replacing the original simple logo cover with the now classic band photo that makes them out to be punk rockers (which they’re not) I love that guy’s furry leopard-skin vest. And is that Joey Ramone on the far right? (Addendum, courtesy of a friend of the group: The band members all hailed from Bristol, UK The Canadian press was actually re-mixed for a slightly heavier sound, although I have to admit I can’t tell the difference And the band shown ‘on the Tunesmith label was a later line-up of the band, not the one actually heard on the record. By the time of that photo the band was actually doing some punk stuff, hence the more radical look.) ’ (The Archivist, 4th edition by Ken Scott).
When I found this LP in a thrift store I felt certain I had found the next big thing. Just look at these guys! While this was obviously a Christian Rock outfit, the band is totally Punked-out and what’s up with the dripping blood lettering? Very weird. Was it an attempt to rope non-Christians into buying the record? Who knows? At any rate, I was doomed to disappointment for, upon throwing down the needle, I found that the only Punk thing about them is that they can barely play their instruments and that the type of music they were barely playing seemed more derived from Deep Purple, Boston and Bad Company than the Stones, Ramones or the Sex Pistols. For some reason this record actually fetches a few bucks; are there Christian Rock record geeks, too?..
Copies of this lp have been spotted recently for upwards of 500 pounds. “Wow!” you say, “I’ve got that one!” Oh no you don’t. That’s because more than likely you’ve got the pressing distributed by the Canadian Tunesmith label (TS 6002). Originally this was released in England as a custom and that’s the one that has sky rocketed in value. Though not hugely appreciated by Christian collectors in general, those with an ear trained to home-made heavy rock monster sounds will find a real treasure here. A few progressive influences such as on ‘Way, Truth, Life’ but mostly just loud cranking hard rock with aggressive, guitar coupled with power synths and organ. Great stomping head-banger riff on the closing ‘He Is Lord’. They can be melodic too when they want and there’s one ballad ‘All Is Peace’. Derek Elliott’s vocals may be an acquired taste for some. Tunesmith picked up the lp and released it on luscious red vinyl, replacing the original simple logo cover with the now classic band photo that makes them out to be punk rockers (which they’re not) I love that guy’s furry leopard-skin vest. And is that Joey Ramone on the far right? (Addendum, courtesy of a friend of the group: The band members all hailed from Bristol, UK The Canadian press was actually re-mixed for a slightly heavier sound, although I have to admit I can’t tell the difference And the band shown ‘on the Tunesmith label was a later line-up of the band, not the one actually heard on the record. By the time of that photo the band was actually doing some punk stuff, hence the more radical look.) ’ (The Archivist, 4th edition by Ken Scott).