So does the devil have all the good tunes? Well, he did until the early 80’s when the success of Stryper a lot of the Christian rock bands seemed to appear out of the woodwork. This is Bloodgood’s debut album, released in ’86 on the independent Frontline records. Even the majors thought this was a passing phase, as not many took a chance on signing a band aligned to god. Musically, this is a kick ass record that any hair metal band of the period would have been proud of.
Shakin’ It is a kick ass opening track with a killer riff and groove, and Michael Bloodgood’s vocals remind me of a heavier Steve Perry. In fact, The Presence could have been a Journey tune, one of the uptempo ones that is. This should have been a single as it has all the elements that rock radio were eating up at the time – a great snappy tune with a great hook and chorus. What Have I Done is pure AOR heaven, and fans of the softer side of rock will lap this up. Heaven On Earth closes out Side 1 with a straight up rifftastic rocker, that has some killer guitar.
Side 2 opens up with Do Or Die, a full on double kick metal anthem, and the heaviest track in the album. A very dramatic acoustic intro to She’s Gone and it’s the big power ballad of the album. Very tasty solo on this one. Next up is The World Keeps Movin’ Around. This is my favourite track as I love the simple huge beat, and the hook and chorus are really good. I must be getting soft in my old age. The album closes out with Seven, the most overtly religious track on the album which references the importance of the number seven from a religious context. I really like this album and it’s stands up really well to its contemporaries of the time.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
