The Brave
Battle Cries
1992 Pakaderm Records
Produced By: John & Dino Elefante
album cover
insert
insert (inside)
back
disc
Track Listings
All Together Now (4:29)
The Waiting (4:35)
If That Ain't Love (5:01)
Running All My Life (4:46)
Tears of a Broken Heart (4:33)
Little Love (4:27)
Never Live Without Your Love (4:41)
Big World (4:23)
Ride With the Rhythm (3:54)
Just a Man (4:42)
Musicians
James Salters: Lead Vocals
Stayce Roberts: Guitars, Vocals
Malcolm Paris: Bass, Vocals
Randy Roberts: Drums, Vocals
Freddie Tierra: Guitars, Vocals
I've made it no secret that I'm a fan of just about any album that John & Dino Elefante have been associated with and The Brave's inaugural effort is no exception. This is yet another band/album that my brother introduced me to in the early 90's. In fact I seem to remember picking up this album along w/ Stryper's Can't Stop the Rock around the very same time. (Speaking of Can't Stop the Rock, see the producer notes on the back of the insert regarding the LA riots - the same subject as Stryper's song "Believe")
At this point in my life I really didn't listen to much mainstream music as I had enough Christian music to more than keep me entertained and tuned in. Because of this I really can't put a finger on a mainstream band that was similar to The Brave, but it really didn't matter as just about every single track on this album quickly became my favorite.
One of the things about the album that I enjoyed in the 90's and even today are the big, easy to sing along with choruses. I love the big sounding harmony from the band. This is one of that albums that no matter how long it's been since my last listen, all the lyrics come rushing to the forefront of my mouth and I find myself singing along with every song.
The song writing is good, although when I was searching for song links on YouTube I found a couple of "videos" where it's obvious the user didn't clue in that the songs about love weren't about a girlfriend or the related! I should mention that all of the songs were written by the band with the exception of "Little Love" (Jean-Luc LaJoie) and "Never Live Without Your Love" (John & Dino Elefante). Songs such as "If That Ain't Love" show that this band really was on fire for God.
(chorus)
Gave His life 'cause it had to be
Shed His blood for you and me
If that ain't love, then I don't know what love is
Heart to heart - soul to soul
Through His pain I am made whole
The band went on to record one more album for Pakaderm, 1994's Trust. Unfortunately the lead vocalist, James Salters went on to other projects after this album so Trust has a different (but still good) sound. Drummer, Randy Roberts took on the lead vocals, however he passed away in 2007. In 2014, Stayce Roberts (Randy's brother) reformed the band and they recorded a new album, Rise. I'm not familiar this this one yet, but I'd like to pick it up eventually. Their website doesn't appear to be live anymore so I'm not sure what the status of the band is, but their Facebook page is still up as of this post.
I know it seems as if I recommend just about every album I post about, but this truly is the band's best effort in my opinion. It never gets old either. I find myself pulling out this CD from time to time and through each listen I still come out enjoying every last minute. Thankfully the album can be had on eBay for less than $15 if you're patient enough.
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