Watchmen
Generation
1989 Regency Records
Produced by: Terry Shelton & Watchmen
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Track Listings
Turn (3:29)
Stand Strong (3:43)
Straight (3:21)
Best Friend (4:17)
Breakin' the Chains (3:06)
United (3:29)
I Will Be There (4:11)
Defenders (3:45)
One Day (3:53)
Band Members
Greg Sweet: lead & backing vocals
Kevin Antholt: keyboards, backing vocals
Dave Van Liew: guitars, backing vocals
Doug Larson: bass, backing vocals
Additional backing vocals: Les & Joyce Kelee Gates, Mark Thornberg, Rene Woo Scott
Additional keyboards: Brook Lizotte
Additional guitar on "Best Friend": Ross
Drums and Percussion: Kevin Whisler
I first heard this band on the old Underground Metal compliation by Regency Records. Their song Fear No Evil came from their independent album of the same name. Generation is their label debut album and offers a solid first effort. Overall I really enjoy this album, however like with any album there are some songs that just grate on my nerves. The opening track, Turn, is by far the best song on the album. Stand Strong, Straight, Breakin' the Chains are the other strong songs. Good vocals and great guitar work. I normally don't mind a ballad type song from a hard rock / metal band, but when a song opens with a saxophone solo you have to be worried. This offender is Best Friend. Lyrically it is OK. It's your typical "Jesus is my friend" song...which I have nothing against. The song just sounds out of place on the album.
Watchmen doesn't sound like it has a real slick production value, but the overall sound is good. I've never seen them perform live so I can't say if they are more a studio band or better live. Their first album, independently released, Fear No Evil is a hard one to track down. I eventually found the cassette, but to this day I'm not sure if this album was ever released on CD.
While not my favorite Christian metal CD, I do find myself pulling this album out every so often just to listen to a few of the songs. If you're looking for this album on the secondary market you may have some trouble. I believe the last time I saw this album sell on eBay it went for around $30.
Just fyi, you can find some "live" footage of The Watchmen on YouTube. I've never heard this album. I remember seeing it in the bookstores back in the day, but because of the artwork, I never gave it a shot. If I had noticed it was on Regency, I would've picked it up for sure. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know, I'll have to see if I can find that content.
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