I'd first heard Resurrection Band in the spring of 1981 (sometimes memories do have a time stamp) when a friend played the opening track to their 1978 album Awaiting Your Reply. "Waves" sounded like Led Zeppelin, which at the time wasn't actually a selling feature for me. People may not remember but there was a time not that long ago when music like this was controversial. Many of the televangelist talking heads proclaimed this was THE DEVIL'S MUSIC. What Resurrection Band and their contemporaries were doing was truly out of the ordinary for Christian music, and Rez Band was ostracized to a degree by the establishment for being too loud and embracing rock and roll. They were the flag bearers for rock at the time as far as I was concerned. I would eventually get Awaiting Your Reply, but I'm pretty sure the order of operations for me was Colours first. I would also buy new their '81 and '82 releases and then I stopped listening for a long time.
Long story short(ish) I lost track of these guys. Then the other day I was randomly looking through the online catalogue at Redrum Records where I spotted Colours. Man, I hadn't listened to songs from this album since I found their awesome 2008 four disc box set Music to Raise the Dead 1972–1998. I've always thought Glenn Kaiser has one of the best raspy rock voices I've ever heard. He doesn't disappoint here. Wendi, is another story it's been decades and I was hoping my near vitriolic reaction to her voice would have softened. As you can tell I've never been a fan of most of the songs she fronts. However, there are many who truly like Wendi's vocal delivery, and there's no doubt that she's one of the pioneers of Christian hard rock. Still doesn't mean I have to like her songs. Meanwhile Stu Heiss, is still as smokin' as ever. I used to think he was the best guitar player in the world ... yeah, no. He is though a monster and I am not taking anything away from the guy. Glenn himself is no slouch either.
Listening to it again Colours is an uneven album, but I knew that going in. There will be many who disagree, and that's fine. I'm happy the songs resonate for you. Lyrically all of the songs have something to say, and they're often unflinching. This is where the invisible line between ministry and music tend to blur things. I'm about the music, and the whole experience. I've always been that way. Great lyrics will enhance a song, and conversely ridiculously stupid words can be as much of a distraction. However, when the music doesn't work, it's over. i may read them in the jacket and think, 'Ah, that's good." But it doesn't always translate into something I want to hear.
Although I didn't have their first two records at the time, Colours was apparently a pretty big departure from their early '70s heavy influences. It must have been jarring. To me, this was more forward thinking as opposed to recycling the past. The opening cut, "Autograph" is hard rock, but it's leaning into a new wave structure performed with a lot more distortion. The first half is instrumental before changing gears and unleashing Wendi's caterwauling vocals that seem to live at the very upper edges of her register. Not the best introduction, but the album would only get better.
Next up is the title track. It's still got a lot more edge than the typical syrupy Christian fare, but the basic groove could almost pass for a mid tempo dance song (NOT DISCO). This is also the song where you really get a sense of the guitar tone that is foundational to the entire album. This is more than simple two finger bar chords, you can hear the strings resonating through the over driven amps. I still love it, and it is their sound, not copied or borrowed. Christian music was always guilty of chasing the current fads a year or five after the fact, and here Rez was carving their own sound. Sure, not everything lands, but boy oh boy the band goes down swinging even when things don't work for me. The first side closes with "Amazing" a song that wants to be a barn burner, but Wendi's voice acts like a fire suppression blanket. Oddly I like it.
For me, the best songs are found on side two. "American Dream" is one of the better songs on the entire album, and is sort of an honourable mention when I think of the best songs. The articulated riff hearkens back to their earlier sound but it fits sonically with the other songs on the album. I know I've been Wendi bashing, but dagnabbit the music in "Benny & Sue" pretty much carries the whole shebang and even though there are parts that are distracting, like when she sings, lol ... but the song, THE SONG is so good. When "City Streets" kicks off it's the riff that got stuck in my cheek. When Stu and Glenn get to trading solos it finds another gear although the song itself seems to waver between awesome and mediocre; but man, that riff and Glenn's voice are the redeeming elements and it reeled me in. The centrepiece of the entire album for me is the closer, "The Struggle" this is a mid tempo song that hasn't lost any of the emotional power over the the last four and a half decades. Glenn's distinctive growl is softened, and dare I say he's actually singing. This is to me one of the best the songs the band ever did.
Nope.
I may not have listened to the album since I was a teenager, but I have played this through more than a half dozen times now and enjoy it, warts and all every ... single ... time.
Post Script. Thanks for sticking to the end. Yes, I am aware this was a disjointed piece. It was weird for me too as this represents an era as much as it does an album. The whole album to me is a collective piece and I cannot remove parts without changing everything. I know this sounds terrible but half of the fun was dumping on the songs I didn't care for. I may not care for them but they belong and the album would not have the same impact without them. If it was merely pulling for a mix tape and make no mistake I did pull songs for tapes from this one that is very different than listening to the record. Like I said, I would still sum this up with the same simple word. Nostalgia and an emotional response to a point in time is still a pretty potent combination.
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