* I always have trouble opening the MP3's from location, but if you right-click on the link, select "Save Target As..." then save the file to disk, they'll play w/out trouble. Of course, MP3's are relatively large files, so if you have a slower connection you'll have to wait a while.

Comments and Background:

Petra is something I grew up with  (Not of this World was released when I was one). There are so many great songs, and I had a hard time picking just a few. The MP3's are only clips, just the same as you might find at amazon or something like that. Petra had a song, or maybe it was an entire album, called Never Say Die. Various Christian artists later made a tribute album to Petra called Never Say Dinosaur. Road to Zion (midi) was redone on this album by Sixpence None the Richer - whom people seldom realize used to be a Christian band. Actually I never heard the original (Petra does date back a little before me), but the SNTR rendition was very pretty, IMHO. See: http://www.johnschlitt.com/ and http://www.houseofbob.com/. 

Allies is a band that no longer exists. It was composed of some experienced musicians who for various reasons had become Christians. Bob Carlisle, lead singer with an incredibly dynamic voice, later went on to a solo career as a Christian artist. One of his hits, Butterfly Kisses, received considerable play on secular stations. However,  Allies was very much a rock band, and Butterfly Kisses really doesn't represent the group.

Bob Carlisle did some back-up vocals on The Reckoning, an album by the then new artist Margaret Becker, which is why my dad bought it. I learned to sing on this album (though the musical Annie also deserves at least an honorable mention). Both Find Me and Pico Boulevard come from this album. My original favorite is Light in the Darkness (also of The Reckoning). See: http://maggieb.com

Charlie Peacock was Margaret Becker's producer for the majority of songs on five albums (all of which I have). I'm not sure if Secret of Time was his first album, but it's the first I know of that ever got any airplay, and it was the first CD I ever owned. Secret of Time, Dear Friend and The Way of Love come from this album, though my original favorite was Almost Threw it all Away.  Peacock is a brilliant lyricist and unusual vocalist. Secret of Time the song is really interesting because it abandons the conventional verse-chorus sequence for something a little more avant-garde. Peacock's most famous song is probably In the Light (from Love Life), as redone by the Christian pop group DC Talk on their album Jesus Freak (you can hear Peacock himself singing at the end). Amy Grant's hit Every Heartbeat was also written by Peacock. See: http://www.charliepeacock.com, for an interesting review of Secret of Time the album, see: http://members.aol.com/rlongman1/secretim.html

Out of the Grey, the married duo consisting of Scott and Christine Dente, were also produced by Charlie Peacock. Eyes Wide Open (from Diamond Days) to me is a very good display of Christine's versatile vocal ability - which often approaches yodeling.

Carmen, the Italian with an operatic voice, is very unique because of his story-songs. My older brother and I used to play-act out Lazarus, he was Jesus and I was Lazarus. Some other really great story songs of his are The Champion, Revival in the Land, Satan Bite the Dust, and Sunday's on the Way. I also like The Soap Song, just 'cuz it's funny. See: http://www.carman.org

I really don't know very much about The Front. It was a one time album created as a tribute to the many aborted babies of America. I don't even think you can find it in Christian music stores now, and in fact I don't know how our family ever came to own it in the first place.

This Time has two midi's: 1 is not very accurate but gives an overture of the whole song. 2 is much better but only portrays the classical piece from which the song was derived.

...more later