ROCKIN' REVIVAL is a hard-edged product forged in the same tradition as Boston, Resurrection Band, and Styx. Doug Pinnick(KING'S X)contributed one song.

9 MP3 Songs
ROCK: 70's Rock, ROCK: 80's Rock



Details:
ABOUT THE ALBUM
According the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, Servantâs 1981 release ROCKINâ REVIVAL was a huge step forward, adding the keyboard sounds of Matt Spransy for a richer, fuller sound. The bandâs desire was to reach the ears and hearts of those who might not feel so comfortable in church buildings. As a result, their music shied away from self-centered, Jesus-and-me praise lyrics. They avoided easy rock styles that typified most CCM of the day. Instead, Servant championed edgy, passionate, driving rock music, with aggressive stage performances filled with a kingdom message spiced with strong social commentary.
A young man named, Doug Pinnick would co-write âIâm Gonna Live,â which would garner significant radio play, and become a favorite of Christian music fans for years to come. Pinnick would eventually be best known as part of the mainstream hard rock trio, Kingâs X.

KEY SELLING POINTS
**Limited Edition release
**Engineered and produced by Bob Rock (pre Metallica, Skid Row, Motley Crue)
**Out of print for over 15 years
**Digitally remastered for enhanced audio clarity
**Reflections written by founding member Owen Brock
**Track 4 featured on the Lightning Strikes Twice promotional compilation
**Original artwork enhanced
**Band history included, lyrics included
**For fans of Rez, Barnabas, Jerusalem, Petra and all quality arena rock, AOR.
**First time ever this ground breaking album has ever been available on CD!
**9 years of touring made them one of the most popular Christian rock bands ever
**Demand for band product evidenced by outrageous prices being paid for the one album from their catalog that was available on CD for a brief time, and the high prices the vinyl records bring in the collectible markets.

TRACKS
look out babylon, rockinâ revival, isolated, heidelberg blues, listen, jealousies, suburban josephine, ad man, Iâm gonna live

ANGELICWARLORD.COM REVIEW
Some of my earliest memories of Servant date back to the fall of 1981 when I caught them on their Rockinâ Revival tour at a high school auditorium in the Eastern Washington area. I recall arriving at the venue with a friend several hours before the start of the show and, being the young people we were back then, sneaking in to the auditorium (no vagrancy on our part- it was a simple matter of the doors being unlocked!) and watching the band set up its equipment and do a sound check. Servant, of course, performed its trademark high energy set, playing many of the better tracks from Rockinâ Revival (âIsolatedâ, âAd Manâ and âIâm Gonna Liveâ) in addition to several off its debut Shallow Water as well. Looking back, I always felt that Servant was way ahead of its time. I mean, how many Christian bands of the era incorporated flash pots, smoke bombs, strobe lights and, ultimately, a high tech laser light show into their live performances?

Rockinâ Revival, similar to Shallow Water, moves in a guitar driven classic rock direction with hard rock tendencies, the album delivering a sound not quite as heavy as contemporaries such as Rez Band or Barnabas but with much more muscle than Petra or DeGarmo & Key. If anything, Rockinâ Revival proves a step ahead musically when compared to Shallow Water. And one of the reasons for the progress made by the band â next to the experience gained from touring next to non-stop â can be directly attributed to the addition of keyboardist Matt Spransy. As many of you know, Spransy was part of a late seventies Joliet, Illinois progressive rock group called Servant (often referred to as Joliet-Servant) with Doug Pinnick- who later went on to form Kingâs X . After Joliet-Servant came to an end in 1980, Spransy saw Servant in Chicago and later donated his truck and all his music and sound equipment to the band. Spransy eventually joined Servant in 1981 in time to record Rockinâ Revival.

It is Spransyâs extra touch on keyboards that helps tracks such as âBabylonâ, âRockinâ Revivalâ, âIsolatedâ and âListenâ to shine. Sandie Brock â with her soulful but raspy delivery and Bob Hardy â who contributes his clean, classic tenor voice â both put in very fine performances. Bruce Wright and Owen Brock remain a solid guitar team and help round out the bands line up with bassist Rob Martens and drummer David Holmes.

Production values prove a definite step ahead, coming across with more polish and a richer feel when compared to Shallow Water. One interesting point of trivia: Bob Rock â who went on to work with Metallica, Motley Crue and Skid Row â engineered the album.

While Rockinâ Revival only came out in the vinyl and cassette formats when it was released in 1981, it was not until 2006 that it was digitally re-mastered and re-issued on CD by Retroactive Records. It is worth pointing out that the new CD version includes a detailed band history written by founding member Owen Brock in addition to several never before seen photos of the band. The only complaint I have regarding the packaging of the CD is that it does not also include the original âfarm houseâ album artwork. Rather, it features the cover found on a later re-issue of the vinyl version that displays a montage of live photos of the band. While the âliveâ cover is certainly more colorful, it can be deceptive because it makes you think this is a live album- which it is not. Ok, enough nit-picking. Letâs get on to the music- which is what really matters!

Getting the album underway to a few brief seconds of keyboards, âBabylonâ proceeds through its first verse with the rhythm guitar bouncing in and out of the mix as David Holmes pounds away on drums. Picking up in pace for its second verse, âBabylonâ culminates for a high energy chorus delivered at a catchy upbeat tempo. Bob Hardy really shines here with a smooth sounding vocal performance. While âBabylonâ was written back in the early eighties, its lyrics cannot help but bring to mind current events:

It was written long ago, it comes as no surprise
That where the oil flows the most is where the tension lies

Soldiers in Afghanistan, sanctions to Iran
Shortage of diplomacy, weâre running out of time

The pace slows down a bit with the albums title track, a catchy melodic hard rocker in which Sandie Brock stands out with her emotionally charged vocal delivery. Introduced to a clash of symbols, âRockinâ Revivalâ advances through its first verse at a classy mid-tempo pace before a touch of keyboards enters the mix in time to accent a radio friendly chorus with a great catchy hook. The message to âRockinâ Revivalâ revolves around the issue of personal accountability:

I can be singing for Jesus
Telling people how it should be
But I canât bring them any farther
Than Iâve let Him bring me

âIsolatedâ gives drummer David Holmes the opportunity to displays his abilities on lead vocals. After the song fades in to a blend of keyboards and piano, the rhythm guitar steps forward with just the right amount of edge and helps lead the way to a quickly moving chorus resonating a strong melodic feel. âIsolatedâ talks about exactly that:

Iâve got a secret and nobody knows about it
My wife and I are fighting, weâre almost separating
And thereâs nothing I can do to stop it
So I sat there silent in the bible study
I could not communicate, there was no way I could relate
And I was afraid to tell anybody

It was quite rare during the early eighties for a Christian band to cross the line into metal territory; however, on âHeidelberg Bluesâ Servant â along with Resurrection Band and Barnabas â happened to be one of the few to accomplish this feat. Beginning to the sound of blowing wind before a huge metal laced guitar riff kicks in, the song forges through its first and second verse in aggressive fashion before slowing and taking on a bluesy, if not heavy handed tone over its final two minutes. I cannot help but think of Resurrection Band as Sandie wails away at the songs end:

Canât you hear me calling, Iâm running out of time
Canât you hear me calling, calling, thereâs fever on my mind
Canât you hear me calling, Iâm running out of time
Canât you hear me calling, calling, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

âListenâ provides a much needed and more laid back change of pace in following the driving hard rock of âHeidelberg Bluesâ. The albums shortest track in coming in at just over three minutes, âListenâ proceeds at a catchy upbeat tempo before reaching a chorus backed in a sweeping manner by Spransyâs keyboards. âListenâ challenges its listeners to, well, listen:

Communication is so important
Why cantâ we listen when the days are shortened
Iâve seen the headlines, have you heard
Itâs been two thousand years and itâs getting so absurd

Listen, can you hear Him
Listen, what Heâs saying is so clear

âJealousiesâ is a cover of a tune that originally appeared on Eddie Moneyâs 1977 self-titled debut. Kicking in to a brief drum solo, the song moves forward to several seconds of keyboards before the rhythm guitar enters the mix at the start of its first verse. The catchy, hook filled chorus that follows ranks among the albums best. Bruce Wright adds a nice grit flavored guitar solo to a song with lyrics that cannot help but force you to think:

People living your life on earth
Youâre just a part of the universe, my brother
Since Iâm walking around with you
We might as well try to get to know each other

Because jealousies, keep us constantly too
Defensively toward one another

âSuburban Josephineâ is the only song here to not quite make the grade. Where do I begin? Well, uh, the best way to describe things would be a fifties influenced rock and roll type number that actually came across quite well in a live setting but fails to cut it on vinyl. One of the reasons I find this track particularly unforgivable is that Servant could have covered Larry Normanâs classic âWhy Should The Devil (Have All The Good Music)â- a great song which was part of the bands live repertoire. The lyrics here are also way too apologetic.

âAd Manâ represents Servant at its very best. A cool voice synthesizer gets things going before Sandie takes over with her gritty voice, a crisp rhythm guitar carrying the song forward until it reach a good hard hitting chorus talking about todayâs commercialized society:

Ad Man, such a bad man, hiding in your magazine
Ad Man, such a bad, bad man
Sneaks into your living room, right through your TV screen

The voice synthesizer returns to help carry a brief but effective instrumental section. The songs second verse further expands upon the matter:

You say Iâll be successful when my perspiration stops
If I deodorize and sanitize Iâll make it to the top
Everybodyâs gonna love me if my laundry turns out bright
Iâve got to shave my legs each day, my teeth are shining white

Doug Pinnick (Kingâs X) received a songwriting credit on the energetic hard rocker âIâ m Gonna Liveâ. A blend of piano and rhythm guitar initiates the song as Bob raps about his encounter with a pair of muggers who, when they request that he hand over his cash, responds by stating, âIf itâs my money you can have it. If itâs my life, my life belongs to the Lord and Iâm gonna live forever.â Briefly pausing for a drum solo, âIâm Gonna Liveâ immediately launches into a chorus that continually repeats its title in good catchy fashion (Iâm gonna live, Iâm gonna live, Iâm gonna live foreverâ¦). The song settles down to a slower, more guitar driven pace for its verse portions as it celebrates the believerâs promise of eternal life:

You can take my life Iâm a dead man anyway
My home is not down here, my home is far away
To live is Christ to die is gain thereâs no way I can lose
It makes no difference if I die but youâll still have to choose

Bruce again displays his abilities by contributing a fluid guitar solo at the start of a sweeping instrumental passage. Great song.

Review by: Andrew Rockwell

Track Listing: âBabylonâ (4:04), âRockinâ Revivalâ (4:30), âIsolatedâ (4:27), âHeidelberg Bluesâ (4:12), âListenâ (3:05), âJealousiesâ (3:48), âSuburban Josephineâ (3:58), âAd Manâ (3:32), âIâm Gonna Liveâ (5:46)

Musicians
Sandie Brock â Lead Vocals
Bob Hardy â Lead Vocals
Bruce Wright â Guitars
Owen Brock â Guitars
Rob Martens â Bass
Matt Spransy - Keyboards
David Holmes â Drums & Vocals

REVIEW FROM: WWW.PHANTOMTOLLBOOTH.ORG
Finally! A CD reissue of 80's Christian rock band, Servant. Many people act as if Christian music has no history, but, oh, it surely does! Servant played a major part in furthering rock music in the Christian marketplace. For that reas.on alone, we own them a big thank you. More than that, their music was good, really good. This digitally remastered, Limited Edition CD was produced by a young Rob Rock (pre-Metallica, Skid Row and Motley Crue).
1981's Rockinâ Revival has some truly classic moments. Combine Rez and Petra. Christian classic rock, AOR or arena rock-whatever fits, Servant deserves a proud place in Christian rock history.
The band started out in early 1976 in Canada when Owen and Sandy Brock and several of their friends from their Christian community started a band. As various people became part of the community, some would join the band. By 1981, the Brocks had been joined by Bruce Wright, David Holmes Rob Martens and Bob Hardy. Last to join with amazing keyboard skills was Matt Spransy.
The messages are as true and needed today as they were when they were written over twenty years ago. Either they are timeless or we havenât make it very far along this Walk. I vote for both. Prophecy, truth, ethics, revival, selfishness, vanity, jealousy, and closed hearts are addressed in various inventive stories.
âHeidelberg Bluesâ is one rocking personal testimony song. Sandy Brock cries out to the Lord for meaning and salvation. âLook Out Babylonâ is a warning to the world to set things straight with God because it will all be over soon. Directed at the modern day inward looking church, âIsolatedâ tells the story of a person alone in his own place of worship. âIâm Gonna Live,â the album closer, is an all-out anthem to live a life dedicated to the Lord. It was written by on Doug Pinnick, of Kingâs X fame.
âListenâ is a highlight on Rockinâ Revival. Loaded with keyboard runs, crunging power chords and smooth harmony lead guitar. Sparks fly from this one.
If you want to know about the journey that got us to where Christian rock is today, Servantâs Rockinâ Revival has a solid branch in the family tree. Oh, donât forget your air guitar!

4 tocks
Bob Felberg