SHOUT / TAMPLIN
At The Top Of Their Lungs
Intense
1992
Ah, the 80s. The music was loud, the clothes were shiny, and the hair was big. In the Christian market, nothing exuded those points better than Shout, the band fronted by guitar extraordinaire (and equally egotistical) Ken Tamplin. One thing I'll give 'em, they (he) did write and play some rather catchy guitar riff-driven songs. And with Tamplin's renowned anal retentiveness regarding production excellence, their albums were some of the more top-notch recordings in the Christian market, making the mainstream take notice and hire him for various other projects outside of the tight-lipped CCM world.
After Shout imploded in 1989 due to the afore mentioned egos, Ken Tamplin released a couple of solo projects on the Intense label that, like David Lee Roth after leaving Van Halen, sounded like Shout albums. And in 1992, when Tamplin moved on from the label to pursue other projects, Intense released this Best Of Tamplin's work both in Shout and on his own. Collected are songs from Shout's debut It Won't Be Long ("Find A Way", "Shout", "Showdown", "Winners Or Losers"), the sophomore release In Your Face ("Borderline", "When The Love Is Gone"), and the solo projects Axe To Grind ("Livin' For My Lord", "Straight Between The Eyes", "Never Give Up") and Soul Survivor ("Media Mania"). As added bonuses to collectors, there are two songs that were recorded specifically for this Best Of collection- "When Secrets Cry Out Loud" and "Little Liar (Luci)"- that can't be found elsewhere. Also are remixes of "Give Me An Answer" that's only found here, and the guitar-happy classic "In Your Face", which is an extended version that previously only appeared on the Hot Metal II compilation in 1989.
For fans of heavy, guitar-driven melodic metal and hard rock, Shout and Ken Tamplin were the best stuff to come out of the 80s. There are still copies floating around for cheap, so if you can get this, At The Top Of Their Lungs is a good introduction to the band and the inflated ego behind it...
There are currently no user submitted comments.
Powered by Simple Review