Year : 1988 (Retroactive Records Remastered Edition 2016)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + scans + Video
Size : 117 mb
Bio:
Bloodgood is a Christian metal band from Seattle, Washington. Originally formed in 1984 and by 1988 represented one of the four largest Christian metal bands (excluding the mainstream success Stryper) alongside Barren Cross, Whitecross, and Leviticus.Bloodgood became known for their "go-for-broke attitude about showmanship," displaying attitudes and imagery that brought them into collision with some on the extreme Christian right. In a 1998 retrospective, Christian music critic Brian Quincy Newcomb would write that "Bloodgood's ministry and music was a vital stepping stone in the maturing process of Christian rock.The band formed around the leadership of Michael Bloodgood, who had been active in the local music scene for some time. Directly prior to the formation of Bloodgood, Michael had been involved in a local effort, what he later described as "basic straight-ahead rock." That effort had disbanded by mid 1984 as Michael Bloodgood felt called to build a Christian metal band. The Seattle area at that time was known for metal bands such as TKO, Queensrÿche, and Metal Church, but Bloodgood felt a need to represent Christ to that audience, and the band was the natural way to do so.In 1985 Bloodgood released a demo, Metal Missionaries, of which they sold over 5,000 copies at concerts. Their 1986 eponymous debut was produced by Darrell Mansfield. While Bloodgood was visually similar to other metal bands at the time, it was distinguished by three elements: the vocals of Les Carlsen, the songwriting of Michael Bloodgood, and the guitar techniques of David Zaffiro.[3] The band's sound was in many ways typical of competent 1980's hair metal bands, but their lyrics were distinctly Christian. Themes often included Armageddon, hope and victory in Christ, and the Grace of living in God, with Biblical language throughout.When asked about the influence of Stryper upon the band, Michael Bloodgood told an interviewer that the band had formed before Stryper became well known, and so they were not a musical influence because they played different styles of metal.Their first major United States tour was in 1987 and was protested by groups on the extreme Christian right.[6] The band was more popular in Europe than in the United States and they toured the United Kingdom in 1988.[7] This tour featured lead vocalist Les Carlsen portraying Pontius Pilate during the song "Crucify," as well as a graphic, live-action portrayal of Christ being crucified. The band's position on theatrics, as summed up by Carlsen: "Heavy metal lends itself to visuals and drama... They come naturally from the music we write.Veterans of both the heavy metal and Christian rock scenes, Bloodgood's unique blend of music and message has amassed both a fan base that appreciates their music, as well as a body that loves God. In today's sometimes frantic and highly charged world where musicians, celebrities and public figures have new mediums and broad reach with the ability to influence thousands, if not millions, it is interesting for us as a band to see how that influence is used, or in some cases abused. Bloodgood has always led with our own unique style of hard charging heavy metal rock as our way of connecting with our fans. But very quickly, the power and impact of the message comes through. Bloodgood has stayed true to not using their influence to spread their own agenda, but instead, God's agenda."I had no idea that the Lord was going to call me into that ministry, because I was already active in another music ministry at the time. But, as the months went on, it became clear that the Lord wanted to use me to be a part of this new work. Nearly a year and a half went by before the first Bloodgood rehearsal happened. We had no idea what we were going to play, much less where. But all of us had the conviction that God had called us to do it.The band was never about trying to get a record deal and hit the "big time." The main focus of Bloodgood was always to reach the lost with the Good News of Jesus Christ. The music was the tool because of it's universal appeal, it opened the doors for us. As time went on, we retained our evangelistic message but also added music presenting a Christian worldview. Songs like Alone in Suicide and America would touch on social issues that could only be resolved through Christ. Others admonished our Christian audience, songs like Do Or Die, All Stand Together and others.We wanted the Lord to orchestrate our ministry and bring us to where He could reach the unsaved and encourage believers. And that's exactly what He did! The stacks of letters we receive, and continue to receive, of changed lives, bear witness to the anointing God put on our music. None of us in the band take credit for that. To God be the glory!"
Album:
As part of their 'Legends Remastered' series, highly respected reissue label Retroactive Records has released the 2 more celebrated albums by BLOODGOOD. The band's "Rock In A Hard Place" is one of my favorite albums from the second half of the '80s American Hard Rock indie scene, and now sounds better than ever.BLOODGOOD was one of the most underrated American Hard Rock from the glorious '80s, perhaps due their Christian origins. But they were the real deal, a high quality band in the genre.After two pretty heavy albums, they changed the musical approach to the dominating glossy-sounding Hard Rock around 1988, and the result was this "Rock In A Hard Place".It's commercial record yet defiant, melodic, with catchy songs and a bombast production; razor compressed guitars courtesy of the great David Zaffiro, shouting vocals, huge drums and even some keyboards into the mix.Talking about the mix, there's was a big problem with the original release of "Rock In A Hard Place": the bass lines were almost completely missing.It turns out the recording studio had a ton of false low-end and they wasn't aware of when album was mixed, which is why there was such a lack of bass in "Rock In A Hard Place". And no one seemed to catch it when it was mastered, either. Quite strange, as this sounds as a big budget production.Fortunately, BloodGood's "Rock In A Hard Place" is now finally reissued with its crisp sound in full glory.There was a previous remastering job pretty well done by Frontline Records in 2012 - and of course featured here on 0dayrox - but this Retroactive Records is a completely new remastering from the master tapes and sounds million bucks.This reissue was factory-pressed at the end of last year (check the prints saying 2015) but due to logistic problems it was finally available since March 2016.Remember back in the day when bands could get away with nine good quality songs on an album? Nowadays this is absolutely unacceptable for any greedy record company and you're forced to have twelve or more, and many of those are fillers.Well, this is not the case with "Rock In A Hard Place". Just killer-no-fillers 9 tracks plenty of '80s US melodic hard rock magic.
Line-Up:
Les Carlsen - lead vocals
David Zaffiro - guitars, backing vocals
Michael Bloodgood - bass, backing vocals
Mark Welling - drums
Tracklist:
01. Shakin' It
02. Never Be the Same
03. The Presence
04. What Have I Done
05. Heaven on Earth
06. Do or Die
07. She's Gone
08. The World (Keeps Movin' Around)
09. Seven
+ Video "Seven" (Official Live Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
