Colours is in many ways a great snapshot of what Resurrection Band was all about.

Colours (The Originals Vol. 1)

Retroactive Records

10 tracks / 36:14 minutes

The much-loved Resurrection Band released the self-produced Colours to a heavy-rock starved CCM audience in 1980. This follow-up to the revolutionary Awaiting Your Reply and Rainbow’s End (All Your Life and Music To Raise the Dead were not widely distributed and released on cassette). Colours continued the tradition of colorfully-packaged albums with production strong enough to rival the band’s secular counterparts, inviting and justifying loud playback.

Still owing a musical debt to bands like Led Zeppelin, Colours shows Resurrection Band just beginning to recognize the eighties approaching (although – surprisingly – there are no keyboards on this album). The first track still sounds like two different songs to me, with the first half of “Autograph” starting the album off with an explosive two minutes of instrumental rock and roll that abruptly changes gears as the vocals begin. Perhaps this was a concession to Light Records, who might not have been ready yet to release a ‘Christian’ album featuring a rock instrumental….

If you’re a fan of The Resurrection Band this is a fine example of them at the peak of their powers, featuring the strong guitar work of Stu Heiss and (especially) the take-no-prisoners style of Glenn Kaiser. John Herrin’s drums deliver appropriate hard rock thunder and Jim Denton’s bass work seals the strong foundation of the rhythm section. The vocals are, as always, shared by Glen and Wendy Kaiser, with Glen, in particular, providing a totally legit rock passion in his phrasing and grit in his tone.

The early run of Resurrection Band albums established a high water-mark for other heavy rock/metal bands in the Christian market to aspire to. They hit their stride right off the bat, producing great sounding albums, featuring great in-house design in the packaging, and introducing socially-conscious lyrics alongside no-compromise Christian themes. Colours is in many ways a great snapshot of what Resurrection Band was all about.

Bert Saraco

https://www.facebook.com/express.image