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 Post subject: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 05 Apr 2015, 18:32 
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There aren't that many music titles that fall in this genre - Comtemporary Christian Music (CCM).

The main ones are those released by Amy Grant:
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They chart the dramatic change in her music style from her early biblical songs to more commercial pop songs that dented the charts. I've found that the Japanese LD edition of Find a Way which features an all white cover is very difficult to get a pristine cover. It seems to be very prone to discolouration if it has been handled. I don't recall seeing a truly perfect cover ever in all my travels but have always intended to upgrade the one shown if one ever does surface. Not shown in the picture but available to collect and also present in my own collection is the little USA Pioneer Artists 8 inch laserdisc version of Find A Way.

Of the set my favourite is her earliest release 'In Concert - Age to Age Tour' from 1984. Ignoring the terrible dress sense that was the fashion back then (ridiculously coloured stripey sweatshirts and tops), it does contain the most heartfelt songs and also the very sizeable contribution from her then husband Gary Chapman and of course keyboard player/songwriter Michael W. Smith. The sound on this release is a bit muffled being analogue only but I still enjoy watching this disc from time to time. It doesn't have the cheese factor of the Christmas songs LD or the blatant attempt at commercial chart appeal of the later titles.

Who would believe that the bearded keyboard player Michael. W. Smith featured in that early 84 Amy concert would go on to have a hugely successful solo career of his own from these humble beginnings. I have to admit I'd never heard of Michael W. Smith prior to obtaining this Reunion Records limited edition laserdisc released in 1993. I got it pretty much by accident as part of a set of other music titles from USA. I've now watched this title so many times it ranks as one of my all time favourites music laserdiscs.

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The label on the disc says 'Limited Edition Laser disc'.
Wonder how limited it really was?
I appear to be the only person on LDDB.com with a registered copy and to date I've never been able to locate another copy on Ebay or anywhere else. Does anyone else own it on laserdisc?

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It was really obvious from this concert that he could write very well crafted pop/rock songs that appealed to the masses. The musicians that he was working with at this stage were also absolutely top notch. The guitar player in this concert would not look out of place in any hard rock /heavy metal band! In fact Michael even worked with Dann & David Huff (who I did know from American hard rock outfit Giant - another great melodic rock band worth exploring). Both had formerly been in their own Christian rock band called White Heart. This laserdisc primarily focuses on supporting songs from Michael's two most successful albums - 'Change Your World' and its predecessor 'Go West Young Man'. It also features some behind the scenes footage and interviews with Michael, his family and the band.

This single concert actually made me explore his entire back catalogue in great detail. I ended up purchasing all his original studio albums on CD up to that period 1993 including the earlier concerts which I would love to have seen on laserdisc but which only exist on VHS.

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These do however contain some of his strongest songs so are well worth the effort tracking down. They can be easily found on places like Amazon.

So Amy and Michael worked together and Michael often used rock guitar players in his bands. That leads nicely to the next two Christian rock releases which are by heavy metal band Stryper:

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Whilst I hadn't heard of Michael W. Smith prior to obtaining his laserdisc, I had heard of Stryper who were very well known in rock/metal circles. I have all their albums on CD and some are certainly better than others. The two LDs are very representative with the band charting their rise to fame and path to Christianity which was unusual given the obvious temptations that most rock/metal bands succumbed to in the 80's. It also captures them performing in their now infamous black /yellow outfits which they ditched in the 90's! I was always surprised these were US only LDs - particularly the live in Japan concert which you would think could have been a much bigger seller in Japan where it was actually filmed.


Last edited by laserdisc_fan on 08 Apr 2015, 15:10, edited 2 times in total.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 06 Apr 2015, 09:32 
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On your LD from Michael W. Smith it is interesting to see it states "for promotional use only - not for sale", I don't remember ever to have seen a 12" release with a regular coverart without any advertisement or sample marking.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 06 Apr 2015, 10:20 
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edwin240170 wrote:
On your LD from Michael W. Smith it is interesting to see it states "for promotional use only - not for sale", I don't remember ever to have seen a 12" release with a regular coverart without any advertisement or sample marking.


That is quite unusual. I'd seen mention of this laserdisc on other posts on the internet about music laserdiscs so didn't really think it was that rare, but must admit I've never seen another copy so far.

The picture and sound on this one is absolutely stunning (reference quality) and the very elaborate camera work maximises the impact of the concert. The best part though is the live versions on the laserdisc are actually far better than the studio cuts. They had obviously been rehearsing key tracks for sometime and refined and improved them to include many extra parts such as longer guitar solos and keyboard sections that aren't present on the albums. It was a strong set of songs - especially Cross Of Gold and Go West Young Man.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 15 Apr 2015, 05:12 
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I'm a fan of MWS from way back, early '80's. Would love to have that concert! Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart was a huge Christian artist back then, I saw them twice in concert. I recently picked up a VHS live concert of them, the sound and the picture were great, especially for a 30 year old tape.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 13 Oct 2015, 22:17 
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laserdisc_fan wrote:
T I've found that the Japanese LD edition of Find a Way which features an all white cover is very difficult to get a pristine cover. It seems to be very prone to discolouration if it has been handled. I don't recall seeing a truly perfect cover ever in all my travels but have always intended to upgrade the one shown if one ever does surface.


Well a miracle happened and I found a totally white copy of Amy Grant - Find a Way without the brown stains that seem to plague the Japanese edition. How did I manage it?.....well I bought a sealed copy which had never been opened and handled. The cover is absolutely pristine white. Of course even sealed copies may be faded if exposed to light but this one seems to have stored in a vault for 30 years. It's not a rare title but a copy in truly mint condition is certainly very rare.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 23 Oct 2015, 14:52 
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LDDB duplicates :

Amy Grant's Old Fashioned Christmas (1992) [440 089 535-1]
and
Amy Grant: Old Fashioned Christmas (1986) [089 535-1]

I was lucky to find : Amy Grant: Heart in Motion [VALA-3538]
Took me some time to find one, the other titles are much easier to locate
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 26 May 2016, 09:44 
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laserdisc_fan wrote:
...which I would love to have seen on laserdisc but which only exist on VHS.

When on the subject of stuff that only exist on VHS, we have this one. As far as I can tell, this is the only official video release from Whitecross. Again, only available on VHS (released in the US).

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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 28 Jul 2016, 04:30 
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Just found this thread. Only been using LDDB recently. I think this is the only time I have found someone else that has the MWS laserdisc. I think I found mine on ebay years ago. I also have the Amy Grant House of Love LD too. That was bought new at a LD store in the 90's.

Hope to find those Stryper LD's some day!
Anyway, good times!
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 28 Jul 2016, 12:19 
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Excellent thread! I love that feeling of finding cool stuff that leads to other cool stuff.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 29 Jul 2016, 00:15 
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samaron wrote:
laserdisc_fan wrote:
...which I would love to have seen on laserdisc but which only exist on VHS.

When on the subject of stuff that only exist on VHS, we have this one. As far as I can tell, this is the only official video release from Whitecross. Again, only available on VHS (released in the US).

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In the fictional world of Newbridge, NJ made popular by Tom Scharpling's radio program The Best Show there is a white power record label called Panzer Faust and one of their more memorable acts is the band White Reign. When I saw the White Cross cassette I was reminded of this since that's what it's called if you block out the "the" and don't realize the design wraps around.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 29 Jul 2016, 11:17 
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jerlgrain wrote:
Just found this thread. Only been using LDDB recently. I think this is the only time I have found someone else that has the MWS laserdisc. I think I found mine on ebay years ago. I also have the Amy Grant House of Love LD too. That was bought new at a LD store in the 90's.

Hope to find those Stryper LD's some day!
Anyway, good times!


I have both.
2-3 years ago they showed up regularly on ebay and on the cheap.
Now they're pretty rare.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 25 Mar 2018, 18:00 
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Anyone that’s willing to sell their Michael W Smith Change Your World Laserdisc?
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 03 Apr 2018, 22:20 
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Looks like jonesey got a copy of Michael W Smith off Ebay - not cheap though at $520:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MICHAEL-W-SMIT ... Sw1URawcEf
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 04 Apr 2018, 01:50 
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Gross.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 10 Apr 2018, 19:26 
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laserdisc_fan wrote:
Looks like jonesey got a copy of Michael W Smith off Ebay - not cheap though at $520:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MICHAEL-W-SMIT ... Sw1URawcEf


Yes I did. Just received it yesterday!
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 10 Apr 2018, 20:40 
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While it's not my disc or taste I'm glad to see that people are still buying stuff and enjoying their collections of LDs and not just processors or decoding the image for an odd hobby.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 19 Jan 2021, 22:17 
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laserdisc_fan wrote:
edwin240170 wrote:
On your LD from Michael W. Smith it is interesting to see it states "for promotional use only - not for sale", I don't remember ever to have seen a 12" release with a regular coverart without any advertisement or sample marking.


That is quite unusual. I'd seen mention of this laserdisc on other posts on the internet about music laserdiscs so didn't really think it was that rare, but must admit I've never seen another copy so far.

The picture and sound on this one is absolutely stunning (reference quality) and the very elaborate camera work maximises the impact of the concert. The best part though is the live versions on the laserdisc are actually far better than the studio cuts. They had obviously been rehearsing key tracks for sometime and refined and improved them to include many extra parts such as longer guitar solos and keyboard sections that aren't present on the albums. It was a strong set of songs - especially Cross Of Gold and Go West Young Man.


I just obtained a brand new, never opened copy of this disc for a very low price (a friend in the music industry who had it in storage for years). I'm a MWS fan and this is my favorite concert tour of his. I'm excited that you mentioned the transfer of this video was reference quality. Unfortunately I have no way to play it, and to get truly great quality a Pioneer Elite would be required and I would have to sell this laserdisc for a substantial sum to even afford one.

BTW, the guitar player in this concert is Tony Palacios. He was the guitar player for the Christian metal band Guardian. One of the best guitarists in CCM.
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 Post subject: Re: Christian pop, rock, metal music titles on laserdisc
PostPosted: 19 Jan 2021, 22:46 
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You don’t need Elite, but you would need to spend a couple hundred so I’d suggest having someone else duplicate it if you just want to watch it.
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