Description
Soak Your Brain is the official debut album by the American hard rock band Lovewar, released on Pakaderm Records in 1994, manufactured and distributed by Word. The album was recorded by J.R. McNeely, John Dino Elefante, and Dino Elefante at Pakaderm Studios in Los Alamitos, California; with the Elefante brothers producing. Mixed by Dino Elefante assisted by McNeely.
2020 promo note
HM Magazine ranked this album at #47 on the greatest Christian albums of all time. That should tell you something.
Yet, Lovewar was short-lived as Tim Bushong went on to form The Channel Surfers. Somehow John and Dino Elefante (Producers) saw something. After all, their entire existence as producers and record label execs proved success as they had their finger of the pulse of what fans wanted. From Petra, Guardian, The Brave and many others they found the IT factors and Lovewar was no exception.
Now on vinyl for the first time ever, as well as remastered CD. Vinyl comes in a purple translucent with 2-sided full-color printed sleeve with lyrics, write-up and more. The CD comes in a 8-panel jewel case with a limited edition silver foil trading card. Yep, those are making a comeback too!
Lovewar, back in the day was labeled as the Christian answer to Pearl Jam or Nirvana, as grunge was dominating music in the early 90’s when this album dropped. Thing is…Lovewar sounds NOTHING like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, or any of those grunge bands. Not even remotely! Lovewar is a three piece melodic hard rock band very much in the vein of Extreme, with hints of Mr. Big, King’s X, Galactic Cowboys, and eventual label-mates, Guardian, thrown into the mix. Tight vocal harmonies, big, guitar hooks, intricate bass rhythms, and strong song crafting are the key elements of this band, with catchy melodies sticking in your head for days and insightful lyrics requiring a degree of thought.
The truth is actually that this is Prog Metal and Guardian-like with big hooks and serious guitar chops. It’s clean. It’s fun. It’s Prog Metal at it’s finest with a great mix of metal, funk, jazz, grove and fusion with lots of starts, stops and time changes but with a little bit more flash and pop that on a King’s X album. The guitars are crunchy and precise, the bass is dominant and THICK and almost worth the price of admission if not for the talent of the rest of the band. The drums are a great mix of jazz and funk, and the lead vocals and harmonies are very catchy. Overall the songs are very well put together tight and infectious.Tim Bushong claims to have been influenced by popular writers like Francis Schaeffer and CS Lewis. No wonder lyrically, soak your brain displays more interest in apologetics (the defense of the doctrine) than do most records.
[Chris Well, Syndicate # 41, 1994 (Vol. 9, Iss. 5)]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/soak-your-brain/1442340372)
CD tracklist:
01. Soak Your Brain – 5:08
02. Golden Rule – 5:26
03. Take Me – 4:46
04. Welling Up – 5:34
05. Space And Time – 4:13
06. You Win – 4:12
07. Keep Your Hands Off My Stuff – 4:29
08. In The Sea – 5:59
09. Just The Same – 4:45
10. You Are Not Alone – 3:53
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Pakaderm Records. Re-issued on 180 gram 12-inch vinyl LP by Limited Run Vinyl in late December 2020 featuring two-sided printed inner sleeves with lyrics and photos. Comes in two color options: 150 Purple Transparent and 100 Black. Also re-issued as a remastered CD with a Limited Edition Silver-Foil trading card.
A full-page advertisement for various new releases on Pakaderm Records, including Lovewar’s Soak Your Brain, was featured in Syndicate Magazine No 42, Vol. 9, 1994.
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