Description
Revival is the debut album by the American singer and songwriter David Mullen, released on Myrrh Records in 1989, a division of Word. Also released by Warner Bros. Records. The album’s basic tracks were recorded by Jeff Balding at Omnisound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee; with Mark Gersmehl and Chris McHugh of White Heart fame producing. Mixed by Balding at Bill Schnee Studios in North Holllywood, California.
Featuring White Heart guitarist Gordon Kennedy as well as the rhythms section of White Heart – Tommy Sims and Chris McHugh on bass and drums respectively. Backing vocals provided by Ashley Cleveland, Kim Fleming and Vicki Hampton.
David Mullen won the GMA Dove Award for New Artist of the Year in 1990.
Mullen explodes out of the starting gate with enough confidence and vocal slight-of-hand to rival that of seasoned rock veterans, although this impressive disc, released by Myrrh to the Christian market, is Mullen’s freshman effort. He may be the new kid in school, but his songwriting and impassioned singing show him to be an attentive student of classic American rock, blues, and roots music. Like Judson Spence, David Mullen revives a rich R&B tradition of sawdust and sweat. Like Geoff Moore, Mullen wrenches a larger-than-life reading from each lyric. And, like Russ Taff’s most recent work, ‘Revival’ is rock as down home as hickory bark; thick with guitars tearin’ down the house, while the synths take the hint and makes themselves scarce.
Mark Gersmehl and Chris McHugh of White Heart surround Mullen’s bluesy vocals with just the right aggregate of acoustic and electric backing, a production richly textured but just rough enough around the edges to be authentic.
Mullen’s amazingly versatile voice covers a wide emotional range, from the Bono-like-low-register drama which opens «Fallen World» to the spoken scream of «Sho’ Love You», ala John “Gramps” Mellencamp.
A sense of idealism shines through on «Live So God Can Use You», an anthem for the ’90s. “We are the young ones, we are today’s dreamers/ and tomorrow dreams come true.” The chorus is strikingly similar to «Will The Cicle Be Unbroken», but I can’t decide whether that’s genius or plagiarism.
The contrite «Hang My Head and Cry» closes the album on a note of personal repentance, the starting point for lasting revival, as Mullen confesses “I take offense at the world but take no stand/ one man against the tide can never heal this land/ don’t let me become the man that I say that I despise.” Mullen says, “Writing is when your life experiences with God fill your heart so full that it overflows.” ‘Revival’ shows this cup is far from empty, along with the promise that it will be much more than a flash flood. [Mark Eischer, CCM, January 1990]
Perhaps you’ve heard the buzz. It started a couple of years ago when a young shaggy-haired guy with an acoustic guitar wowed ’em at a Gospel Music Association New Artist Showcase. I suppose my reaction at the time was one of guarded optimism, as Mullen was a little too much like Mellencamp to be seen as a true original. Still, his contribution was unique enough to qualify him as this year’s model, and in a business rife with Edsels, this one looked pretty good. Oddly, David Mullen was signed as a writer before any plans were made with anyone to cut an album of his own. Odder still, the rumors began to circulate that Warner Brothers had not only signed him, but wanted him just as he was.
If that doesn’t seem significant, wait ’til you hear the album. ‘Revival’ is chock-full of religious imagery and language, even for a contemporary Christian album. The most amazing thing is how it works. Mullen’s writing is more than down home, it’s authentic to a more verbal form of expression (again like Mellencamp), one where religious belief and life are part and parcel to the same experience (his). Kind of hard to explain, but that’s what I hear, and I’ll bet that’s what Warners hears too. It’s an elusive quality that results in an artist who wears faith and rock ‘n’ roll like a pair of well-worn slippers.
Now. Is the album any good? Gratefully, the answer is yes. Produced by the ever-more-impressive White Hearters Mark Gersmehl and Chris McHugh, the record boasts a gritty blend of delta blues and roots rock, played from a wide musical palette that covers lots of ground in between. WH’s Tommy Sims and Gordon Kennedy also play, as does Mullen’s band One Blood and other session players, on an album that you could play unashamedly for anyone, and an album that I wouldn’t hesitate putting down ten bucks at the counter for – the two acid tests of Christian rock, am I right?
The songs are all good, but everyone will have their own favorites, because they are varied in style and approach (thank God). It is interesting that Warners picked «Revival» and «Hang My Head and Cry» as the first singles, but then no tune here is devoid of Christian content.
Only time will tell whether David Mullen will break the mainstream. From the standpoint of lyrics, one would think it would take a miracle. But there’s an indefinable something there that gives me hope that it just might happen. Maybe it’s just authenticity, the missing link in so much Chnistian rock. Whatever the case, Mullen qualifies for the best new artist debut in gospel in quite some time. Somebody say amen. [Thom Granger, Harvest Rock Syndicate, No. 4, 1989 (Volume 4)]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/revival/1458024909)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Revival”
A2. “Sho’ Love You”
A3. “Heaven’s To Betsy”
A4. “Backstreet”
A5. “Somebody Say Amen”
Side Two
B1. “Fallen World”
B2. “Still Here”
B3. “Live So God Can Use You”
B4. “The Blood”
B5. “Hang My Head And Cry”
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Myrrh Records.
CREDITS. Produced by Chris McHugh and Mark Gersmehl. Basic tracks recorded by Jeff Balding at Omnisound, Nashville, TN. Additional tracks recorded by Ronnie Brookshire at Digital Recorders, Nashville, TN. Overdubs recorded by Ronnie Brookshire, Brent King, Bill Deaton, Lynn Fuston, Lee Groitzsch at Hummingbird Studio, Nashville, TN and at Omnisound. Assistan Engineers: Carry Summers, Steve Bishir, Barry Dixon, Kevin Twit. Mixed by Jeff Balding at Schnee Studio, North Holllywood, CA, assisted by Ken Allardyce. Mastered by Doug Sax at Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, CA. A&R Direction by Mark Maxwell and Danny Kee. All songs written by David Mullen, except track A1 co-written with Mark Gersmehl, track A5 co-written with Wes King, and track B1 co-written with Kevin Twit.
Musicians: Carl Marsh (Sounds [Rainstorms] on track A1, Synth [Fairlight Voicing] on track A4, Synth [Fairlight Strings] on track B5), Mark Gersmehl (Piano on track B5), One Blood [Kevin Twit – guitar, Scott MacLeod – drums/percussion] (tracks: B1, B2, B4), Gordon Kennedy (Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Classical Guitar, Dobro Resonator Guitar), Tom Hemby (Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Slide Guitar), Kevin Twit (Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Lead Guitar – tracks: B3), Tommy Sims (Bass), Spencer Campbell (Bass on track A5), Chris McHugh (Drums, Percussion). Backing Vocals: Ashley Cleveland, Kim Fleming, Vicki Hampton, Kim Hill (track A5). Backing Choir on track B3: Heather McHugh, Lee Torrence, Mark Gersmehl, One Blood, Trace Scarborough.
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