Description
Warrior is the sixth album by the British singer, songwriter, and worship leader Noel Richards, released on Kingsway Music in 1994 (as a part of the label’s The Worship Leaders series). The album was recorded between June and September 1994.
This album marked another turning point in my work as a songwriter/recording artist and the public beginning of a journey that would see us fill Wembley Stadium with 45,000 people. Since 1986, I had held a vision to see Wembley filled with worshippers. Les Moir also had a similar vision, as he had done some smaller stadium events with Graham Kendrick. Early in 1994, as we began pre-production work on this album, Les suggested that maybe this recording should be one where we make the vision public and begin to share the idea for a worship gathering at Wembley Stadium. So on the sleevenotes for the album I wrote these words: “Several years ago I watched a concert on TV coming live from London’s Wembley Stadium. The rock band Queen were playing their anthem «We Are The Champions». It was incredible to see 70,000 people singing along with Freddie Mercury, their hands raised in adoration. So began a dream. To one day see Wembley Stadium and similar venues filled with Christians declaring that there is only one champion of the world, and his name is Jesus. I am sure it will happen. In the meantime I have endeavoured to write and gather worship songs that have an anthemic feel. The sort of songs that could be used in stadiums as well as local churches. This album represents the latest stage of that journey. . . I hope you enjoy the album and that as you listen you will begin to catch our dream. See you at Wembley.” The eventual title track was a song that Tricia and I had written in 1992. We had not been 100 per cent happy with it and had shelved the song for two years. Les asked us to look at it again and see if we could improve it, with a view to it being included in the shortlist of songs for the album. Somehow, we came up with a new version that we finally really liked. Shortly before going into the studio we had a visit from a “wild” prophetic Australian singer/songwriter, Stephen Bennett. He and his friend Chris Falson were both on staff at a large church in Sydney, called Christian City Church. They had a picture of Wembley Stadium on their office wall and often joked that one day they would play there. (Something that became a reality for both a few years later.) Steve encouraged us to go for the Wembley vision and after an inspiring evening with him, we sat down and wrote the theme song for the event, «Champion». This song became the final track on ‘Warrior’. We tried it out a few days after writing it, at the Global March For Jesus event in Hyde Park, London, which was attended by 80,000 people. The tracks for the album were put down “live” at Neil Costello’s Music Shed studio in Derby and the musicians for this were Neil (guitars), Les (bass), Terl Bryant (drums) and Howard Francis (keys). The band rocked and it was obvious that this was going to be a rock’n’roll worship album. We featured guest vocals from some of the musicians at the forefront of Christian music today including Ishmael, Martin Smith, Matt Redman, Graham Kendrick and Dave Bilbrough. Other studios used for this recording were ICC Studios, Eastbourne; Marcus Studios, London and Snake Ranch, London. Before recording ‘Warrior’, Tricia, Les Moir and I went to Wembley Arena to see Bryan Adams play. We wanted to get some ideas for “stadium praise” and Bryan Adams’ style was definitely a role model for this. You can hear a little influence in «He Has Risen», which definitely has an opening similar to Adams’ «Summer Of 69». We also had a guest appearance by Paul Jones (Manfred Mann) playing a harmonica solo on Chris Falson’s «I Walk By Faith». It was such a blast having a living rock’n’roll legend in the studio, playing on my album! The songs were so strong and is probably the most congregational friendly of all my albums recorded in the 1990s. Many of the songs, such as «I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever» and «We Want To See Jesus Lifted High», have become huge classics around the world. It became my biggest selling album. The album was recorded between June and September and released in the autumn of 1994 and, combined with the Warrior Tour at the same time, made public our intention to hire Wembley Stadium for the Champion Of The World worship event in June 1997. [Excerpt from the article “Noel Richards: Artist Output – The worship leader talks about his releases so far”, published by Cross Rhythms 17th September 2010]
Cross Rhythms didn’t give this album’s predecessor Thunder In The Skies’ the recognition it was due. This one, we were primed for and sure enough it’s another cracker. I’m still not certain whether it compares with the classic status of Thunder’ but it is still an essential purchase for every worship leader, featuring powerfully passionate songs perfectly suited to galvanise the church into faith and action. In the sleeve note Noel talks about his vision for praise and worship: “Several years ago I watched a concert on TV coming from London’s Wembley Stadium. The rock band Queen was playing their anthem «We Are The Champions». It was incredible to see 70,000 people singing along with Freddie Mercury, their faith raised in ‘adoration’. So began a dream – to one day see Wembley Stadium and similar venues filled with Christians declaring that there is only one champion of the world, and his name is Jesus. I am sure it will happen. In the meantime I have endeavoured to write and gather worship that has an anthemic feel.” No song on this set carries out Noel’s aim more precisely than the closing track «Champion». Other absolute standouts are the title track with a truly socking drum track and a goose-bump inducing chorus (with such guys as Andy Piercy, Mai Pope, Adrian Thompson, Lawrence Johnson, Bryon Lee Jones and Priscilla Jones) and Martin Smith’s «I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever». A spirit-enriching album. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, December 1994]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/warrior/1792031941)
CD tracklist:
01. Warrior – 4:41
02. I Could Sing of Your Love Forever – 4:34
03. The Battle Is the Lord’s – 5:52
04. I Walk By Faith – 4:57
05. Sing to the Lord – 4:19
06. He Has Risen – 5:40
07. Good News – 3:12
08. Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow – 4:07
09. Overwhelmed By Love – 3:42
10. For All the People Who Live On the Earth – 5:11
11. We Want to See Jesus Lifted High – 4:11
12. Champion – 6:24
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Kingsway Music.
“Champion”, Live at Wembley Stadium, 1997
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