Tug of War

Description

Tug of War is an album by the American singer and songwriter Brent Lamb, released on Milk & Honey Records in 1984, a division of The Zondervan Corporation. The album was recorded by Jeff Balding at Gold Mine Studio East in Brentwood; at Morningstar Sound Studio in Hendersonville; and at Bullet Recording, Great Circle Sound, The Garage Studio, and Center Stage Studio in Nashville, Tennessee; with Phil Naish producing. Mixed by Balding at Gold Mine Studio East. Rhythm tracks arranged by Naish and Brent Lamb. Strings arranged by Alan Moore. All songs written by Brent and Laurie Lamb except track B3 co-written by Brent and Laurie Lamb and Phil Naish and track B4 written by Justin Peters and Chris McCollum.

Brent Lamb is backed by a session band consisting of producer Phil Naish on keyboards, Jon Goin on guitar, Mike Brignardello on bass, and Dennis Holt on drums (courtesy of A.D.), with Sam Levine sitting in on saxophone on track B4. Backing vocals on tracks A2, A4, B3 provided by Gary Janney, Gary Pigg, and Marty McCall, the latter two of Fireworks fame. Strings by The Nashville String Machine conducted by Carl Gorodetzky.

Brent Lamb’s music didn’t receive the distribution it deserved the first time around, so a lot of people probably missed this tight and tasty little album. Lamb writes solid, economical rock songs with a good sense of melody. The best uptempo tunes include «Fire Escape», «Waiting Is Worth It», and «Cleaning House», while the most memorable ballad is «Quiet Please». Only the MOR tunes like the title cut falter.

There’s nothing startlingly new or different on ‘Tug of War’ – although «Waiting Is Worth It» is one of the few contemporary Christian music songs I’ve ever heard that speaks directly to the problem of pre-marital sex – and Lamb doesn’t have a particularly striking voice. All he does most of the time is make good music. [Bob Darden, CCM, July 1985]

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Fire Escape” – 3:55
A2. “Cleaning House” – 3:10
A3. “Nature Of His Son” – 3:33
A4. “I’m Not Worried” – 4:19
A5. “Quiet Please” – 3:56

Side Two
B1. “Tug Of War” – 3:39
B2. “Hide Me Lord” – 4:24
B3. “Waiting Is Worth It” – 3:26
B4. “One Way To Go” – 3:26
B5. “You Made Me That Way” – 3:39

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Milk & Honey Records.

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