The Altar Boys - The Collection

Saturday 1st February 1992
The Altar Boys - The Collection
The Altar Boys - The Collection

STYLE: Rock
RATING 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 14811-CAS1685
LABEL: Alarma RO9268
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Seemingly the Altar Boys are no more, and this value-for- money archive dredge offers a pretty impressive retrospective of a group who found a particular Christian youth culture niche in post-punk rock abrasion (with a touch of U2-ish stadium rock) during the second half of the 80s. Maybe it took an expert compiler to pull out the gems from 'Gut Level Music' ('86), 'Against The Grain' ('87), 'Forever Mercy' ('89) and Mike Stand's solo albums 'Do I Stand Alone' and 'Simple Expressions'. Maybe it needed some hot remixes. But however it was achieved, this album bites hard for every one of its 15 songs and is recommended whole heartedly both to the Boys supporters (there is a wonderful extended remix of "I Question It") and those who thought all Christian rock bands were wimpouts. As DA's Terry Taylor says in his sleevenote, "one would be hard pressed to find another rock 'n' roll band in today's contemporary Christian music that the word 'passionate' is any more fitting."

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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