JAMES CHRISTIAN: Rude Awakening CD 1994 Now & Then Records (ORIGINAL). House of Lords singer. Check sample

Category: AOR

Year: 1994

Label: Now & Then Records (ORIGINAL)

Catalog Number: NTHEN12

Personnel:
James Christian vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, piano, drums
Lanny Cordola guitar, mandoline
Mike Slamer guitar, drums
Bruce Gowdy guitar, keyboards, drums
Danny Jacob guitar
Mitch Perry guitar
Chris Allen Lane guitar
Chris Goldsmith bass
Scott Greer piano, violin
DeWayne Barron drums
Jean McLain backing vocals
Aina Olsen backing vocals
Diana Dewitt backing vocals

Tracks
1. Don't Start Me Up 3:55
2. Pleasure and Pain 4:56
3. Brighter Day 4:31
4. Where Does Love Go When It's Gone 4:03
5. The Warden 4:23
6. Katie 4:13
7. Best Girl 3:31
8. Labour of Love 4:30
9. Mother Night 4:25
10. Cold Day in Hell 4:06
11. Love Should've Brought You Home 3:43

Good album, great voice and...Candle in the Window (What a song! perfect!)

DON`T START ME UP...magic, beautiful...

Good record indeed. You should add it to your collection. Great AOR, worth every penny !

Debut solo outing from this House of Lords singer, one of the greatest vocalists in all of melodic hard rock. This CD is good enough to make angels weep, thanks to the great production, big AOR hooks, excellent choruses, and stacked backing vocals. Just about any fan of this genre should instantly fall in love with awesome songs like 'The Warden' and 'Love Should've Brought You Home.' If you don't own this album, you need to wake up and see--or should I say, hear?--what you've been missing.

His solo album is also a little softer than House Of Lords, a more AOR blend of mid paced AOR anthems like 'Pleasure And Pain', 'Brighter Day' (Steelhouse Lane covered this song!), 'Labor Of Love' and 'Mother Night' unplugged ballads 'Katie' and 'Where Does Love Go When It's Gone' and the major power ballad 'Love Should Have Brought You Home'. If you don't have this yet, get it.

Great album. Still apart from 'Candle in the Window' I prefer the ballads to the rockers... The 2 Judith Randall written songs are excellent: "Candle in the Window" and "Love Has No Mercy" (that Airkraft had previously used). The album itself is up and down, and generally is more pop/rock than the bombastic AOR of House of Lords.

'Brighter Day' is a great track, 'Katie' is a delightful tune and a clear winner for me, 'Best Girl' is killer commercial hard rock, as is 'Woman Enough'.
The man,with the golden voice ! For me,this is a classic Album ! 9/10

One of my alltime favorite artists, a real classic album. My favorite tracks are, Don't Start Me Up, Pleasure & Pain, Where Does Love Go When It's Gone, Best Girl, Mother Night, Cold Day in Hell. Great ballads, killer rock tunes, this album has it all.

Very nice album...basically a mix of ballads,mid tempos and rocking tracks...James kind of singing's superb as usual... Recommended album...92/100

5.0 out of 5 stars First class melodic rock album,
There was a whole host of overlooked bands from the late 80's and early 90's, but House of Lords is probably the one band that absolutely should have been a major hit in that era but for whatever reason went largely unnoticed. After the band's breakup, singer James Christian released his first solo album.
Released in 1994, Rude Awakening found Christian continuing the same melodic rock style as House of Lords, which is a plus when you consider some of the era's other artists and their weak attempts at grunge. Pretty much no one bought the album, but that's beside the point. Rude Awakening is unapologetically a classic AOR album full of rock anthems, love songs, guitar hooks, and the kind of songs that will have you singing along in no time flat. Christian is one of the genre's best vocalists, and his performance here is every bit as good as it was with House of Lords. It doesn't hurt that he is backed up by some of the best and the brightest in the business, including Mike Slamer (Streets), Lanny Cordola (House of Lords), Mitch Perry (MSG) and Mark Baker (Signal).
If you liked House of Lords, you need to buy this album. If you like melodic rock, you need to buy this album. It's so full of great AOR songs that it's almost pointless to try and single out the best tracks. Great, great stuff from an artist that never lost his way.

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Track list:

1 Don't Start Me Up
Drums, Bass, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Written-By – Bob Marlette, James Christian , Mark Baker
Producer – James Christian , Mark Baker
Lead Guitar – Danny Jacobs
3:53

2 Pleasure & Pain
Guitar – Mitch Perry
Drums, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Producer – James Christian , Mark Baker
Written-By – James Christian, Mark Baker
4:56

3 Brighter Day
Drums, Guitar – Mike Slamer
Lead Vocals – James Christian
Backing Vocals – Aina
Producer – Mike Slamer
Written-By – Mark Baker, Mike Slamer, Tom DeLuca
4:33

4 Where Does Love Go (When It's Gone)
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Lanny Cordola
Written-By – James Christian , Mark Baker
Backing Vocals – Diana DeWitt, Jean McClain
Producer – James Christian , Mark Baker
Drums, Bass, Keyboards, Lead Vocals – James Christian
4:04

5 The Warden
Drums, Bass, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Written-By – Freddy Curci, James Christian, Mark Baker, Steve DeMarchi
Producer – James Christian, Mark Baker
Lead Guitar – Danny Jacobs
4:23

6 Katie
Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin – Lanny Cordola
Drums, Bass, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Written-By – James Christian, Mark Baker
Producer – James Christian, Mark Baker
Piano, Violin – Scott Greer
4:17

7 Best Girl
Drums, Keyboards, Guitar – Bruce Gowdy
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Producer – Bruce Gowdy
Written-By – Bruce Gowdy, James Christian
3:31

8 Labour Of Love
Drums, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Keyboards, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Written-By – James Christian, Mark Baker
Producer – James Christian, Mark Baker
Lead Guitar – Danny Jacobs
4:31

9 Mother Night
Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Bass – Chris "Savage" Goldsmith*
Producer – James Christian
Written-By – Judithe Randall, Robert Tepper
Drums – DeWayne Barren
Lead Guitar – Chris Allen Lane
4:24

10 Cold Day In Hell
Drums, Bass, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Written-By – Bob Marlette, James Christian, Mark Baker
Producer – James Christian, Mark Baker
Lead Guitar – Danny Jacobs
4:09

11 Love Should've Brought You Home
Drums, Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – James Christian
Written-By – James Christian, Mark Baker
Producer – James Christian, Mark Baker
Lead Guitar – Danny Jacobs