Ken Tamplin Soul Survivor

I listened to this one again this week, and man, I really enjoy it!! It's catchy, the songs are the right length, the arrangements are kept sparse. 

For those who are familiar, I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this album? Years and years ago I would sometimes label it my favourite Christian metal album. But there are a few drawbacks, such as the instruments not "meshing" together; the mix is almost too clean. 

Is there enough going on in this album for it to have a place among the top echelons of Christian albums? 

FYI, one of my fav songs is Midnight in Peru; such an awesome instrumental!

I love this album as Ken plays most of the instruments himself on it.  It is well done and a good listen with some great lyrics.

I might have to spin this on the way home.

I can't get into this one as much as his other solo albums and Shout albums, however it has some great songs. I'd give it a 6/10. I think if it had real drums instead of a drum machine it would if been much better. In some places the drums are too loud to the point you can hear the other instruments and in other places the drums are mixed perfectly where you don't mind the drum machine. On some albums you don't mind the drum machine as much like Angelica Walking In Faith - it doesn't drown out the other instruments. 

Media Mania, I'm Gonna Live For Ever, Midnight 'n Peru, Love's Eternal Road, Stay By My Side, Come and Save Me are the best tracks. 

Stand Up is a decent track  - that one is not bad. 

Hard Times Coming and Take It Now or Nothing are ok not great. 

Heart and Soul is just dreadful. 

Yep - I'd give it a solid 6/10. 

I'm not sure if he was under pressure to pump this one out by Intense/Frontline, but I read somewhere that he was under pressure to release In the Witness Box by Benson (7/10) and that is a better album than Soul Survivor. Benson went bankrupt shortly afterwards. It seems that Soul Survivor was a rushed album.

I like it. Stay By My Side is my favorite song.

The only song I do skip on this is "Midnight in Peru".  It is out of place for the most part.

alldatndensum wrote:The only song I do skip on this is "Midnight in Peru".  It is out of place for the most part.

Joining this forum has revealed to me again how different God has made people. So many of our likes/dislikes are based on very little objective data; and that's a great thing b/c it adds so much diversity and excitement to the world.

I say this b/c the only song I never skip is "Midnight in Peru".

I wore out the cassette tape on this one when it first came out.  Enjoyed it but nowhere near as much as An Axe to Grind.   The third self titled Tamplin album was better too.  And Magdallan Big Bang was the best of Ken’s efforts.  I think Ken was even better when pushed in a band situation and paired with “Friends” like Van Zen and Lanny Cordola.

It's a'ight, pretty poppy at times, take Live Forever, barely harder then a Journey song and it's not an album I listen to much.  I agree that Big Bang was his best imo.

I just listened to the album on YouTube. I don’t mean to be negative… but I hate the drum machine. It makes me think of a karaoke performance.