Rage of Angels - s/t

Another purchase at the used shop today was the self-titled Rage of Angels. I would have completely overlooked the cd if not for the fact that I recognized the cover as someone's avatar (kethdredd). Going on that alone, I had the shop owner skip thru a few tracks. Cool 80's metal. It's on the REX label, so I'm assuming they are a Christian band, although the lyrics, while positive, don't seem overly-Christian or preachy. Anyone have additional info on these guys?

No additional info, but it's apparently a Must Have CD. People have been recommending it to me for years. I've never been able to find it, though.

How much did you score it for?

About $6 bucks. It wasn't labeled, but I purchased it with a few other cd's. The owner of the shop knows I'm a steady customer, so he rounds off my total.

Good deal, I think.

Nice find, MetalGuy. I've had to make do with a CD-R of that one for a while now, originals are rarer than hen's teeth!!

As for additional info, I believe a couple of the guys in R.O.A. eventually wound up in the (non-Christian) hair metal band Steelheart, but don't quote me.

Looks like Regency Records reissued the CD with 6 bonus tracks. Is Regency Records a legit label?

Eyesore wrote:

Looks like Regency Records reissued the CD with 6 bonus tracks. Is Regency Records a legit label?

huh? Sounds like a bootleg! I know some Brazilian bootleggers sold it a while ago. The original sold for at least 25$ on ebay.

And you are all correct, "lightly" Christian band (there were even accusations about the band "faking" faith to get a record deal, and that in the end made the band split up). Two of the members went on to join Steelheart, and I think the singer can be found in Pyn Siren.

Both ult and me have reviewed the CD on our sites.

Oh, and Regency is a legit label, but I've never heard about a reissue with bonus tracks.

Great find metalguy,like kmorg said it is hard to find now and will run anywhere from $25 and up on ebay.Most of the copies you will find are bootlegs.Anyhow,they are a great band and I wish they had done more.

Eyesore wrote:

Looks like Regency Records reissued the CD with 6 bonus tracks. Is Regency Records a legit label?

Regency was the label that originally released the CD back in '87, 88, whenever it was.

I vaguely remember a limited-edition reissue from six or seven years ago (I remember seeing it listed in the RadRockers catalog) but I don't know what label it was on.

The CD has only been officially released once. Any "reissues" are bootlegs as far as I know. I'm not sure the band even had any extra songs to include as bonus tracks, unless there were demos of the same songs or something.

This copy has both the REX & Regency Records labels on it & has a copywrite of 1989. No bonus tracks or anything to indicate it's a re-issue. Also, the booklet is just a 2 page spread wth the lyrics/thanks printed very tiny. I'm going to assume it's an original release.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

This copy has both the REX & Regency Records labels on it & has a copywrite of 1989. No bonus tracks or anything to indicate it's a re-issue. Also, the booklet is just a 2 page spread wth the lyrics/thanks printed very tiny. I'm going to assume it's an original release.

Sounds like an original to me.Thats what mine looks like and I've had it since it was released

Yup, the original was released on Regency, but was originally suppose to be released on R.E.X. Both label's logos appear on the CD.

Eyesore wrote:

Looks like Regency Records reissued the CD with 6 bonus tracks. Is Regency Records a legit label?

Where did you find this info?

kmorg wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

Looks like Regency Records reissued the CD with 6 bonus tracks. Is Regency Records a legit label?

Where did you find this info?

Someone is selling it on eBay right now.

That's the original issue disc. In the Christian marketplace back in the 80's everybody wanted a piece of the action.

The REX Lable was Distributed by Regency Records. Just like how the Intense Lable was Part of Frontline Records but was
distributed by the Benson Company.

I had their original demo 2 songs 'Rock for The Rock' and 'Reason to Rock'... It was faster and even had more energy then the final cd.

A very revealing interview done by Heaven's Metal (now HM) with Dan Mariano (lead singer) shed a lot of light on the business side of things.... Some of the guys smoked, a label(not REX), didn't like that. Some of the guys drank, a beer I suppose, the label didn't like that... Yet according to Dan the label rep Smoked and Drank with the band..... They felt burned (rightfully so).

It was back in the day of "Ministry over Music, You're roll models, live the life...... blah blah blah...." The band had already disbanded when the cd was released.... too bad. I've always thought they were very good.

Hopefully this fleshes out some of the speculation.....

There was a bootleg version put out year or 2 ago on Avantage records....thta they were selling through Radrockers....I bought one before it came out as bootleg....sounds awesome and has basically great coied arwork...

There were no bonus tracks on that boot though...

An original copy is one of the rarest titles in Christian metaldom....alongside:

SCARLET RED- 'Don't Dance With Danger"
STEVEN PATRICK- "Red Reign"


R.O.A. is a killer disc though!!

I'd love to get a copy of Red Reign. At least I have the MP3s. Good stuff.

ultmetal wrote:

The CD has only been officially released once. Any "reissues" are bootlegs as far as I know. I'm not sure the band even had any extra songs to include as bonus tracks, unless there were demos of the same songs or something.

Actually there was a period of time a few years ago (3-5?) where it seemed like there was a reissue, but I heard that somebody just found a stockpile of the original release. Apparently there were enough so that the price went pretty low, like it wasn't considered that rare any more.

I think the original has some pretty cheap artwork on the CD. Once I tried to clean one and cleaned some of the label ink off the CD.

Shiney wrote:

An original copy is one of the rarest titles in Christian metaldom....alongside:

SCARLET RED- 'Don't Dance With Danger"
STEVEN PATRICK- "Red Reign"

Add Force 3 - Warriors of Light to that list.
I have all of them, but I know of other titles that are even harder to get.

Before Retroactive Records just re-releases Seventh Seal - Messenger Of Love it was impossible to find anywhere. Also good luck in finding a copy of The Preachers - Way To Paradise. The Czech version of the Kreyson discs are also pretty hard to find.

I was a bit disappointed with this Disk outside of a few tracks i liked but its a must have though I agree

now I need to check to see if mine is legit or not

mr.electric39 wrote:

That's the original issue disc. In the Christian
marketplace back in the 80's everybody wanted a piece of the action.

The REX Lable was Distributed by Regency Records. Just like how the Intense Lable was Part of Frontline Records but was
distributed by the Benson Company.

I
had their original demo 2 songs 'Rock for The Rock' and 'Reason to
Rock'... It was faster and even had more energy then the final cd.

A
very revealing interview done by Heaven's Metal (now HM) with Dan
Mariano (lead singer) shed a lot of light on the business side of
things.... Some of the guys smoked, a label(not REX), didn't like that.
Some of the guys drank, a beer I suppose, the label didn't like that...
Yet according to Dan the label rep Smoked and Drank with the band.....
They felt burned (rightfully so).

It was back in the day of
"Ministry over Music, You're roll models, live the life...... blah blah
blah...." The band had already disbanded when the cd was released....
too bad. I've always thought they were very good.

Hopefully
this fleshes out some of the speculation.....

Bro, forgive me
for playing devils-advocate! So your saying it was wrong/unrealistic
for a professed Christian Rock band under a somewhat Christian
band-supporting label.... to act like Christians and be good examples,
practice what they preach?

kethdredd wrote:

I'd love to get a copy of Red Reign. At least I have the MP3s. Good stuff.

It is a good album. I lucked out on this one. I purchased a copy when the album was brand new. However, I had a friend that I gave it to just because I really felt led to do so. I didn't think I'd ever get another copy but a couple years later someone donated a brand new CD copy to me. I was blown away. I had that copy signed by Steven Patrick at Up From the Ashes.

"Red Reign" is a excellent disc...pretty mellow but cool!