MASS - Take You Home & Voices in the Night on CD

Both officially licensed from the band.

TAKE YOU HOME: In between 'New Birth' and 'Voices' , Mass recorded this hi-octane EP back in '88 and continues to show the progress and amazing talent of this underrated Boston-based quartet. Now boosted with a previously unreleased bonus track , these 7 songs scream U.S. Melodic Metal at its finest.
http://www.retrospectrecords.com/products/mass_tyh.html

VOICES IN THE NIGHT: Highly regarded by many as a classic slab of top-notch U.S. Melodic Metal , this release was produced by Michael Sweet of Stryper. Now featuring a previously unreleased bonus track and the elusive Japan Only track , Voices in the Night is a staple of how great 80s Metal was. Very Highly Recommended.
http://www.retrospectrecords.com/products/mass_vitn.html

YES! FINALLY!

I have been waiting forever for these to be available on CD - Thanks for the info!

Crap - Waited to long to sell my copies. Ugh.

Too bad that label's reissues are utter crap. Got many a time ago and end up trading all of them. Very cheap, even the Paladin one was done on a cd-r!!!

SAXON1500 wrote:

Crap - Waited to long to sell my copies. Ugh.

I'll buy/trade for your Originals sometime. I would much rather have the first press then a reissue.

we'll talk.

I already ordered the Take You Home reissue, but forgot to check Voices for bonus tracks! Now I'll have to order that one too.

I had VitN when it came out...sounded like Stryper-lite...Michael Sweet had to have sung all the backing vocals (you hear him over everyone) and they must have used all of Stryper's gear cuz it sounds like a Stryper album...add Michael's lead vocals and it would be...

I never heard of them. Are these guys a Christian band, like Stryper?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never heard of them. Are these guys a Christian band, like Stryper?

Not totally...a couple of the guys are/were Catholics, I think...and it came out a tiny bit in thier lyrics (from what I can recall)...but they were not an evangelistic band like Stryper was...just a Melodic Metal/Hard Rock band...the album Sweet produced was on Enigma Records (Stryper's label)...

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never heard of them. Are these guys a Christian band, like Stryper?

No. Not a Christian band. You can read a interview and song by song breakdown on their "best of" CD on my site.
http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/mass.htm

ultmetal wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never heard of them. Are these guys a Christian band, like Stryper?

No. Not a Christian band. You can read a interview and song by song breakdown on their "best of" CD on my site.
[url=http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/mass.htm

http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/mass.htm[/quote[/url]]

Cool. With a name like Mass and the Michael Sweet connection, it's easy to make that leap. I wonder if that put some people off "back in the day"?

MetalGuy71 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never heard of them. Are these guys a Christian band, like Stryper?

No. Not a Christian band. You can read a interview and song by song breakdown on their "best of" CD on my site.
[url=http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/mass.htm

http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/mass.htm[/quote[/url]]

Cool. With a name like Mass and the Michael Sweet connection, it's easy to make that leap. I wonder if that put some people off "back in the day"?

It sure did, although it also gained them a lot of Christian Metal fans.

[quote="ultmetal"]

MetalGuy71 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never heard of them. Are these guys a Christian band, like Stryper?

No. Not a Christian band. You can read a interview and song by song breakdown on their "best of" CD on my site.
http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/mass.htm[/quote]

Cool. With a name like Mass and the Michael Sweet connection, it's easy to make that leap. I wonder if that put some people off "back in the day"?

It sure did, although it also gained them a lot of Christian Metal fans.

On the flip side of the coin, do you think any of those Christian Metal Fans would have been dissappointed to find out that Mass wasn't a Christian band?

[quote="MetalGuy71"]

ultmetal wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

ultmetal wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I never heard of them. Are these guys a Christian band, like Stryper?

No. Not a Christian band. You can read a interview and song by song breakdown on their "best of" CD on my site.
http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/mass.htm[/quote]

Cool. With a name like Mass and the Michael Sweet connection, it's easy to make that leap. I wonder if that put some people off "back in the day"?

It sure did, although it also gained them a lot of Christian Metal fans.

On the flip side of the coin, do you think any of those Christian Metal Fans would have been dissappointed to find out that Mass wasn't a Christian band?

I think the band's lyrics were vague/positive enough that Christian Metal fans weren't bothered...

They were certainly marketed as a Christian band back in the day. I would never have heard of them if the local Christian bookstorre didn't sell it.

The bonustrack on the "Voices..." re-release is one of the best earworms they`ve 
ever written. 

kmorg wrote:

They were certainly marketed as a Christian band back in the day. I would never have heard of them if the local Christian bookstorre didn't sell it.

Who marketed them as a Christian band? I don't ever remember Mass saying they were a Christian band. Every interview I have ever read this seems to come up and they have always said, "no we are not a Christian band."

Smart marketing though. They gained a lot of fans in a market that probably would not have accepted them otherwise.

Quote :

Being the vocalist for the band, I write 90% of the lyrics and melodies. Gene and the rest of the guys usually write the music, so a lot of the lyrics have to do with me personally. Since our latest release is BEST ONES here is a little info about some of the songs on this release:
1. Looking Good- the adventures of young love.
2. Pedal to the Metal- cruising the beach with my friends.
3. Holy One- Good vs. Evil with good always prevailing. Dedicated to an "old manager".
4. New Birth- Lots of new things in my life, new record, new wife, new baby, therefore......New Birth.
5. Crying Alone- Searching for love.
6. Do You Love Me- question to my first wife, poppy song, lyrics are self explanatory.
7. Watch Her Walk- Gene and I wrote this song down in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during Spring Break. Lyrics self explanatory.
8. Take You Home- Boy meets girl at club, wants to resume party at home.
9. Over You- This is the beginning of the end of (a) relationship with (my) wife.
10. Voices in the Night- This song is about me on stage being sad during the day and cannot wait to perform during the night thus hearing the voices. During the whole recording of this record, I was going through a stressful time in my life. I was going through a divorce, so a lot of the lyrics may coincide with my feelings. Ex. "Chance to Love."
11. Reach for the Sky- This song is basically a positive uplifting song with overtures to asking God for help and guidance.
12. Turn it all Around- Lyrics are self explanatory about the band MASS and what we were going through. This is our third time and there ain't no striking out, we've got to grab the golden ring! The third time meant our third record contact, which did end in bankruptcy. Still searching for the golden ring.
13. Bad Man's Reputation- This song is one of the songs of the A&M record which was never released and once again written about an ex-manager.
14. Who Am I? - This song basically is about the confusion of choosing to work a 9 -5 job or being a rock musician.
15. Seven Days - Playful song about getting betrayed by a woman thinking it was love.

Hopefully this will answer some of your questions. I do try to write positive and uplifting songs. Do believe in God the Almighty but do not try to preach in my songs but I do try to send a positive message and hopefully they will figure it out.

Louis D' Augusta

ultmetal wrote:

kmorg wrote:

They were certainly marketed as a Christian band back in the day. I would never have heard of them if the local Christian bookstorre didn't sell it.

Who marketed them as a Christian band? I don't ever remember Mass saying they were a Christian band. Every interview I have ever read this seems to come up and they have always said, "no we are not a Christian band."

Smart marketing though. They gained a lot of fans in a market that probably would not have accepted them otherwise.

Quote :

Being the vocalist for the band, I write 90% of the lyrics and melodies. Gene and the rest of the guys usually write the music, so a lot of the lyrics have to do with me personally. Since our latest release is BEST ONES here is a little info about some of the songs on this release:
1. Looking Good- the adventures of young love.
2. Pedal to the Metal- cruising the beach with my friends.
3. Holy One- Good vs. Evil with good always prevailing. Dedicated to an "old manager".
4. New Birth- Lots of new things in my life, new record, new wife, new baby, therefore......New Birth.
5. Crying Alone- Searching for love.
6. Do You Love Me- question to my first wife, poppy song, lyrics are self explanatory.
7. Watch Her Walk- Gene and I wrote this song down in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during Spring Break. Lyrics self explanatory.
8. Take You Home- Boy meets girl at club, wants to resume party at home.
9. Over You- This is the beginning of the end of (a) relationship with (my) wife.
10. Voices in the Night- This song is about me on stage being sad during the day and cannot wait to perform during the night thus hearing the voices. During the whole recording of this record, I was going through a stressful time in my life. I was going through a divorce, so a lot of the lyrics may coincide with my feelings. Ex. "Chance to Love."
11. Reach for the Sky- This song is basically a positive uplifting song with overtures to asking God for help and guidance.
12. Turn it all Around- Lyrics are self explanatory about the band MASS and what we were going through. This is our third time and there ain't no striking out, we've got to grab the golden ring! The third time meant our third record contact, which did end in bankruptcy. Still searching for the golden ring.
13. Bad Man's Reputation- This song is one of the songs of the A&M record which was never released and once again written about an ex-manager.
14. Who Am I? - This song basically is about the confusion of choosing to work a 9 -5 job or being a rock musician.
15. Seven Days - Playful song about getting betrayed by a woman thinking it was love.

Hopefully this will answer some of your questions. I do try to write positive and uplifting songs. Do believe in God the Almighty but do not try to preach in my songs but I do try to send a positive message and hopefully they will figure it out.

Louis D' Augusta

Do you think it could possibly be the singer/band purposely denying that they were a Christian band in the press (even if they were) so they wouldn't alienate the secular crowd and limit their success or be considdered a Stryper clone? I seem to recall a recent band (P.O.D. or Evenesance, maybe?) that didn't want to be labeled a "Christian" band for fear that it would hurt their image or limit their mainstream appeal.

I had the impression when I was in touch with MASS and asked them these questions, 
they had no problem with the christian image they got and look at the lyrics for "Holy One" from "Take You Home", these have a big christian touch . 
As for a STRYPER clone, MASS was formed before STRYPER and they had an own 
identity but when Michael produced "Voices..." he gave them the STRYPER touch same as it later happened with GUARDIAN (Of course that time with Oz producing).

Maybe the label pushed them into that direction because it was successfull, could be possible.

As for P.O.D. and EVANESCENCE, I don`t know as for P.O.D. I think they were very open,
showed their Bibels on MTV....and their first revors were strictly christian.

On the other hand there are many artists who still won`t to be labeled Christian Metal or whatever like NARNIA, ROB ROCK..... just because it puts them in the STRYPER image corner.

BTW did you know that STEEL PROPHET also started as christian band?



 

Metalgiant wrote:

BTW did you know that STEEL PROPHET also started as christian band?


 

I've actually wondered about this for years. They once had Vince Dennis as their bass-player, whom also used to be in Tourniquet. And there was always one member thanking God in the liner notes. Then I recently bought the Shallows Of Forever bootleg compilation CD, out on Steel Legacy Records, and then it dawned on me; Songs like "The Reign Of Christ" and the fact that they used the cross as an imagery tool on several of their earlier photos made me sure that they had some Christian background.