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Larry Norman -> Larry Norman -> Favorite Larry Norman Albums
Post Info TOPIC: Favorite Larry Norman Albums
cRaShDoG

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Favorite Larry Norman Albums
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We all have (and love) the trilogy CD's as well as a few of Larry's other most popular albums such as "Upon This Rock" and "Something New Under The Son", but which lesser known or newer CD's do you have and love and recommend to others? There's a ton of Larry's CD's available for purchase on his website, but without sound bytes it's hard to choose one from another.

I have the 7 CD "Essentials" set which i'd highly recommend to anyone, but to die-hard fans i'd recommend the 4 disc set "Rough Diamonds Precious Jewels" as well as both "Motorola Corolla" CD's because they have some neat and rare stuff. The sound quality isn't always the greatest on these, but the rarities of these recordings make up for it.

It's probably a fairly well known album here, but i'd also recommend getting "A Moment In Time" because it's an awesome album. Down the Line, Long Hard Road, Elvis has left the Building, You Shall Be Saved, Leave It Up To God To Handle, and Right Here In America are some amazing songs.....and they're all on this disc.

Lastly, my newest favorite is "Sixty: The Trilogy Concert" which is a 2 disc live recording of the trilogy albums that Larry performed at his 60th birthday bash last year. The sound quality is amazing and it has a very "MTV Unplugged" feel to it. My only complaint is that this is edited and leaves out some songs....maybe Solid Rock will re-release it in it's entirety and on DVD in the future? We can only hope.

So anyway, what are your favorite albums and why?

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Craig

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I think my favorite is Shouting in the Storm.  And a very close second would be Stranded in Babylon, Europian release.  My two prized albums, framed and displayed in my store are Barking at Ants and The best of larry Norman, Sweden release I guess.

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Anonymous

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"So Long Ago the Garden " is a favourite. So are "Come as a Child" and "Quiet Night".

But my favourite Larry song was the complete mix of "If God is My Father" that was released on the "Starstorm" album in Australia. I'm not aware that it was released anywhere else. A rough mix was included as a bonus on the "So Long Ago The Garden" CD reissue, but it just doesn't have the impact of the finished recording.

Adam

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Anonymous

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Crashdog,
 
I know what you mean brother... I was at the "60" concerts too and was hoping "Messiah" would be on the CD's - it was pretty powerful that night... but what a nice problem to have - too many cool songs in one night for even 2 CD's!

And yeah - I liked the quality too - Larry n the Solid Rock team obviously did some great work putting that set together.

Larry gave so much that night, what a hard worker & servant God bless him

As to albums - where do you even start???: they ALL seem to have a gem of there own - other than the obvious (i.e.: the trilogy) here goes:

- Tournequit had "Feed The Poor" EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD HEAR THIS SONG! 

- The Come As A Child/Calcutta Album was a really special live album with several good tracks...  "Strong Love Strange Peace" was a standout there

-American Roots is a classic end to end with many unique gems... Home at last was like that too. 

- Bootlegs version of "Six Sixty Six" is perhaps the definative one (at least for me), and the comments about Waychman Nee in "Let The Lions Come" were amazing... I had no idea the Chinese prison amputated him!

-I always liked the version of "Watch What Your Doing" on Monsters - some good humour there too - and Larry's voice had an especially unique sound on that album
 
-The version of "Bombs" on Road Rage'll make you cry if you really listen & you've got a heart

-Rock Scissors Paper has "Children of Lugoj" - another song that'll bring you to tears.

-Safecraking had 2 really great songs "Jesus is God" (AWESOME guitar on this album Charles!) and a better-than-origional cover of "Waves Of Grace"

-Larry's nods to Dylan & U2 on Sessions were very very good.

-Stranded in Babylon is landmark & "A Dangerous Place To Be" on that album sounds for all the world EXACTLY like Led Zeppelin's backing Larry!

-White Blossoms From Black Roots has the unstoppable "Man From Galilee"

Theres so much more...

What a body of work - God's hand is so evident in Larry's music.
   


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cRaShDoG

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Anonymous wrote:

- I was at the "60" concerts too and was hoping "Messiah" would be on the CD's - it was pretty powerful that night... but what a nice problem to have - too many cool songs in one night for even 2 CD's!

aproximately how many people were there? it sounds like a fairly small and intimate performance. did you happen to see if it was being videotaped? i'd assume it was, but i was hoping you could confirm it.

- Tournequit had "Feed The Poor"

yeah, that song is also on essentials 4 'collaborator'. most of the 'tourniquet' album is on the essentials series.

-American Roots is a classic end to end with many unique gems... Home at last was like that too. 

i had 'home at last' back in the cassette days, but now i've got most of the songs from it on the essential series. i'm planning on buying 'american roots'. 

- Bootlegs version of "Six Sixty Six" is perhaps the definative one (at least for me)
-I always liked the version of "Watch What Your Doing" on Monsters

see, that's what i mean. how are we to know one version from another when looking at the vague descriptions on the solid rock website. audio clips would be soooo helpful.
 
-The version of "Bombs" on Road Rage'll make you cry if you really listen & you've got a heart

i think the version they put on the essentials set is horrible. it's the n'soul remix. why would they choose that over the original?! fortunately i have the original version that was included on 'down under but not out'

-Rock Scissors Paper has "Children of Lugoj" - another song that'll bring you to tears.

also on essentials 3 'liberator'

-Safecraking had 2 really great songs "Jesus is God" (AWESOME guitar on this album Charles!) and a better-than-origional cover of "Waves Of Grace"

'safecracking' is a one disc version of various songs from the 7 cd 'essentials' set, so i already have both of these songs on the essentials.

-Stranded in Babylon is landmark & "A Dangerous Place To Be" on that album sounds for all the world EXACTLY like Led Zeppelin's backing Larry!

most of this album is on the essentials. 'a dangerous place to be' is on essentials 4 'collaborator'

.....thanks for your time, i appreciate all of your input



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Terry Roland

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Only Visiting This Planet
So Long Ago The Garden
In Another Land
Bootleg
Upon This Rock
Something New Under The Son
Stranded In Babylon
Street Level

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Tom

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My first Larry Norman album was "Upon This Rock", which I bought at a Christian bookstore in the early 70's after hearing the song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" sung at a coffee-house.  After that I got "Street Level" and "Bootleg" also at stores. 
However, as time went on Larry's albums became harder and harder to find and I had to get "Only Visiting This Planet" through the mail. (I still have all of them) Altogether I think I have about 14 of Larry's LPs, cassettes and cds, the most of any artist, even Petra.
My favorite?  They're all my favorites because each one is different and shows Larry's love for the Lord and his fellow man in various ways. 

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Steve

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Favourite albums... hmm, well there are so many on different levels. Obvious trilogy and "UTR" choices apart, I would always put the US "Stranded In Babylon" up there - and to be slightly obscure, the pre-release cassette version of "In Another Land" with the different running order, different vocals and additional pieces - it's one of my all time favourites, it has to be on any list! Also the MGM "So Long Ago" and Capital "UTR".

On a fun level, there's the tape of the Cavern gig from the 2001 tour that I was sent many a year ago. Hattem is a great live album too.... "Bootleg" has always been a great little album for its time too, with the odd live, demo and unreleased stuff. As I say, SO many choices, and as soon as I send this message others will come to mind.


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Jim Conarroe

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Mine would have to be Only Visiting This Planet. If I was stranded on a island and could only have and listen to one Norman album, it would be OYTP. I've listened to them all and find myself returning to OVTP over and over. It has it all - political, social, and spiritual commentary. There's a good reason why it was at one time selected as the #1 Christian album of all-time. In Another Land would be a close second, and Stranded in Babylon (Euro release) in third.

So many other albums contain wonderful alternative versions and unreleased gems. A true Norman fan has to have them all or miss out on some great songs such as the acoustic version of One Way or If I Were a Singer. I wonder how many other "gems" are waiting to yet be released.

What I would like to see released are bootleg concert video converted to DVD format. The Illegal observation video has some cool clips and would be nice to have on DVD. Anyway...


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Anonymous

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well he has so many that display different flavors of his personality it's too hard to choose. so i will say, whatever he comes out with next will be my fave.weirdface

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Gerard

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This are my favorite albums. Have some more but only on mp3. Like to buy them in the near future.



This means I can't choose. Every album has 'something' special.


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cRaShDoG

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Gerard wrote:





wow! i must admit, i'm a bit envious of your collection.




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Anonymous

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Crashdog, don't be. There are people here in Holland who have much more albums. Even some who can't be bought anymore.

One guy I know has this album I really wanted (sorry, it's 4:34 here in Holland and I can't remember the name of that album). He was first in line and Larry gave it to him.

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steve kovacik

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Only Visiting This Planet & Something New.

My favorite single cut of any album is the live recording on "Bootleg" of Blue Shoes White, just Larry and guitar rocking out.  I also very much like the Bootleg versions of Ha Ha World and She's a Dancer.

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joel burkum

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"In Another Land" is my favorite LN album. It's his "Sgt. Pepper's" recording in my view. I like "Only Visiting This Planet", too. I've never heard, but would like to get my hands on his bluegrass CD from the '70s.

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Terry Roland

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"I've never heard, but would like to get my hands on his bluegrass CD from the '70s."

You're joking right?  Is this true? 

tr

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Steve

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Bluegrass album? Hmm... Like Terry has also just said above, DO tell us more. I thought I had, or at least knew about, most things Larry issued or recorded, but not heard of any bluegrass sessions .. unless this is one of the "mystery records" listed in Robert Termorshuizen's fantastic discography?

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joel burkum

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I read, on some Larry Norman music site, that he made a record (I think in '76) of bluegrass songs--when bluegrass wasn't cool--including, "Man of Constant Sorrows".

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joel burkum

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I just found the album (on a Christian music site) of Larry's bluegrass/blues/roots music. The title is "American Roots" and has the Solid Rock number SDR901.

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Steve

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Aha, gotcha Joel. The album you mentioned isn't bluegrass though, but at last I know what album you're referring to! I was wondering if Larry had collaborated with one of my favourite bluegrass bands, the Kentucky Colonels, for a moment smile!

Robert Termorshuizen's excellent discography lists this album on page 86, the whole document is worthy of a look for anyone with an interest in all of the many variations of all of Larry's output up until 2003. Below here is a page where there is a link to it (near the top of the page, just to the right)
http://www.islandernet.com/ln/a-discography.htm

Steve



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cRaShDoG

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joel burkum wrote:

I've never heard, but would like to get my hands on his bluegrass CD from the '70s.



I figured you either meant 'Something New Under The Son' because it's blues, or 'Americana' because its, well....americana. Anyway, the Larry Norman website gives an intresting description of this album implying that there's more since it was originally planned to be released as a trilogy. Here's what it says:

Larry created a "red, white and blues" trilogy in 1976 to commemorate the BiCentennial of America's Independence. (Red = the labor force of America, White = the political dreams of both the North and the South and, finally, Blues = the songs which sprung forth from early urban life and mingled with jazz and gospel songs.) The gospel distribution company Solid Rock was signed to wanted nothing to do with it and refused to release any of it. The tracks have sat on the shelf for the last twenty seven years. This is our first foray into this material.



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Curly

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I think Maximum Planet and Maximum Garden are awsome. There are alot of studio remixes on both of these that are nice to listen to. Mixes with alternate vocals and some with no vocals. So if you have the guts you could sing a song during the offering of Wish We'de all been Ready in your own vocal with Larry as the accompanyment.  The ultimate Larryoki.



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Mark Snyder

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My first album from Larry, "In Another Land," which I purchased in 1976 is still my favorite.  Also the first CD of his that purchased, "Home At Last," is a favorite as well and rather underrated.  My wife & I were listening to "Only Visiting This Planet" the other day & she was amazed at it, so that's my top 3 but by no means diminishing the greatness of the many other albums I have enjoyed throughout the years and have recently ordered a whole bunch more.  The Tribute album "One Way" is also great as a change of pace.  Larry Norman meant so much to me and encouraged me to continue on and make music, always telling others the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I was saddened to hear of his passing but have to smile also as I know he is with our Lord this very moment!  Larry, thank you for being such a good & faithful servant!  I can't wait to see you again.

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joel burkum

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Thanks for the info, Steve. Good link.

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joel burkum

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Interesting, too, crashdog. I've got a lot of Larry to catch up on!

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Barry

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Gosh, how do you choose amongst the riches?

Yes, the Trilogy and Something New ...

I've always loved Footprints In The Sand as it got me through a very difficult period in my life ....

And I've always liked "Stop This Flight" and "Friends On Tour", because I love live albums.  "Messiah" on the first album was a great favourite of my young son (who is now 21!).  And I was in he audience the night "Friends On Tour" was recorded, so I'm biased.

But hey - I love them all!

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Jim Conarroe

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I Believe one of the tracks from the "bluegrass" or the Red, White, and Blue Session album can be found on the Gathered Moments CD (Parson Brown). I have no idea where the master tape is located, who is in possession of it, or why it has never been released. John Wood (whom I haven't been in contact with for several years) had more information on this mystery album.

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