''Between Heaven 'N Hell'' is the seventh studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, from American

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

band

Resurrection Band Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for t ...

, released in 1985. This is the first album on which Resurrection Band shortened its moniker to "REZ", and it also marks the band's final album for

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Barry McGuire was the fi ...

Recording history

On REZ' follow-up to ''

Hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, o ...

'', the band jettisons much of the new wave, keyboard-driven musical stylings from that album in favor of the band's traditional hard rock sound.

Glenn Kaiser Glenn Kaiser (born January 21, 1953) is an American, Chicago-based Christian rock, Christian music, Christian blues musician, singer, songwriter and pastor. He was the leader of Resurrection Band and is currently the leader of The Glenn Kaiser B ...

takes over the majority of the songwriting once again, while his wife and co-lead singer Wendi Kaiser makes her most significant songwriting contributions here. This explains the likely reason her image, pulled from a live concert performance, is prominently featured on the album cover. ''Between Heaven 'N Hell'' is also significant for being REZ' attempt to cross over to the mainstream market. Although the lyrics of the album still contain bold declarations of faith to the listener, the band opted to focus less on

evangelism Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

and more on performance for the tour which supported this album. The first single, "Love Comes Down", was shopped to mainstream rock stations, and the band's most sophisticated

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was filmed for that song, which achieved regular rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

for a brief period of time. By 1985, the issue of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

in South Africa had come to national prominence in pop music with the release of

Artists United Against Apartheid Artists United Against Apartheid was a 1985 protest group founded by activist and performer Steven Van Zandt and record producer Arthur Baker to protest against apartheid in South Africa. The group produced the song " Sun City" and the album ...

's " Sun City", and although REZ had already addressed the subject several years prior on 1979's '' Rainbow's End'', "Zuid Afrikan" reminded listeners that the issue was still of importance to the band. Other highlights on ''Between Heaven 'N Hell'' include the closing track, "2,000," and "Shadows," which became a live favorite due to its unflinching depiction of the destructiveness of

teenage suicide Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and elsewhere are high. Female yo ...

Track listing

All songs written by

unless otherwise noted # "The Main Event" (G. Kaiser, Roy Montroy) – 3:03 # "Love Comes Down" – 3:08 # "Zuid Afrikan" – 5:20 # "Walk On" (Tom Cameron, G. Kaiser, Wendy Kaiser) – 3:42 # "Talk to Me" (Jim Denton, G. Kaiser, Jon Trott) – 4:25 # "I Think You Know" – 3:13 # "Shadows" (G. Kaiser, W. Kaiser, Trott) – 5:00 # "Save Me from Myself" (Denton) – 3:30 # "Nervous World" (G. Kaiser, W. Kaiser) – 4:22 # "2,000" (G. Kaiser, Montroy, Trott) – 4:56

Personnel

– vocals, guitars * Wendi Kaiser – vocals * Stu Heiss – lead guitar * Jim Denton – bass guitar, keyboards * John Herrin – drums, percussion Production * REZ – producer * Roger Heiss –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* Larry Bishop – assistant engineer * Roy Montroy – assistant engineer * Steve Hall – mastering * Future Disc – mastering location * Cornerstone Graphics – album cover concept and art ** Dick Randall ** Janet Cameron ** Bob Cox ** Pat Peterson ** Tom Wray * Bruce Hamsher – front cover photo * Cornerstone Graphics – back cover and sleeve photos * Mike Tabor – back cover and sleeve photos

References

{{Authority control Resurrection Band albums 1985 albums