Customer Reviews

Medals

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Once the lead singer for The Imperials, Russ Taff started his solo career in 1983 with "Walls of Glass." He followed that up with this sophmore effort in 1985. And to this day, many Russ Taff fans consider "Medals" to be his best album.

There is not a song on this album that will not speak directly to your heart. I have had this album ever since it first came out, and now that I have it on CD, it often has a permanent spot in my CD player.

This is one of the few albums where I like every song, and ever song has a message that hits home:

"Vision" - talks about how we can see much better through God's eyes than our own eyes.

"I'm Not Alone" - a terrific song about how our heads fight against our hearts in allowing God's presence to be felt in our lives. When our heads win, we feel all alone. But we're not alone.

"Medals" - my favorite song in an album of favorites. "Medals" talks about how Jesus had no medals for His fight for our soul. He didn't come for fame and recognition, but to provide a way for us.

"Not Gonna Bow" - idols can be found everywhere in society, from drugs to television to money, etc. This songs encourages you not to bow down to the idols of the world, but to stand for what you know is right.

"Here I Am" - a very soulful, ballad sounding song that talks about how it is only because of God's love that we can be here to be saved. Probably the most moving song on the album.

"I've Come To Far" - a great song on why we shouldn't allow temptations to get the best of us. In our relationship with God, we've come to far to turn away from Him and turn to temptation.

"Silent Love" - although most of us think of love as something you say to the person you love, God's love is often a silent love. His presence is always with us, which means that His love is always with us as well. All we have to do is look with our hearts to find it.

"How Much It Hurts" - it hurts God when His children run away from Him, and this song asks why we cannot see how much He hurts when we turn away from Him. A very powerful, and eye-opening, song.

"Rock Solid" - at times in our lives, we walk a fence between good and evil. This song talks about getting down off that fence and onto the solid ground of the Lord. A wake-up call if there ever was one!

"God Only Knows" - even after we have accepted Chris as our Lord and Savior, there are parts of our past we feel we have to keep buried inside of us because no one else would understand. Of course, God knows what these buried sins are. So since He already knows, why not reveal and surrender them to Him?

I encourage each and every one of you to buy this album and add it to your collection. It will bless you over and over again.

My title might sound over-enamored, but the fundamentals of the music here are as sound as they get, the hooks are continuous, and the pitch--well, perfect. There's plenty good to be said about the lyrics too. As the owner of over 60,000 legitimately purchased songs, I can say with my whole heart that these are ten of my favorites.

I owned this recording as a record album when it first came out in 1985, then I made an audio cassette copy of the record, then I bought the CD, and now I've ripped the music into Mp3 format ;)

I agree with others that his 1987 self-titled album is a close second in enjoyability. Check that one out too, but this one really is better.

In late 1985, when I was facing some of the same difficulties as 'Bobby' in "Not Gonna Bow," my mother wrote a letter to Russ Taff informing him that his song had encouraged me to continue standing for what was right, even though I many times found it difficult to act in accordance with my Christian faith in my public school. Russ Taff, then in the height of his fame, sent back a personal, typewritten letter (in the days of typewriters) reminding me that since people had spit in the face of Jesus, the Son of God, we must stand strong no matter how poorly we are treated. He also sent me an autographed 8-1/2" x 11" photo. Very nice, and quite encouraging.

By the way: at the dawn of the 21st century, Russ Taff joined the Gaither Vocal Band for a short while. That group's A Cappella album includes Russ Taff's vocals, and it's quite good, although a markedly different style than any of his own albums.

When Medals came out, I was in high school and can remember absolutely wearing that cassette tape out listening to it over and over again. It's one of my all-time favorite contemporary Christian albums. Every single song will touch your heart in a different way. Lyrics are moving and powerful.

I have a few of Russ Taff's cd's and I've always felt that this one was his best, it has a great mix of upbeat and mellow songs, Every single track on here is Excellent! His S/T 1987 album would have to be a very close second. I highly recommend both of these albums. :)

1985 was a watershed year in the Christian contemporary music scene, largely by semi-secular efforts from Nashville's Amy Grant. But while Amy was raising eyebrows with her new 'crossover' music, someone else in the industry was making his presence felt. This was Russ Taff, a vocalist and songwriter who was also from the Nashville gospel scene. Russ had been successfully building his career with the venerable Imperials, developing his creativity and fine tuning his performing abilities.

When Russ decided it was time to go it alone, he first recorded "Walls of Glass," a well received album. But "Glass" could not have prepared young Christian music listeners for the effort to follow. "Medals" hit the gospel music market like a tidal wave, bringing the still-relatively unknown Taff into the spotlight.

"Medals" had contemporary music listeners finally appreciating top-notch Christian production values, but without an overt gospel message. In fact, "Jesus" was not directly mentioned anywhere in the 10 song set list. But he didn't need to be-- the lyrics were written as a personal message to Christ from Russ himself-- third person references would have been out of place.

"Medals" has never been surpassed in Christian music, in spite of its age. The harmonies build and soar, with lyrics passionately bringing home the message of hope and deliverance. The musicianship of Russ' session players was also at its peak at this time. Their performances surpassed my high expectations of 80's gospel instrumentalists.

This album should not be overlooked due to its age or genre... it is sublime, a timeless inspiration for any contemporary music listener.

This music changed my life. I have listened to it 100 times if not 1000! It is inspirational and inspired! If you've enjoyed other Russ Taff music, hear him in his early days - you won't be disappointed!

I had no expectations when I bought this album. I only knew that it was in top100 on the 100 greatest ccm albums list. This album has great motion, great pop-rock songs as well as great, beautiful ballads. The lyrics are just touching. Favorite tracks of mine are "I'm Not Alone", "Medals", and "Rock Solid".

I first got this album on cassette tape in 1985 from a college friend of mine. It quickly became one of my favorites and finally just wore out and broke from over-use! I never really thought I'd find it on CD but was so happy I did!! The item was exactly as described, very reasonably priced, and shipped quickly. Thank you!

Russ's most memorable recording. Love it. Missed it for years since I didn't have a turntable any more to play the albums.

The music and songs on this CD are timeless... I got it when it first came out and lost it during a move from one state to another... Just recently found it and bought it again and can't be happier. God bless!