Watershed albums

John Scheideman made a couple posts about "watershed albums" in SG that have either had a major impact on an artist's career or even the genre as a whole. While I agree with some of those mentioned, I felt I had to add a couple of my own picks to the list....

The Cathedrals - Symphony of Praise
While the Cathedrals had been enjoying steady success throughout the 80's, it was this album that really changed how people viewed the group. A gospel group had traveled to London and recorded with the prestigious London Philharmonic Orchestra. This concept was later imitated by Legacy Five with their own London release. It also yielded one of the Cathedrals' (and Gerald Wolfe's) biggest hits, "Champion Of Love," which is still much-requested today.

The Kingsmen - Big and Live
While definitely not the most polished album, this set the standard for live albums to come. Jim Hamill's emcee work, the group's refusal to remove crowd noise (most noticable in the shouting during "Love Lifted Me"), and the pure energy showed that you really could translate a live performance directly to album without having to "fake it," so to speak. And what group today doesn't know "Gloryroad"??