Blessing in Disguise (Metal Church album)

Blessing in Disguise
Studio album by Metal Church
Released February 7, 1989
Recorded August 29 - October 4, 1988
Studio Kajem Victory Recording, Gladwyne, PA
Genre Heavy metal
Length 54:34
Label Elektra/Asylum
Producer Terry Date
Metal Church chronology
The Dark
(1986)		 Blessing in Disguise
(1989)		 The Human Factor
(1991)
Singles from Blessing in Disguise
  1. "Fake Healer"
    Released: 1989
  2. "Badlands"
    Released: 1989

Blessing in Disguise is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metal Church, released on February 7, 1989.

It was the band's final release on Elektra Records. This was the first album not to feature the vocals of David Wayne, due to his departure to form the band Reverend. This release featured new vocalist Mike Howe (ex-Heretic) and guitarist John Marshall, who took over Kurdt Vanderhoof's position. Kurdt Vanderhoof had produced Heretic's final album Breaking Point previously. It seems that this is how Mike Howe came to the attention of Metal Church. David Wayne's new project was made up of the remaining members of Heretic.

Album title

Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Michael Spencer has claimed that Blessing in Disguise was supposed to be the title of the band's second album before settling with its current name No Place for Disgrace. After Spencer left Flotsam and Jetsam, Michael Alago (the A&R of Elektra) let Metal Church use Blessing in Disguise as the name of their third album, which was released nine months after No Place for Disgrace.[1] In an April 2013 interview however, Flotsam and Jetsam drummer Kelly David-Smith disputed Spencer's claims, saying, "No Place for Disgrace was always going to be called No Place for Disgrace. Actually, we did record a song called 'Blessing in Disguise' which was on a demo version of the album. I think about 100 copies of it were sold. I've looked on eBay and they're really hot property!"[2]

Critical and commercial reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal9/10[4]
Kerrang![5]
Rock Hard8.5/10[6]

Contemporary reviews were mixed. Don Kaye of Kerrang! judged Blessing in Disguise "a hit-and-miss affair" that does not "live up to the standards set on (Metal Church) 1984 debut", lamenting "a lack of direction, an absence of focus that causes the record to fluctuate between greatness and mere mediocrity". He cited "Anthem to the Estranged" and "Badlands" as the best songs, "providing a real showcase for new singer Mike Howe, who elsewhere on the album comes across as a dime-a-dozen screamer."[5] Rock Hard reviewer considered the album "better than the predecessor The Dark", but "still light years away from the landmark Metal Church"; he wrote that Blessing in Disguise is largely missing "the ultimate kick, the esprit, the special", despite being one of "the best-produced albums of recent times", thanks to Terry Date's hard work.[6]

Modern reviews for Blessing in Disguise have been more positive. AllMusic's Jason Anderson considered the album "perhaps the finest Metal Church release", offering "some of the best material in the group's long career" and praised Howe for "bringing a burst of energy that the group used to create some of the best American underground metal of the decade."[3] Martin Popoff in his Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal praised Howe's performance and Date's production, which turned "the band into an updated, renovated tower of strength, a guitar-driven machine set to stun."[4]

Blessing in Disguise entered the Billboard 200 chart on April 8, 1989, two months after its release. The album itself peaked at number 75 (the band's highest chart position, until 2016's XI, which peaked at number 57), and remained on the chart for 15 weeks.[7]

Touring and promotion

Metal Church spent most of 1989 and 1990 touring behind Blessing in Disguise.[8] They embarked a U.S. tour in the spring of 1989 with Meliah Rage, and supported W.A.S.P. on their Headless Children tour. Metal Church played one show in Germany in October 1989 with Fates Warning and Toranaga, and opened for Saxon in Europe in April 1990. They were also a "surprise guest" for Metallica's May 11, 1990 show at The Marquee in London.[8]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Fake Healer"Kurdt VanderhoofCraig Wells, Vanderhoof5:55
2."Rest in Pieces (April 15, 1912)"VanderhoofWells, Vanderhoof6:38
3."Of Unsound Mind" (based on Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart")John MarshallWells4:44
4."Anthem to the Estranged"VanderhoofWells, Vanderhoof9:31
5."Badlands"Vanderhoof, Mike HoweWells, Vanderhoof7:21
6."The Spell Can't Be Broken"VanderhoofWells, Vanderhoof, Marshall6:46
7."It's a Secret"InstrumentalWells3:47
8."Cannot Tell a Lie"VanderhoofWells, Vanderhoof, Marshall4:17
9."The Powers That Be"VanderhoofWells, Vanderhoof5:22

Personnel

Metal Church
Additional musicians
Production
  • Terry Date - producer, engineer, mixing
  • Joe Alexander - engineer, mixing
  • Brian Stover, Trish Finnegan - assistant engineers
  • Howie Weinberg - mastering at Masterdisk, New York

References

  1. ↑ No Place for Disgrace (Preproduction) (liner notes). Flotsam and Jetsam. 3in1 Music Publishing. 2001.
  2. ↑ "Interview: Kelly Smith (Flotsam and Jetsam)". The Moshville Times. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 Anderson, Jason. "Metal Church - Blessing in Disguise review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  4. 1 2 Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 222. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  5. 1 2 Kaye, Don (14 January 1989). "Devils in Disguise". Kerrang!. No. 221. p. 22.
  6. 1 2 Trojan, Frank (1989). "Review Album: Metal Church - Blessing in Disguise". Rock Hard (in German). No. 31. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  7. ↑ "Metal Church Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  8. 1 2 "Metal Church Tour Dates". metallipromo.com. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
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