THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(13-TRACKS)
1-SOMEBODY'S COMING
2-BACK INTO GRACE
3-MAKE ME WHOLE
4-RIGHT HERE,RIGHT NOW
5-THINGS WILL BE DIFFENT
6-CRY FOR MERCY
7-LONG HARD ROAD
8-LAZARUS
9-AS LONG AS YOU'RE WITH ME
10-SHADOW OF THE CROSS(1ST Movement)
11-SHADOW OF THE CROSS(2ND Movement)
12-SHADOW OF THE CROSS(3RD Movement)
RUFF TAFF-WINDS OF CHANGE-1995
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(10-TRACKS)
1-BEING HAPPY
2-ONE AND ONLY LOVE
3-LOVE IS NOT A THING
4-I CRY
5-I'D FALL IN LOVE TONIGHT
6-WINDS OF CHANGE
7-YOUR FACE
8-HEART LIKE YOUR
9-ONCE IN A LIFETIME
10-HOME TO YOU
RUFF TAFF-WE WILL STAND:YESTERDAY & TODAY-1994
THIS COMPILATION CONTAIN(14-TRACKS)
1-ROCK SOLID
2-WALK BETWEEN THE LINES
3-HERE I AM
4-BELIEVE IN LOVE
5-NOT GONNA BOW
6-I STILL BELIEVE
7-SILENT LOVE
8-WE WILL STAND
9-FATHER ON
10-WINDS OF CHANGE
11-I CRY
12-TRUMPET OF JESUS
13-PRAISE THE LORD
14-YOUR LOVE STAY WITH ME
RUFF TAFF-UNDER THEIR INFLUENCE-1991
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(10-TRACKS)
1-GOD DON'T NEVER CHANGE
2-SEACH THE LORD
3-GOD'S UNCHANGING HAND
4-LIFE'S RAILWAY TO HEAVEN
5-WERE YOU THERE?
6-AS EAGLE STIRRETH HER NEST
7-JUST BELIEVE
8-EVERYBODY SHULDA REALLT OUTTA BEEN THERE
9-THERE'S A HAND
10-AIN'T NO GRACE
RUFF TAFF-THE WAY HOME-1989
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(12-TRACKS)
1-WINDS OF CHANGE
2-IT WAS LOVE
3-THE RIVER UNBROKEN
4-HE CAME THROUGH
5-I DRY
6-I NEED YOU
7-GO ON
8-AIN'T NO GRACE
9-GUIDING LIGHT
10-TAKE MY HAND
11-TABLE IN THE WILDERNESS
RUFF STAFF-RUFF TAFF-1987
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(11-TRACKS)
1-BELIEVE IN LOVE
2-BREATHE LIFE INTO ME
3-DOWN IN THE LOWLANDS
4-HEALING TOUCH
5-HIGHER
6-I STILL BELIEVE
7-(Living On The)Edge Of Time)
8-SHAKE
9-STEAL AWAY
10-THIS LOVE IS STRONG
RUFF TAFF-MEDALS-1985
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(10-TRACKS)
1-VISION
2-I AM NOT ALONE
3-MEDALS
4-NOT GONNA BOW
5-HERE I AM
6-I'VE COME TOO FAR
7-SILENT LOVE
8-HOW MUCH IT HURTS
9-ROCK SOLID
10-GOD ONLY KNOWS
RUFF TAFF-WALLS OF GLASS-1983
THIS ALBUM CONTAIN(10-TRACKS)
1-TELL THEM
2-WALLS OF GLASS
3-I WANT TO CHANGE
4-PURE IN HEART
5-WE WILL STAND
6-JEREMIAH
7-INSIDE LOOK
8-JUST BELIEVE
9-KATHRYN'S SONG
10-ONTO THE LAMB
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.When I say that this is my all-time favorite album, I speak as one who now owns over 900 store-purchased CDs, and who (obviously) enjoys music very much. 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 typewritters) 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.
WE WILL STAND ALBUM:
Thankfully, there has been something of a step to keep a small portion of Russ Taff's material available. The fact that Taff's albums "Walls of Glass" "Medals," "The Way Home" (his true masterpiece) and "Under Their Influence" are not in print is a crime. This all points up the scandalously short-term nature of the CCM industry from stem to stern. There is NO sense of history or heritage in the genre--not among the fans, they would love to see this remedied--but from the record company execs on through to the radio stations. The CCM industry's motto should be "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" Granted, this is a problem in the music business in general, but nowhere is it worse than in the CCM sector. How rare it is to hear any songs older than 3-4 years in most CCM formats, to say nothing of the complete disregard of anything older than, say, the late '80s. Until this is changed, we're not going to be able to get our hands on great music from the likes of a talent like Russ Taff.I can't imagine anyone else singing some of the same songs that Russ Taff sings on this album. I listened to some of his albums many times in the past. It's high time I added Russ to my CD collection! My favs are "I Still Believe", "The River Unbroken" (on his "The Way Home" album), "Winds of Change", etc. If you want to shop around, try christianbook.com, as well.
THE WAY HOME ALBUM:.
If i could give him ten stars for this one i would. It's been in my collection for SIX years and still gets played now and then. Somehow these songs remain fresh and timeless; one senses the artist's sincerity in this whole project, in every word he sings. How much of the music we listen to these days will still be relevant in five, ten, fifteen years? Say no more.It's Just One Their best recording by the best male gospel voice--anointed and heartfelt, if you don't mind some aggressive guitar here and there. IMHO, this is one of the top five rock / pop Christian recordings ever released, and it should be better known than it is. P.S. A long time ago, Russ did a duet called "The God of Who I Am." It was a great song, but doesn't appear on any of his recordings, as far as I know. Any chance of that being released on some sort of collection?For some time now, Russ has been part of Bill Gaither's gospel quartet, singing for blue-heads who can appreciatively close their eyes and nod dreamily to tranquil renditions of old-timey standards. But on "The Way Home", the man is unrestrained--and the result is one of the most powerful vocal performances on record, bar none. An outstanding collection of rock/gospel songs, crowned by the gorgeous, accordion-and-reverb-guitar ballad, "I Cry."
RUFF TAFF-RUFF TAFF ALBUM:
The first timeI ever heard this album moved me in in every sense of the meanings and daily stuggles of life in general. Though Christian it is powerful in all aspects and moving with great metaphoric truths of life. Packed with both the powerful vocals of Russ Taff and the genre of the rock of that era this CD is still one of my all time favoritesThis album was quite a departure from the more pop-oriented album Medals. It included pop songs like "Walk Between the Lines" and "Breathe Life Into Me," but this album had more of a rock and blues feel. There are 3 cover versions, Chris Eaton's power ballad "Believe in Love," Charlie Peacock's "Down in the Lowlands," and the Call's "I Still Believe" (which sounds almost identical to it except with one line added "You can't take that away from me!"). There's also an old spiritual "Steal Away," with just Russ Taff on vocals and James Hollihan on steel guitar. In addition, Taff's lyrics were more direct, as on "Shake," which sounds almost like James Brown singing gospel (sample lyric: "I'm tired of great big men with ego kingdoms in mind trying to tell me how to spend my money and time") and "Living on the Edge of Time" ("The winds of the future are bringing a change. I've got to deal with my human condition and make a difference if I can.") Even the catchy "Higher" had some introspective lyrics- "The questions are unchanged, the cry remains the same. I pray you'll take me higher." "Your Healing Touch" and "This Love Is Strong" put things in a more positive perspective (these are the closers to sides A and B, for those of you who remember the days of cassettes). I had read that Russ Taff went through a period of soul searching and questioning his own motives at this time. The result is an honest and more introspective album than anything he had recorded up to that time.Taff leaves everything on the table on this CD--no easy questions, no pat answers, no cliches, no fluff (like most of more current CC music). It is just raw energy and emotion as he struggles with the day-to-day business of being a Christian. He convinces himself (and us along with himself) by the end of the CD that Christ's "Life" in track 10 ("Breathe Life Into Me") and His "Healing Touch" in track 11 are worth the struggles present in tracks 1 ("Shake"), 2 ("Walk Between the Lines") & 4 ("Down in the Lowlands"), in particular. The catharsis and/or turning point is track 6, "I Still Believe." Taff wrestles mightily throughout this song, desparately hanging onto the convictions he holds deep down inside. An absolutely gut-wrenching emotional and spiritual struggle is presented in this song--life at its very essence. How can that possibly not be "acccessible". . . ? Ignore that one "expert" and listen to the customers. Follow Taff on his quest/journey--it isn't easy throughout, but it is well worth the trip(http://www.holymetalrob.com/)
