The Call - Reconciled (1986)

Artist:  The Call
Title:  Reconciled
Release:  1986
Format:  LP
Label:  Elektra Records
Catalog#  960440-1

The Call formed in Santa Cruz in 1980 by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, Scott Musick, and Tom Ferrier. Been and Musick were originally from Oklahoma. Been was previously a member of Chicago band Aorta, and then, between 1969 and 1971, of Lovecraft, the successor band to the psychedelic rock group H.P. Lovecraft.
“Reconciled” was recorded during the summer of 1985. At this point, the band had not had a recording contract for two years, due to what Been described as “legal bickering” between The Call’s former record label and their management company. However, once the deal was signed with Elektra Records, the band resumed playing and produced their most commercially successful album to date. Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds’ Jim Kerr, and Hudson and former Band mate Robbie Robertson all guested the album which was released in 1986. Several tracks from the album became hits on the Mainstream Rock Chart, and one of these tracks, “I Still Believe”, appears on the soundtrack of the 1986 film The Whoopee Boys. The following year, “I Still Believe” was covered by both singer/multi-instrumentalist Tim Cappello for the movie The Lost Boys and by contemporary Christian musician Russ Taff on his 1987 self-titled album. Though none of the singles from The Call’s Reconciled made a dent on the pop charts, the anthemic march “I Still Believe” and the galloping “Everywhere I Go” (with backup vocals by Jim Kerr and Peter Gabriel) both received significant AOR and college radio airplay. It significantly raised the profile of the quartet and their earnest, U2-like brand of rock. It is easy to apply spiritual overtones to the socially conscious lyrics, but the words are malleable enough to be mainstream and only on occasion become heavy handed (“Blood Red (America)”). Robbie Robertson plays guitar on the thundering stomp “The Morning” and the song itself has the same vibe as the band’s later hit “Let the Day Begin.” Some of the keyboards sound a bit dated, but, overall, Reconciled is enjoyable and established the band as one of the better purveyors of ’80s “big music.”


Side one
1.  Everywhere I Go  (4:18)
2.  I Still Believe (Great Design)  (5:30)
3.  Blood Red (America)  (3:42)
4.  The Morning  (4:40)

Side two
1.  Oklahoma  (4:18)
2.  With or Without Reason  (4:02)
3.  Sanctuary  (3:57)
4.  Tore the Old Place Down  (4:12)
5.  Even Now  (4:37)

available at: http://www.ad-vinylrecords.com