The Christian Underground Encyclopedia

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====== Angelica ======

Heavy Metal\\
Renfrew, Ontario, Canada

Revolving around the guitar-playing and songwriting abilities of Dennis Cameron, this Canadian Christian rock band issued four albums in the late 80s and early 90s.

Dennis Cameron started playing guitar at the young age of 6. In 1983 he joined a local cover band called Antix and played with them until 1986 moving on to the band Masquerade in 1987.
 
While on the road with Masquerade during a 6 week club tour, laying in bed feeling alone and empty, Dennis found God.
 
Dennis met Andy Lyon (lead vocalist on the Demo Sessions) while running sound for Andy's cover band months later. Andy and Dennis began to write music and put together a 5 song demo that included "Shine on Me," "Will I ever Learn," "Take Me," "Only a Man," and "S.O.S," songs that Dennis had been working on since leaving Masquerade.
 
While recording and writing, Dennis met Christy Arnold who ran a fanzine called //Take a Stand// who supplied Dennis with contact information for a few labels including Intense and Frontline, at the time were 2 different record labels.  Ironically, Frontline would go on to purchase Intense Records.
 
Dennis pitched his 5 song demo to both companies and immediately received an offer from Intense as well as began a dialog with Frontline Records who asked to hear more songs.
 
Going back into the studio Dennis finished a second 4 Song Demo that included the songs "One Step at a Time," "I Believe," "Satisfied," and "Danger Zone" and now had 9 songs to present. 
 
Dennis inked a deal with Frontline's new imprint label [[Intense Records]] and Angelica was born but not before speaking with Michael Bloodgood about the possibilities of joining [[Bloodgood]]. Dennis signed a 5 album deal with Intense and went on to record 4 albums in all along with a "best of" album.
 
//Angelica// was recorded in June-July 1989, and release in 1989 under [[Intense Records]], a division of Frontline Music Group. Angelica featured Dennis Cameron (Guitars), Robert Pallet (bass), Scott Ernest (drums) and Andy Lyon (vocals), whose influences such as Dokken and Rainbow were obvious. However while in the pre-production stage of making the first album, Andy Lyon, the vocalist (more likely from a lack of experience on all our parts) chose to view the opportunity to prepare for recording with less enthusiasm than the rest of the band. The result being that after a couple of days of having [[Ken Tamplin]] push him in his performance (as Ken was hired to produce the vocals on the album) that the singer "burned out."

At this point, Angelica was in need of a singer to salvage the (what was now being referred to as the Dennis Cameron) project. Ken had suggested two replacements, Bob Carlisle or [[Rob Rock]] (Driver/[[Impellitteri]]). Rob Rock was chosen as he best suited the music style. At the time of recording, Rob was in the process of rehearsing/recording with Driver while doing the session work for Angelica. Not withholding, Rob would assume his best Iron Maiden pose in the vocal booth and tackle each session as if it were his own. 

Rob's voice was in a higher range than Andy's, which meant that some of the vocal melodies had to be reworked to fit his voice. For example, the original version of "Shine on Me" melody started on a major 3rd, but was transposed to the 5th for Rob.  
 
Angelica finished the album a couple of weeks later but in perfect form and went on to become a cult classic in Christian Rock. With Dennis at the helm ripping through guitar solos and Ken Tamplin standing by as Rob Rock did his magic, it's no wonder that Angelica went on to become one of the greatest AOR Hard Rock/Metal classic of the day. 
 
//Walkin' in Faith// featured a new lead singer in achieved a measure of crossover support from the secular heavy rock fraternity, impressed by Cameron's guitar playing. The band later released 1991's //Rock, Stock & Barrel// and 1992's //Time is All It Takes// with different line-ups for each album.

After Angelica, Cameron formed a band called [[Cynical Limit]]. He also played with [[Michael Sweet]]'s solo band for a little while.

===== Discography =====

| 1988 | S.O.S. |
| 1988 | Angelica (demo 1988) |
| 1988 | Demo |
| 1989 | Angelica | [[Intense Records]] |
| 1990 | Walkin' in Faith | [[Intense Records]] |
| 1991 | Rock, Stock & Barrel | [[Intense Records]] |
| 1992 | Time is All It Takes | [[Intense Records]] |
| 1993 | Greatest Hits | [[Intense Records]] |
| 1998 | Angelica / Rock, Stock & Barrel | [[KMG Records]] |

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==== S.O.S. ====

1988 Independent

Dennis Cameron - Guitars\\
(others?)

  - Shine on Me
  - Will I Ever Learn
  - Take Me
  - Only a Man
  - S.O.S.
  - Amazing Grace

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==== Angelica (demo 1988) ====

1988 Independent

Dennis Cameron - Guitars\\
(others?)

  - Only One Hero
  - Didn't I
  - Follow Me Follow Him
  - (Another) Broken Dream
  - Here's Lookin' at You

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==== Demo ====

1988 Independent

Dennis Cameron - Guitars\\
(others?)

  - There's Only One Hero
  - Wasn't it Enough
  - Follow Me, Follow You
  - Just Another Broken
  - Everything I Do

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==== Angelica ====

1989 [[Intense Records]] (CD09061)

[[Rob Rock]] - Lead vocals\\
Dennis Cameron - Guitar\\
Robert Pallen - Bass\\
Scott Ernest - Drums

[[Ken Tamplin]] - Background vocals, vocal production, lead vocals on "Face to Face"\\
Marc Hugenberger - Keyboards

Produced by Dennis Cameron

  - There's Only One Hero (4:05)
  - Are You Satisfied (3:30)
  - I Believe (3:45)
  - Danger Zone (3:42)
  - Shine on Me (3:05)
  - Only a Man (3:40)
  - One Step at a Time (3:31)
  - Will I Ever Learn (3:20)
  - Take Me (3:32)
  - Ahh! (3:00)
  - S.O.S. (3:50)
  - Face to Face (3:23)

Note: Andy Lyon was listed as the vocalist in the band picture, but a note says that [[Rob Rock]] (and [[Ken Tamplin]] on one song) handled the lead vocals "this time 'round."

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==== Walkin' in Faith ====

1990 [[Intense Records]] (CD09204)

Jerome Mazza - Lead vocals, vocals\\
Dennis Cameron - Guitar, drum programming, vocals, keyboards on "Time and Time Again" and "Walkin' in Faith"\\
Robert Pallen - Bass guitar, vocals

Darrell Wicker - Keyboards

Produced by Dennis Cameron

  - Walkin' in Faith (4:41)
  - Hold On (4:28)
  - All I Can Do (4:49)
  - Soul Search (4:11)
  - Time and Time Again (4:13)
  - Sing and Shout (4:26)
  - Set Me Free (4:33)
  - Not Too Late (5:19)
  - Bring Into Being (4:41)
  - Harvest (3:21)

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==== Rock, Stock & Barrel ====

1991 [[Intense Records]] (FLD9250)

Drew Baca - Lead vocals\\
Dennis Cameron - Guitar, backing vocals\\
Robert Pallen - Bass, backing vocals\\
Bobby Lawrence - Drums

Daro Marchand - Keyboards\\
Christophie Marchand - Keyboards

Produced by Dennis Cameron

  - The Fire Inside (4:23)
  - Someone to Believe in Me (4:46)
  - Cover Me (4:54)
  - Home Sweet Heaven (4:55)
  - A Little Love (3:57)
  - Sail Away (4:11)
  - Keep Pushin’ On (4:46)
  - Bumble Boob Groove (1:52)
  - Rhyme & Reason (3:52)
  - Without Words (4:26)
  - Oh Canada (1:46)

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==== Time is All It Takes ====

1992 [[Intense Records]] (FLD9282)

Drew Baca - Lead vocals, background vocals\\
Dennis Cameron - Guitar, bass, drum programming, background vocals, lead vocals on "I Can Hardly Wait to See," "Don't Stop," and "Carry Me"\\

David Ysais - Additional background vocals

Produced by Dennis Cameron

  - Gotta Get Ready
  - Running Wild
  - Second Chance
  - I Can Hardly Wait to See
  - Open Your Mind
  - Don't Stop
  - Time is All It Takes
  - Carry Me

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==== Greatest Hits ====

1993 [[Intense Records]] (FLD9453)

  - Time and Time Again
  - Shine on Me
  - Cover Me
  - Home Sweet Heaven
  - Gotta Get Ready
  - There's Only One Hero
  - Second Chance
  - Walkin' in Faith
  - Are You Satisfied
  - Rhyme and Reason
  - Open Your Mind
  - Hold On

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==== Angelica / Rock, Stock & Barrel ====

1998 [[KMG Records]] (KMGD8663)

2 albums on one disc re-issue of //Angelica// and //Rock, Stock & Barrel// that removes "Ahh!," "S.O.S.," and "Face to Face" from //Angelica//.

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