Digitally Mastered By: Chris Taylor, Crossroads Studios, Santa Ana, CA and Doug Doyle, Digital Brothers

An early Geoff Bullock/Hillsong era, Youth Alive NSW album with the "Totally Radical Band" (aka "The Totally Rad Band"), as they were called on 4 of the Youth Alive NSW recordings. This rare album was originally marketed in Australia as "Youth Alive: Totally Radical III - The Flock Still Rocks". Before there was Hillsong UNITED or Hillsong Young & Free, there wasn't much to speak of in the way of youth-branded praise and worship music. In the 1990s, the Youth Alive movement was characterized by large rallies that would pack out arenas like the Sydney Entertainment Centre with thousands of kids from across the state. These evangelistic rallies included what was then considered to be cutting-edge praise and worship music - as it was driven by edgy vocals and electric guitars. Hills Christian Life Centre (now Hillsong Church) was the flagship church of the Assemblies of God in Australia (now ACC) and was the main influencer in the Youth Alive organization. The worship team/band for these events was largely staffed by members of the early Hillsong worship team - including Darlene Zschech, Russell Fragar, Lucy Fisher and Geoff Bullock, along with several members from Phil Pringle's Christian City Church, such as Chris Falson and David Holmes. Early Youth Alive albums mostly included songs by Hillsong and Chris Falson (author of worship standards like "I See The Lord", "I Walk By Faith", "All Honor", etc.) from C3 (Christian City Church) who was a member of the band as well.

These recordings showcase the early sounds of Hillsong music before the Hillsong brand took on a life of its own and before their partnership with Integrity Music in the late 1990s. Hillsong continued to release Youth Alive albums on their label until the emergence of Hillsong UNITED and the very evident generational shift that yet again, changed the landscape of contemporary praise and worship music. I appreciate listening to the evolution of Hillsong music, not only for nostalgic reasons, but for educational purposes as well. It includes a rather raw, live cut of an old Geoff Bullock standard, "Blessing, Honour" which is not found on any other live Hillsong recording and is a great anthem of the era.