Greg Copeland - Revenge Will Come (1982)

Greg Copeland's tough, L.A. folk-rock balances leftist political lyrics and social commentary with tales of redemption and justice, as well as country-tinged love songs. 

His songs, though strong on religious imagery, never get too heavy-handed or didactic. 

Producer Jackson Browne, employing studio veterans such as guitarist Danny Kortchmar, Bob Glaub on bass, and Little Feat keyboard player Bill Payne, has chosen a fairly predictable, mid-tempo rock & roll sound, but it seems to serve Copeland's songs well. Revenge Will Come is a first-rate singer-songwriter affair.

Producer Jackson Browne has gone after absolutely predictable midtempo studio rock, but with a tough edge that's augmented by Copeland, who sounds like (of all things) Jackson Browne with a tough edge. 

Propitious--if Copeland can move his mentor's personalist millenarianism far enough left to write protest lyrics that surrender neither psychological dimension nor American mythos, I bet other young rock mainstreamers are thinking the same way.

The ballad of the reluctant troubadour. Copeland became a published songwriter around 1967 along with Orange County high school pals Jackson Browne and Steve Noonan, hitting paydirt with the latter when the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band covered their Buy For Me The Rain. 

Eventually, Browne, who says watching Copeland write songs inspired him to start writing his own, secured his mentor a record deal with Geffen, producing this 1982 debut in the bargain. 

Track listing

1.  Used - 3.04

2.  Starting Place - 3.14

3.  Full Cleveland - 2.27

4.  Eagleston - 3.17

5.  That'll Never Be The Same - 4.58

6.  Richard Hill - 4.59

7.  At The Warfield - 3.33

8.  Wrong Highway - 2.49

9.  El Salvador - 3.38

10.  Revenge Will Come - 4.38

 Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The David Geffen Company
• Mixed At – The Complex
• Mastered At – The Mastering Lab
• Manufactured By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
• Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Los Angeles
• Published By – Nel Mezzo Music

Credits

• Art Direction, Design – Jimmy Wachtel
• Bass – Bob Glaub
• Drums – Ian Wallace
• Engineer – Dennis Kirk, Greg Ladanyi
• Guitar – Danny Kortchmar, Rick Vito
• Guitar, Producer – Jackson Browne
• Mastered By – Doug Sax, Mike Reese
• Photography By – Randee St. Nicholas
• Piano, Organ – Jim Ehinger
• Synthesizer, Organ – Billy Payne (tracks: B4, A5)
• Vocals, Written-By – Greg Copeland

Notes

Released:  1982 

Genre:  Country Rock, Folk Rock, Religious 

Length: 36:46

Label - Geffen Records