I first heard of Rex Carroll in an issue of GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN back in 1985. I promptly found and bought FIERCE HEART and really liked it. I also remember buying one cassette by WHITECROSS several years later...I think it was TRIUMPHANT RETURN... purchased sight unheard in '89 or so because of Carroll. I wasn't crazy about that one... and promptly forgot him.About a month ago I found FIERCE HEART on AMAZON Prime and fell in love with it again. So I started researching what happened to Carroll and it led to me ordering this re-recorded CD "1987"(gold edition). What can I say? I LOVE it!! I hadn't heard any of this ... as I wrote previously I only had their 3rd album and I remember not liking the production. I'm sure I would love it now!!Front and center are the awesome guitars by Rex Carroll... a bonafide guitar hero. He plays metal solos that are tinged with classical flavor... think Randy Rhoads, Gary Moore, and George Lynch with a slight bit of Yngwie. He is definitely his own player... he's got his own voice... but the comparisons are necessary to understand the style he plays in.The songs are classic 80s metal with Christian lyrics... ala STRYPER. It's great material to rock and roll to. I'm cranking this as I drive around.The singer is a raspy vocalist who sounds great and who does some great background vocals as well. I heard snippets of the old "1987" on ITunes and I thought he sounded like Stephen Pearcy on the old material. I don't think he does as much on the re-recorded material. The re-recorded material was done almost 20 years later, after all. But I believe the fact that he doesn't sound as much as Pearcy now is a huge plus! He doesn't seem to have lost any range in as much as perhaps honed his own style. Which helps the material have more of its own identity.Highly recommended if you enjoy great 80s style metal and if you don't mind the Christian angle. The guitar playing on this is fantastic... lots of solos to enjoy and learn from.