The Exhaustive Christian Music Discography: Demos

This page has been set up to list the multitudes of ultra-rare true collector's items in the Christian music world - largely in the Christian rock and metal genres. What exactly is considered to be a "demo" release can be hard to pin down. When I hear the word "demo", I basically think of an unproduced or poorly-produced garage-sounding recording that was made just to demonstrate the artist's capabilities and sign-ability. But many collectors and bands consider semi-produced or even fully-produced independent releases before (...if) they were signed to be their demo release(s). Many demos were primarily sent to record labels in search of a record deal, and original "official" copies from the artist may only exist in quantities of 10 or less. Others were sold for a limited time, usually in limited quantities or simply DIY on demand, one at a time, and available to the general public only through direct order from the band via ads in a limited number of magazines (CCM, Heaven's Metal/HM, etc.) and/or independently published newsletters dedicated to following the largely underground (at that time) Christian alternative/rock/metal music scene. Some may have also been sold partially or exclusively at their early shows, and a select few may have found their way into some Christian book and music stores if the artist was atypically resourceful. Some are professionally manufactured packages, but a large percentage are DIY copies - straight dubs from the artists original copies onto a blank cassette with or without some kind of sticker/label on the tape and with or without a J-card of some type). Some demos from artists who had a little more pocket change or financial assistance from individuals or groups were manufactured on vinyl in the 80s or early 90s, or on CD/CDR in the mid to late 90s and afterward. Many of these artists/groups were never signed. Some were signed under different band names or were signed as a member of a band rather than a solo artist and went on to have one or more releases under a record label. If I can ever find the time to get my "People" page better updated, I might be able to indicate connections between the artists in these demos and other groups that eventually did get signed. Where I do know or can confirm at least one independent or label release by an artist/band on this page that is in my main discography pages, I plan on...eventually...providing a link on this page to their main discography listing(s).
In most cases, the items on this page, after they become unavailable from the original distributor(s), will cost an arm and a leg to obtain...official original copies...if/when they can be found, which 99% of the time is probably only once in a blue moon on eBay or on a one-on-one basis through email, online collector's forums, etc. Sometimes, if one has thousands of dollars to play with, a large number of demos can be obtained at one time by offering to buy complete collections from other collectors. Many of these demos have been bootlegged and sold on CD-R in undoubtedly very limited quantities. Many of the CS demos have doubtlessly been dubbed/bootlegged unofficially and were or are being attempted to be sold as official copies online. Given the DIY nature of many of them, it can be very difficult to verify what is or is likely to be an original copy. But in most cases, for those of us who don't have a very large monthly budget to splurge on our hobby, we are much better off trying to find a free online download if we simply want to hear the music on it and don't want to pay the toll to be one of the few owners of an original issue copy. Finding a working original copy of these typically 30 to 40 year-old items can often be an even bigger chore since a high percentage were only put on CSs which have a very limited lifespan if not stored under the proper conditions or are put in a poorly maintained player at any point. A percentage of these demos have been made available as free downloads on blogs, and a number of blogs - typically outside the U.S. - are still up today offering free downloads on most, if not all, of their entries. And...some of these demos from artists who eventually "made it" to have some kind of career as a signed artist have also been reissued officially, frequently as bonus tracks on reissues of their official albums. Where I am aware of such official reissues of demos, they will also be listed on this page in addition to the main discography pages where appropriate.
I have been wanting to put demos on a separate page for a long time since many people will oftentimes not consider their music collection of an artist to be complete until they have everything they know about, including demos. So showing demos in a list of an artist's "official" discography will ultimately only invite frustration since, as previously mentioned, these demos can be extremely difficult (i.e. time consuming) to find, and very costly to obtain when they are eventually found. So they really need to be on a page of their own, with the understanding that owning original copies is not for everyone, and for those who would just like to hear or own a copy of the music on these demos, it can be much easier to find digital files online. If I discover digital files of a demo are being officially sold or available for name-your-price, I will also try to indicate it on this page, though given the sporadic and infrequent rate I am able to find the time to update these pages, it would be pointless to try to include links to the actual digital music platform sale pages.