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Post by Josh on Feb 21, 2007 19:57:48 GMT -8
 Daniel Amos, my favorite band, got it's start in the late 1970's on the tail ends of the Jesus Movement. Originally produced/ managed by Larry Norman, and starting off as primarily a country music band, Daniel Amos charted its own course in the 1980's with both rock and now classic eighties electronica. Reinventing themselves again in the 1990's with folk and alterna-rock, they've defintely delved into an amazing array of musical styles in the last years. I've mentioned lead singer Terry Taylor elsewhere, but Tim Chandler, the bass player is definitely one of my favorites. He's got a very unique trademark style, which is not particularly common when it comes to bass players. Greg Flesch, the guitarist, also stands out with his own quirky, compelling style. Ed McTaggart's no slouch on drums either. Best album? I'd have to say Songs of the Heart/ When Everyone Wore Hats, but I love almost every one of their albums. Here's one of my favorite songs from their latest album, Mr. Buechner's Dream: Small Great Thingsfrom the album "Mr. Buechner's Dream" Music by Daniel Amos, Words by T.S. Taylor ©2001 Zoom Daddy/BMI She cast her drag net Out on the ocean Pulled out a debt And a sinking dream All she had left was Her devotion And heaven knows thats Everything He staggered blind up To the altar And left a cup Filled with a Drunkards faith In their disguises They pass each other The Saviors eyes In a foreign face Chorus: No they aren't walking On the water They aren't wearing their angels wings Wayward sons and fragile daughters A touch of faith enough for Small great things They're unaware they Moved a mountain With fumbled prayers and Their bloodied knees God's ruined hands, They've read about them They've never touched them But they still believe No they aren't winning Every battle Life is tough and death Still it stings Doubt comes on and Faith is fragile Just a touch enough for Small great things No they aren't walking On the water They aren't wearing their angels wings Wayward sons and fragile daughters A touch of faith enough for Small great things Daniel Amos on MySpace: www.myspace.com/danielamosmusic |
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Post by Josh on Aug 20, 2007 10:04:19 GMT -8
A great snippet from an excellent review of my fav. band: The ground zero of Christian alternative rock is Orange County's Daniel Amos (band name courtesy of the Bible's table of contents page). Nearly every underground Christian band was inspired by or in some way connected with them. Stubborn, eccentric, fearlessly (and sometimes foolishly) confrontational, openly Christian but more inclined to whack believers over the head than try to flatter or patronize them, DA have followed their own muse for three decades now, veering from thoughtful and serious to howlingly goofy with little or no warning. Starting out as a Poco-ish country rock band in the early '70s Jesus rock realm, DA turned into the musical equivalent of Star Trek's Borg: assimilating influences of every kind into a unique whole. Led by the brilliant and mercurial Terry Scott Taylor, DA have gleefully tossed the Beatles, the Byrds, Devo, Talking Heads, the Sex Pistols, XTC, Echo and the Bunnymen, both Elvises and Love (whose "7 and 7 Is" has long been a DA concert staple) into the blender with C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, St. Augustine and William Blake, with dashes of Monty Python and Sheb Wooley thrown in for good measure. For the full article, see: www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=daniel_amos&tr=y |
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Post by Josh on Apr 28, 2009 14:02:24 GMT -8
Ryan,
I'm curious how you originally got into Daniel Amos/ Terry Taylor/ Lost Dogs, etc...
For me, I think it was 9th grade and someone at Portland Christian made me a copy of the Swirling Eddies Outdoor Elvis. I'd never heard anything like it!
From there I jumped into Daniel Amos with Kalhoun first and that was right about the time that the Lost Dogs made their first album.
Good times.
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ryan
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Post by ryan on Apr 29, 2009 6:55:53 GMT -8
I found a used record store in Portland called Rip City Music. They had thousands of old LPs. My dad and I browsed through looking for old Mason Profit albums (Terry and John Michael Talbot's band from the early 70s). Along the way we found a copy of Shotgun Angel. My dad seemed to remember them vaguely. We got it home and a few days later I decided to give it a spin. I enjoyed it, but didn't think much more until I decided to gamble on a copy of Vox Humana in the discount bin of a local Christian Book store. A buddy of mine had Bibleland, which I borrowed and copied. At this point I didn't have a single album on CD, but I had music from a wonderfully eclectic band that spanned almost three decades. This hooked me.
A CCM Magazine article later explained that Terry Taylor was in Swirling Eddies and Lost Dogs (two bands I had heard of but knew nothing about). I then sought out their stuff.
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Post by Josh on Apr 29, 2009 15:10:19 GMT -8
So, that was like mid 90's then?
Was your dad a Jesus freak?
BTW, what's your favorite Daniel Amos album? I think I mentioned on facebook that Songs from the Heart was my favorite.
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Post by mikerand on Apr 29, 2009 21:41:16 GMT -8
I think I bought Horrendous Disc in 1980.... on vinyl. Will always be my favorite. I do like other albums as much, but never will like one more.
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Post by Josh on Apr 30, 2009 5:24:12 GMT -8
Nice. You got going from almost the beginning... well, HD is the real beginning anyway.
You a fan of Stonehill, Norman, Keaggy, or Steve Taylor?
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ryan
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Post by ryan on Apr 30, 2009 9:47:23 GMT -8
I got started with DA around 1993-94. My folks were quite involved in the Jesus people movement, but their musical tastes drifted to the tamer, more folksy music of 2nd Chapter of Acts, Love Song and the Talbots. My dad was remotely familiar with DA, but not a fan. I grew up in the '80s as a Petra, Whiteheart, DeGarmo and Key fan. I have a very difficult time picking a favorite DA album. I almost want to say Zoom Daddy (even though it is a Swirling Eddies album- I love it!) I am quite fond of Shotgun Angel and Vox Humana, but they are two totally different sounds. You mentioned Kalhoun which would probably be my least favorite alongside Doppelganger. It is easier for me to pick a least favorite than a favorite. I tend to listen to them all with the same frequency. If you had to pin me to a wall to pick a favorite...I'd have to say Shotgun Angel. There are a couple of albums that I never got. I haven't been able to get a copy of Motorcycle, Alarma!, or Fearful Symmetry (gotta say, though, that The Pool is one of my favorite tracks ever). Nor do I have any of their live albums. WHAT KIND OF FAN AM I?  |
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ryan
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Post by ryan on Apr 30, 2009 9:55:20 GMT -8
I have to confess that I have never gotten into Randy Stonehill or Larry Norman. A college professor who was big into the Jesus People Movement tried his best. He gave me a cassette copy of Only Visiting this Planet which I have tried to find time to listen to the last couple of days but failed.
I have gotten into Keaggy for quite some time and his Master and the Musician album is one of my all time faves. I have been a pretty lukewarm fan of his though for a while (I think I burnt out on some of the more mellow stuff that he did in the late 90s.
Steve Taylor is great! It also took me until Squint came out to really appreciate him, and then he was done! I grabbed his Now the Truth Can be Told collection to catch up on what I missed.
It took me until I graduated from high school to really investigate some of these older artists.
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Post by Josh on Apr 30, 2009 16:14:30 GMT -8
Motorcylce and Alarma are great, imo. Don't like Kalhoun, huh? Big Warm Sweet Interior and Gloryhound are way up there on my list, but you know, we tend to like what we started with. I want to like Fearful Symmetry, but i'd have to say it's my least favorite (even though I love the Pool and the whole William Blake thing) I have one live album, but it was a disappointment ( Preachers from Outer Space). The only studio albums I don't have are the self-titled debut and Darn Floor Big Bite. That's too bad about Larry and Randy. I'll forgive you- clearly you know not what you say- (oh and I'll forgive you for being a Degarmo and Key fan too  ) But, now, Steve Taylor, I think he deserves his own thread. I'll start one soon. |
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ryan
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Post by ryan on May 1, 2009 8:15:40 GMT -8
DeGarmo and Key...what can I say? ;D
Let me clarify: I have never given Kalhoun a chance to grow on me. So besides needing to listen to Dylan's Saved and Norman's Only Visiting this planet, I need to take another listen to Kalhoun.
I did listen to a little bit of Only Visiting this Planet yesterday and really got into I Am Six O'clock News.
I do have the self-titled debut and Darn Floor, Big Bite. The former is alright, but lacks the creativity of later efforts (though Ain't Gonna Fight It is my all time favorite tune by DA). Darn Floor is good, worth grabbing, but not quite their best.
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Post by Josh on May 1, 2009 9:06:44 GMT -8
Six O Clock News is a great song. However, I don't know if I would necessarily recommend Only Visiting This Planet as the best intro to Norman (although it's certainly his most famous). Yeah, re-listen to those two songs on Kalhoun. I'm curious if you think they have stood the test of time. "Ain't Gonna Fight It"- maybe we should try that one during worship sometime. Confession: I had a Degarmo and Key album myself once.... BTW, have you heard the Swirling Eddies' version of " God good, Devil Bad" It's hilarious
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ryan
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Post by ryan on May 1, 2009 10:05:33 GMT -8
Which Norman album do you recommend as an introduction?
I enjoyed Norman's takes on "Hound of Heaven" on the reissue of Horrendous Disk?
I've read some of the alternate lyrics to "God Good, Devil Bad" and have wanted to listen to it. I nearly purchased Sacred Cows on Amazon, but was discouraged by the generally bad reviews.
I think that "Ain't Gonna Fight It" would make a great worship tune!
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Post by Josh on May 1, 2009 19:18:10 GMT -8
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Post by Josh on May 19, 2009 13:07:54 GMT -8
I've been digging Darn Floor, Big Bite since I picked it up at the Roe Concert. Took a little while to get into, but I'd have to say a couple of the songs are heading close to the top of my DA favorites list.
I really like "the Beat Menace", "Darn Floor/ Big Bite", "Safety Net", "Pictures of the Gone World", and "the Unattainable Earth".
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ryan
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Post by ryan on May 19, 2009 14:30:13 GMT -8
It's been a while since I put this one in. Apart from the title track I also always seem to get into "Mall All Over the World". In need to get a CD copy of this. I would definitely listen to it more frequently.
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Post by Josh on May 19, 2009 16:44:28 GMT -8
Mall all Over the World is on Doppleganger. But my first exposure to it and to the song "Darn Floor..." was on the "best of DA" cd that came out several years ago.
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