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Posted by George on 08-01-2008 at08:00:

  Which album...

DA/TST/Eddies/Dogs have obviously gone through many musical stylings over the course of last 30 years. Which album blind-sided you the most? Threw you for a loop? A nasty curve? I rode with all of the changes in stride myself, but I gotta admit, when I first put SCENIC ROUTES into my car stereo after hurriedly ripping off the cellophane, my mouth was agape for more than a few spins. In light of DAs country roots, it shouldn't have surprised me so much perhaps. Of course, eventually I loved it.

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Posted by Ritchie_az on 08-01-2008 at09:10:

 

Meat de Farm Beetles. At the time, the only Swirling Eddies song I had heard was Hide The Beer off of some Frontline CD showcasing thier artists. I purchased this thinking it would be something along the same lines. Boy, was I wrong!
Second would be Gift Horse. You know, I got into DA, 77's and The Choir in 2000-2001. I read on-line that Terry, Mike and Derri (plus Gene--I hadn't heard Adam Again yet) had recorded some albums together under the name Lost Dogs. I was expecting some pretty creative/progressive rock--I was so surprised to hear country music!
When I purchased the Alarma Chronicles Book Set, Doppelganger, Vox Humana and Fearful Symmetry all took me by surprise, but I loved them from the first spin. BibleLand blind-sides me every time I play it.

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Posted by John Foxe on 08-01-2008 at11:15:

  Doppel and Bible

Alarma to Doppelganger: catchy new wave to dark strangeness
Motorcycle to Bibleland: polished Beatlesque-pop to garage grunge

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Posted by Jerry Davison on 08-01-2008 at11:52:

 

Songs of the Heart. Even though it's friggin' brilliant on so many levels (and has one of my all-time favorite DA songs, "When Everyone Wore Hats") I still can't listen to it all the way through. Terry uses this kind of low mumble to sing in and the songs are just plain weird for the most part. It's very Zappa-esque to me. But like I said, it's still brilliant.

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Posted by John Foxe on 08-01-2008 at12:37:

  SotH vocals

With his mostly-spoken vocals, he was speaking as if he were "Bud". Not even reviewers got the point Terry was trying to make. The only thing negative I'll say are two songs that just don't work for me:

'Can't Take My Eyes...' - maybe because it's a rare one Terry didn't write and so it doesn't really seem to be a pure DA song. It's almost like it doesn't quite belong. Sorry, I know this is a fav with some...

'Turn This Off' - because it's so raucous and hard. I get the gist, because Bud is complaining about that very thing. Still it does not sound pleasing to the ear.

That said, SotH is absolutely brilliant, off-beat, and moving. Plus it has some of the best songs Terry has ever composed (Glory Road, WEWH, Sins of the Fathers, Organ bar.)

Overall, once the listener understands the concept, the whole recording works better.

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Posted by Ritchie_az on 08-01-2008 at13:20:

 

quote:

The only thing negative I'll say are two songs that just don't work for me: 'Can't Take My Eyes...' - maybe because it's a rare one Terry didn't write and so it doesn't really seem to be a pure DA song. It's almost like it doesn't quite belong. Sorry, I know this is a fav with some...

It's one of my favorites.
It surprises me that a rock band--any rock band--would cover Can't Take My Eyes Off of You . But DA did so with complete brilliance and even made it fit into the lyrical theme of the album. I believe Terry Taylor is one of a small few that could pull it off, which demonstrates his genius.

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Posted by jiminy on 08-01-2008 at15:42:

 

for me I would have to also say SOTH

after a 7 year haitus from all things TST
OE (1989 )

to seeing SOTH at a discount store-
( I got in 1996) I thought

"hmm- I remember them! wonder what DAniel AMos is up too?"

when Terry started to speaksing after track one (and I recall right afterward I read a rumored review that he blew out his vocal chords or some such nonsense..and had no voice left . Anyone else recall that?)

I liked (most of it) for its quirkiness-(remember my last dip was OE) but in all honesty thought it was the swansong for the boys.
THe whole Bud and Irma idea seemed like a last gasp into a forgotten era not for us only- but maybe for them too.

Next up I got John Wayne- and put that crazzzee thought to bed.
I then got up to speed with KAlhoun , MC and BL- things I had not heard during my absence.

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Posted by John Foxe on 08-01-2008 at17:12:

  SotH @ c-stone

Yeah I saw Terry&Friends at Cornerstone '97. Before the show started they were playing SofH as background music. Then Terry came on and at some point mentioned that sales weren't very good probably because there were a couple of old people on the cover.

I had no idea right off that these two people were bogus. I heard later that Terry saw a cover of these two people, and decided to build a fictitious story around them. I heard another story that Tom Howard dropped by during recording and remembered those people from real life.

Very cool.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-01-2008 at21:04:

 

Shotgun Angel.

I had Darn Floor and FS. I also had the swirling eddies stuff.

I had no idea that DA had country roots at all.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-01-2008 at21:05:

  RE: SotH @ c-stone

quote:

Originally posted by John Foxe Yeah I saw Terry&Friends at Cornerstone '97. Before the show started they were playing SofH as background music. Then Terry came on and at some point mentioned that sales weren't very good probably because there were a couple of old people on the cover.

I looked at the old people on the cover and put the CD back on the shelf!

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Posted by James on 08-01-2008 at21:33:

 

SOTH's album cover didn't do the band any favors, that's for sure. Musically, it took me quite a while to warm up to that one. So of all the DA albums, I'd say that one threw me for a loop the most.

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Posted by George on 08-01-2008 at23:59:

 

The SOTH cover drew me, actually. I laughed when I saw it. Thought it was kind of a tongue-in-cheeky kinda thing. Yet nothing in the music pokes fun at that cover aesthetic. So that was surprising. But then I played it and I was actually mesmerized right off the bat--though it wasn't what I expected. Absolutely NOTHING about it attempted to succeed in a market place. Which, of course, struck me as very cool. Certainly there isn't a less commercial DA record, right? I imagine it must have sold less than any other DA record.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-02-2008 at00:50:

 

Darn Floor threw me for a loop. It was my first DA record and I don't know what I expected.
Howvere it was pretty much anything but that.

I had LSU's Shaded Pain and I pretty much "got" that record.
It was "hip." It was badass.

But Darn Floor did not have what sounded to my ears like a pan flute either.
Pan flutes are never "hip." Pan flutes are not badass.

The music, the lyrics, the artwork... none of it made sense.
My 20 year old mind was blown.

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Posted by Ritchie_az on 08-02-2008 at00:57:

 

The SotH cover made me briefly hesitate, but did not stop me from purchasing the album. I think people who didn't know who DA was probably passed over the CD.
They may have wondered if it was really Danielle & Amos instead of Daniel Amos.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-02-2008 at01:05:

 

I was already buying Our Personal Favorite World Famous Hits
as well as Vox Humana.
It seems I was also picking up that live Choir CD too.

SotH just kinda lost out.

I had skipped out on BibleLand as I thought it seemed too "Youth Groupie"
for my taste.
Shows what I knew!

When I finally did purchase BibleLand it threw me for a loop how much I liked it right away.

Most DA records need some time to digest it, for me anyways.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-02-2008 at01:07:

 

quote:

Originally posted by Ritchie_az The SotH cover made me briefly hesitate, but did not stop me from purchasing the album. I think people who didn't know who DA was probably passed over the CD. They may have wondered if it was really Danielle & Amos instead of Daniel Amos.

I think the song "My Hand to God" made me decide not to buy it at the time either.

I thought it was a praise and worship tune!

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Posted by Ritchie_az on 08-02-2008 at01:19:

 

quote:

I thought it was a praise and worship tune!

I'm not big into the whole "praise and worship" craze in CCM right now, but the City On A Hill series is pretty good (you know, for what it is).

I actually purchased the first CoaH album before I knew who The Choir was.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-02-2008 at01:23:

 

Yeah... I have the At The Foot of the Cross CD.
I enjoy it a lot.

No City On A Hill stuff, however.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-02-2008 at01:24:

 

quote:

Originally posted by Ritchie_az I actually purchased the first CoaH album before I knew who The Choir was.

Wow!

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Posted by Ritchie_az on 08-02-2008 at01:39:

 

I know, off topic a little, but my first Choir album was Free Flying Soul, which I found (in 2001) in the discount bin at a CBS for $5, I think. I quickly followed that with Flap Your Wings, which I didn't like as much, and (Youth Choir) Voices in Shadows, which I really liked right away, but I like it less as time has passed. Live at Cornerstone 2000 (Plugged) followed not long afterward. I purchased O How The Mighty Have Fallen shortly after it was released, and it stands as my favorite Choir album. I managed to get copies of Chase The Kangaroo and Wide Eyed Wonder within the last year, and I'm still digesting them.