Daniel Amos released their self-titled debut album in
1976. They originally had a country
sound. By 1978 they had recorded their
first full rock album HORRENDOUS DISC which ended up on Larry Norman’s Solid
Rock Records. It did not, however, get
released until 1981. Daniel Amos toured
and performed quite a bit with Randy Stonehill in the 1970’s and appeared on a
few of his albums. The band are known as
Christian alternative music pioneers.
Fans praise albums such as ALARMA! (1981), VOX HUMANA (1984), and
KALHOUN (1991). It has been twelve years
since their last album, the highly acclaimed double disc MR. BUECHNER’S
DREAM. Their new release is DIG HERE
SAID THE ANGEL (2013, Stunt Records). It
was produced by Terry Scott Taylor, and engineered by Derri Daugherty and Mark
Zellmer. Unless otherwise noted, all
lyrics are by Terry Scott Taylor and music is by Taylor and the rest of the
guys in the band. The record is
dedicated to the late Tom Howard and is 55:01 in length.
‘Forward in Reverse’ is a soothing pop song. Terry Taylor has always had a unique way of
speaking about Jesus and spiritual truths.
Witness these lyrics: ”I saw a shepherd king freefalling/Off a throne of
mud and straw/He landed on a bed of nails/Proclaiming ‘Love’s the only law’/I
saw a dead man who’d been buried/Walk around outside his grave/The one’s we’re
told are not worth saving/Are the one’s now being saved.” Next up is ‘Jesus Wept’. Of course, that is also the shortest verse in
the Bible. We know that Jesus was
acquainted with grief. This song reminds
us that crosses must proceed crowns: “Another bad guy wins/More good friends
die/They mounted up like eagles/Now they’re dropping like flies/I cry ‘Let me
out’/You’re saying ‘No, not yet’/Before He danced, Jesus wept.” The song is musically upbeat pop.
The title track ‘Dig Here Said the Angel’ has a dark rock
feel to it. It touches on our mortality:
“’Dig here’, said the angel/I asked ‘My heart or my grave?’/’Maybe both’, said
the angel/’Things can go either way.../’Here’s the catch’ said the
angel/’You’re gonna suffer for a while’/’I’ll tell you straight’, said the
angel/’Don’t plan to go out in style.’”
‘Our New Testament Best’ will appeal to fans of Pink Floyd. It has a classic rock sound and speaks of
choosing to be compassionate: “You could go old-school on me/And not spare the
lash/You could bash, smash me baby/Throw me out with the trash/But you thought
better of it/Your love had mercy, mercy, mercy on me/Better of it/Mercy, mercy,
mercy, on me/Better of it/Mercy, mercy, mercy/We got dressed in our New
Testament best/And thought better of it.”
‘Love, Grace, Mercy’ makes uses of church bell and
tambourine sounds. The song admits that
God’s ways are higher and often opposed to how we would choose things to be
done: “You’ve got Your methods/I’m done with trying to solve Your moves/I’m
going where You want me to go/I’ve got nothing left to lose/Now I don’t wanna
suffer/But that’s in fact the nature of the beast/If you want to get to higher
ground/You got to get there on your knees.”
‘Now that I’ve Died’ seems written from the perspective of a believer
already in heaven, but could just as well be a sarcastic song given Taylor’s
angry vocal delivery: “I can’t hurt you now or harm anyone/I’m too busy helping
people and having fun/I’m not a loner anymore since I joined the tribe/On the
other side/And I love my neighbor as I love myself/I’m loved by God, I’ve got
my health/I’m going strong and becoming wise/I couldn’t lie if I tried/Now that
I’ve died!”
‘We’ll all Know Soon Enough’ is a song that many who are
frustrated with God will relate to: “We were anxious for our prayers to be
answered/But our angels were distracted and so slow/We were hoping for a few
quick fixes/But we found ourselves still down in the hole/Now we’re thinking
that our prayers/Aren’t answered/’Cuz when it came, the answer was ‘No’”. ‘Waking Up Under Water’ was penned by Jerry
Chamberlain and Terry Scott Taylor.
Musically, it is experimental and quirky. It is about fantasizing about utopia: “I
close my eyes and she’s there for me/Our lucky number wins the lottery/I finish
my book, turn in my masterpiece/Will wonders never cease?.../I close my eyes
and I close the deal/The world quakes when my power’s revealed/Whenever I
prayed, the answer was ‘Yes!’/I never tasted death.”
‘The Uses of Adversity’ is a strong song that reminds us
that it is dangerous for us as humans to come to a place where we feel we have
God all figured out: “You’re much too small if You’re not a Mystery/So don’t
send me rain if I bloom in drought/No, don’t send me certainty/If somehow it’s
best for me to doubt.../I found Your handprints in the pages of history/I said
Your ways are past finding out.”
‘The Ruthless Hum of Dread’ is very subdued musically. It finds the band longing for eternal bliss:
“Let me go deep inside Your safehouse love and light/Beyond the clang of the
alarm/And imagine a long rest/Last kisses and a sweet death/Free to float above
Your arms/Into the company of angels/A final turning of the tables/My old flesh
a misery shed/Forever young and light enough/To dance among/The stars above/My
head, my head (2X).” The album ends with
the beautiful ballad ‘The Sun Shines on Everyone’ which effectively uses an 18
member Sunshine Street Choir. This song
urges us to love everyone as God does: “The sun shines on everyone (2X)/The
good, the bad, on everyone/See it shine/The rain falls on everyone/A common
grace for everyone/On the human race comes rain and sun/Grace for all/Baby,
don’t isolate them, no/Baby, don’t castigate them, no/Baby, don’t eradicate
them, no/The angels will separate them, so/In the meantime, let it go.”
DIG HERE SAID THE ANGEL is a creative musical masterpiece
with thought-provoking lyrics. It is
miles ahead of 80% of what is being played on Christian radio these days. Terry Scott Taylor, born on May 24, 1950,
still has plenty to say. The
Christianity presented here is very real and down to earth, and not pie in the
sky. I’m rating this album 90%. For more info visit www.danielamos.com.