In the late ’70s, early ’80s, Christian Rock usually had the unenviable stamp of bad production. They could not be likened to their peers over on the secular rock side simply because the standards of productions sucked. Somewhere, that began to change. One of the forerunners of that change was Daniel Amos, a Country rock band, who found a harder-edged Rock more to their liking starting with Horrendous Disc (1981), before moving into the more lucrative style of New Wave music, a genre that gave them the attention they deserved. With their incredible ¡Alarma! album release in 1981, Daniel Amos (a moniker used for the band, headed by Terry Taylor), they jump-started a new direction for Christian Rock bands who wanted to crossover and gain a new audience.
After ¡Alarma!, the band rode their popularity through 1987’s Darn Floor-Big Bite, the album that followed the immensely popular four album¡ ¡Alarma! Chronicles, which included the previously mentioned ¡Alarma!, Doppelgänger (1983), (under a name change to DA), Vox Humana (1984), and Fearful Symmetry (1986). Those albums still can hold their own weight in gold these many years after their initial release. If you haven’t heard them, now is a good time to remedy that oversight.
Last year, on September 13, Stunt Records reissued the classic ¡Alarma! album with new remastering, a bonus CD featuring 21 extra bonus songs of outtakes, alternate mixes, demos, and a 7-minute reading of the entire Alarma Chronicles. Extras also included a massive 28-page booklet with memorabilia, unseen photos, and more, all stored in a 6-panel digipak. If you’re remotely interested in hearing bonuses not included in the 2CD Deluxe Edition, here is a link to their Band Camp page with more. The songs found at the link are still representative of the fantastic ¡Alarma! gem.
But that was last year, an event that went underneath our Rebel Base radars.
Recently, the band reissued their next Deluxe Edition in the Chronicles, via Stunt Records, with the newly remastered 2CD Doppelgänger set. Doppelgänger found the band heading toward a more defined New Wave sound. One of the standout tracks from that album is the excellent “Mall (All Over The World)”. With new attention, this set is now greatly enhanced with new remastering, a second disc filled with seventeen bonus tracks of alternate mixes, demos, outtakes (all previously unheard), and an expansive 24-page booklet with previously unseen photos, memorabilia, credits, liner notes, lyrics, and the text of the Alarma Chronicles II. the 2CD set is housed in a gorgeous 6-panel digipak.
Both ¡Alarma!, and Doppelgänger, are now available for purchase. You can bet I now have my eyes peeled for the 2CD Deluxe Editions of Vox Humana, and Fearful Symmetry!
I’m serious! You should give them a listen!
Track-list for ¡Alarma! 2CD Deluxe Edition:
CD1:
1. Central Theme
2. ¡Alarma!
3. Big Time/Big Deal
4. Props
5. My Room
6. Faces To The Window
7. Cloak & Dagger
8. Colored By
9. C & D Reprise
10. Through The Speakers
11. Hit Them
12. Baby Game
13. Shedding The Mortal Coil
14. Endless Summer
15. Walls Of Doubt
16. Ghost Of The Heart
CD2:
1. Little Things (demo)
2. Off My Mind (demo)
3. As Long As I Live (demo)
4. No Spaceship (demo)
5. Out Of Town (demo)
6. Only One (demo)
7. Central Theme (demo)
8. My Room (demo)
9. Faces To The Window (demo)
10. Colored By (demo)
11. Through The Speakers (demo)
12. Hit Them (demo)
13. Endless Summer (demo)
14. Walls of Doubt (demo)
15. Props (Vocal mix)
16. Big Time/Big Deal (Alternate Mix)
17. Shedding the Mortal Coil (Alternate Mix)
18. Ghost of the Heart (Alternate Mix)
19. ¡Alarma! (Instrumental)
20. Colored By (Instrumental)
21. ¡Alarma! Reading by Malcolm Wild
Track-list for Doppelgänger 2CD Deluxe Edition:
CD1:
1. Hollow Man
2. Mall (All Over The World)
3. Real Girls
4. New Car!
5. Do Big Boys Cry
6. Youth With A Machine
7. The Double
8. Distance and Direction
9. Memory Lane
10. Angels Tuck You In
11. Little Crosses
12. Autographs for the Sick
13. I Didn’t Build It For Me
14. Here I Am
15. Hollow Man (Reprise)
CD2:
1. Hollow Man [Alternate]
2. Mall (All Over the World) [Alternate]
3. Concert Intro
4. Real Girls [Live]
5. New Car! [Live]
6. Do Big Boys Cry [Instrumental]
7. Youth with a Machine [Toy Mix]
8. The Double [Extended Rough]
9. Distance and Direction [Alternate]
10. Distance and Direction [Vocal Mix]
11. Memory Lane [Live]
12. Angels Tuck You In [Rough]
13. Little Crosses [Fragment]
14. Autographs for the Sick [Alternate]
15. I Didn’t Build It For Me [Alternate]
16. Here I Am [Instrumental]
17. Hollow Man (Reprise) [Alternate]
“It’s the ’80s, so where’s our rocket packs? Go anywhere, we’d strap them on our back”
Full agreement on these CD sets. DA had the unenviable position of being a real rock band, in that, even though they were in the CCM camp ostensibly, they were much more about making music, not ministries. So you had the Christian Rock side at odds with them because they were being, y’know, true to what they were and not purporting to be something they weren’t. But then you had the secular rock world that turned their noses up at them because, ick, it’s Christian Rock.
Having seen nearly thirty years pass, and in between that time we’ve had not just Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith but P.O.D., Flyleaf, and Switchfoot, it is really time for people to go back and look at some of these groups with fresh eyes and hear with new ears. That’s not to say that the genre itself doesn’t deserve some of the flack it got. There are examples out there that are truly as bad as you remembered them…but bands like DA, The 77’s, The Choir, Prodigal, and a handful more were making real music. If that’s something people can get behind, these two reissues from DA are a terrific place to start.
Thanks so much for putting these guys on the blog. They are truly one of the great overlooked bands in recent history (sorry if that sounds hyperbolic). While I have the book/box set of the Alarma Chronicles from some years back, I will be most likely be getting these for the bonus tracks. These reissues have me hopeful that Terry and the guys may yet get their fair due. And to Dw Dunphy’s list of artists I would add Steve Taylor, Undercover, Vector and Charlie Peacock to those who were making great music outside the “CCM” box.
I bought a couple of their LPs back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Horrendous Disc and Alarma. I was also at one or their shows. Always liked them. It surprised me big time when they showed up on your blog.