Daniel Amos - Alarma! Chronicles Vol 1 - 1981

After yesterday's bleh review of a good album that I didn't really think was stupendous, simply because I didn't have a personal connection to it, I'm going to swing out into the other direction.  Now I've got a great review of a mediocre album that I absolutely love, simply because I did have a strong personal connection to it.

This album is Part One of the four part Alarma! series by Daniel Amos.  Daniel Amos is the name of the band, and there's no one in the band named either Daniel or Amos.  Weird, huh?  I've already posted Part Two and Part Three, previously.  Here are the links to them...

Doppelganger - Alarma Chronicles Part Two

Vox Humana - Alarma Chronicles Part Three

I have yet to post the fourth part, called  Fearful Symmetry, but that will come later this summer.

As a whole, listening to the albums in chronological order, the breadth of Terry Taylor's writing is admirable.  He plays across all musical genres, with an obvious Christian slant.  But, it's not overpowering or a turn-off.  The style mesh well, and the melodies are always catchy.

This first album in the series still smacks of late 70s Classic Rock/Pop Rock.  The band wouldn't head into their awesome 80s New Wave sound until the next album.  But, after a touchy start, the album picks up momentum and comes out on top.  Although I love this album, it is not as good as the other two.  I prefer Vox Humana, followed by a close second with Doppelganger.  Part One falls shortly behind that.  Part Four, on the other hand, is a little jilty to me.  But, by then I had moved back into secular Rock, and mostly forgot about Christian Rock altogether.

I do have a personal connection to this album, though, as it's one of the albums that I listened to repeatedly during my exile from mainstream Rock and Roll.  I still had (have) music in my soul, so I had to listen to a lot of Christian artists that I quickly learned to love.  Artists like Steve Taylor, Petra, Crumbacher, Rez Band, Farrell & Farrell, DeGarmo & Key, Stryper and Daniel Amos.  I often think that it was wrong for my parents to do force me into that exile, but then I sometimes am happy that it happened, as it exposed me to some more great music out there that I wouldn't have normally listened to.

Notice I went through my entire Christian Rock post without using one vulgar word?  Weird how that subconsciously happens...

Give the series a shot, and I'm sure you'll at the very least find it amusing....

Daniel Amos - Alarma! Chronicles Vol 1 - 1981