First, let’s dispense with bias.

P.O.D., Chevelle, Sixpence None The Richer, Creed, Lifehouse, MxPx. Whether you want to admit it or not, you’ve been listening to “Christian Rock”. Get over it.

Something else you may not have known is that one of the best among their ranks have been toiling in virtual anonymity for decades. Starting out in the mid 70s as a very Evangelical country / western outfit, Daniel Amos (who’s name is not based on a member… think “Jethro Tull”) has gone through several mutations ranging from Beatles and Brian Wilson styled pop, new wave, synth-pop, alt-pop, grunge, as well as shortly becoming an idiosyncratic, satirical version of itself in the form of The Swirling Eddies. Several of the aforementioned musicians count DA as a strong influence, and yet after an impressive discography, it was the most recent 2-disc set of original songs (!) that could very well be the album of their career.

“Mr. Buechner’s Dream”, attributed to author Frederick Buechner and his writings, is broken into two separate discs; the first entitled “Mr. Buechner’s Dream – The First Collection” is a song cycle of twenty that covers melancholy lullaby, ‘Rubber Soul’ pop, garage rock, country intonation, just about every influence the latter 20th century could muster, and does so with precision. None of the tracks linger so long as to wear out their welcome. Opening the disc, “This Is The One” seems to herald the achievement as well as noting that it will be as unregarded as the ones that have gone before: “There’ll be no more to come / this is the one”. That and the next track, the childlike title cut, leave you hanging when the psychedelic third, “The Author of the Story”, kicks in. This CD brings the idea of ‘build and release’ to all new heights.

Taylor’s voice, a sometimes nasally but never grating sort, is in top form as he vaults from one genre to the next, from a deep, whispered baritone to a high falsetto. The closest I can come to a description would be a hybrid of Frank Black and the guys from They Might Be Giants, except that Taylor’s uncanny harmony production never lets the singing get too thin.

The rest of the band members are at their peak too: Greg Flesch has a way of pulling out crazy, atonal solos that miraculously sound perfect and logical where they are. Tim Chandler, long known in CCM circles as one of the finest bass players out there has a signature ‘walking-bass’ style. He’s not lending weight to the rhythm but often soloing on the low-end. Headphone listening is a must. Rounding out the foursome is Ed McTaggart, sometimes regarded as the “Charlie Watts of Christian Contemporary Music”. He’s the anchorman all right, but this time around he’s cut loose and gets in plenty of tasty fills.

Other highlights from disc one are the cynical “Faithful Street”, with its ‘Penny Lane’ vibe, a treatise on the hypocrisy of a modern church of a feel-good, affluent, set-apart nature that is so out of touch with the real, unpleasant world. That theme is taken again with “Meanwhile”, where the primary voice lies about his hope and faith for the sake of another; “Meanwhile, I’m feeling like a ghost on the edge of night… Craving for something I can never quite get right”. This sort of candid humanness caused the band a lot of grief over the years, primarily from an industry that expected their artists to be paragons of virtue or, at least, appear that way.

I first heard the track, “Over Her Shoulder”, a day after 9/11. It’s about Lot’s wife turning to see the fall of Babylon and, by doing so, becoming a pillar of salt for disobeying. However, one could easily see the relevance of lyrics like, “…framed in the city lights of Hell/ She took a mirror from her purse / and froze there in the fire that fell”. The country arrangement, never intended for such alternate resonance, along with stark upright piano and a loping bass line hit me particularly hard, getting to me where Springsteen’s entire “The Rising” cannot. Later on, the punchy garage rocker “A Little Grace” saves the day from getting too dark. The disc closes on a track based on passages from the book of Joel, “Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions”.

“And So It Goes – The Second Collection” gets away from the British Invasion influences a bit and opens up to moments of unfettered rock and roll. Opening with the somewhat-pop ballad “Pretty Little Lies”, the narrator is the Devil, tempting Eve, but the lyrics are more universal and could be any man hitting on a woman, saying what she wants to hear to coerce, “…Baby, I’d die for you / Would I ever? / No, I’d never / Speak pretty little lies to you”. Picking up on the themes of spiritual haves and have-nots from disc one, “Easy For You” is a little angrier, a little more accusatory, with a beat just short of pounding fists against the wall of modern religion that confuses faith with prosperity.

“A Flash In Your Eyes” is a tribute to the late, great Gene Andrusco a/k/a Gene Eugene of Adam Again and the pseudo-supergroup The Lost Dogs. Gene was an honorary member of DA and had been behind the boards for all of their 90s output (as well as the Eddies releases). No one was quite sure what impact this had on good friend Taylor, but this song spells out the loss with clarity. The power-pop “Fingertips” is the one that demands to be cranked up, so stop being a wuss and do it.

Closing the disc and the set, “And So It Goes” starts out like a country-esque ballad and ends like a rock epic. Lyrically, and structurally, it reminds me of Alan Parsons’ “Old And Wise” but that’s not a bad thing; it perfectly closes the book for the release. Let me make this clear; although I’ve specified certain songs, there really isn’t a clunker on the whole, massive collection. This is why I can say, without fear, that this is for the band the equivalent of “Dark Side of the Moon” to Pink Floyd, “Rumours” to Fleetwood Mac and “Pet Sounds” to The Beach Boys. This is the best example of what the band is capable of and, in every way, “this is the one”.

In our modern music landscape though, “the one” is usually the one left behind by groups that are higher profile and may play to double standards. “MBD” is too spiritual-minded to sit comfortably with the Best Buy crowd and much too critical to ride the coattails of Christian Contemporary Music’s all smiling, no-pain positioning. However, there wasn’t a release in 2001 that had the staying power, the rock integrity and the underlying intelligence of this one. This is just too good to be ignored, even now in 2003 with spiritual-based rock finding inroads to the mainstream venues.

Although it was a two disc set, packaged in an elaborate Digipak gatefold, Galaxy 21 / Stunt sold it pretty much at a single-disc price, so there really is no excuse. If you’re willing to risk the oft-derided (and sometimes justly derided) label of “Christian Rock”, you owe it to yourself to check this out. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the music you’ve missed all these years.

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Daniel Amos
Mr Buechner's Dream

Released: March 04, 2001
Origination Year: 2001
Time: 47:29
Tracks: 33
Produced by: Terry Taylor & DA
Engineered by: N/A
Mixed by:N/A
Mastered by: N/A
Style: Studio
Format: CD
Enhancement: None
Label: Galaxy 21/Stunt Records
Website:
www.danielamos.com

This is the One
Mr Buechner's Dream
The Author of the Story
Your Long Year
Who's Who Here?
Thick Skin
Ribbons and Bows
Ordinary Extraordinary Day
I Get to Wondering
Faithful Street
The Lucky Ones
Rice Paper Wings
The Tale You Told
Meanwhile
Over Her Shoulder
The Staggering Gods
A Little Grace
My Beautiful Martyr
Mr Buechner Wakes Up
Joel

Pretty Little Lies
Child On a Leash
Small Great Things
Easy For You
Maybe All I Need
Pregnant Pause
She's a Hard Drink
So Far So Good
Flash in Your Eyes
Nobody Will
Fingertips
Steal Away
And So It Goes
A Hidden Track
Placed after an insanely long blank following track 13