Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Song #204 of 9999 - Angels Tuck You In by Daniel Amos

Song #204 of 9999

Title: Angels Tuck You In
Artist: Daniel Amos
Year: 1983
Album: Doppelgänger


Oops, it took me a day longer to get to 1983 than I anticipated. Sorry, I just kind of forgot yesterday. It was nice to have a day off.

So, if there's one thing we can all agree on, it's that Christian pop music, whether pop, rap, metal, etc. is terrible. If you like it, it's because you're blinded by the message and the music is secondary. All the Christian acts that attempted to cross over either failed miserably or spread like the plague, destroying eardrums everywhere (yes, I'm looking at you, Creed). And locals, don't even think about replying with the words August Burns Red because they are terrible and that's the end of the discussion. Christian friends, you are just going to have to trust me on this: the last good Christian music was written by Bach. And he was just as passionate writing about coffee.

There is at least one exception! At college, twenty-five years ago(!), my Christian "friends" attempted to share their music and philosophy with me. It was actually good because it helped to cement my atheist beliefs. But on the plus side, one of them introduced me to the band Daniel Amos by loaning me a cassette of Doppelgänger, part 2 (of 4) of The ¡Alarma! Chronicles. Although I am not as impressed listening today (they get better later on), I still think it's the most original Christian pop I've ever heard (limited survey, I admit) and they are the only band that seems to challenge their own beliefs in their songs. They're weren't preachy and they seemed just as interested (dare I say more interested?) in making good music as in spreading their message. 

I probably bought four or five albums by this band and not once did I ever question my personal beliefs. That makes them a success in my book, but probably a failure in many others'. Probably why they didn't get much attention in that narrow little genre. (By the way, I had a hard time choosing a song from this record. If this one doesn't do it for you, try Mall (All Over the World).)

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