Daniel Amos Message Board | Print: Bibleland Appreciation Thread

Posted by wakachiwaka on 07-08-2008 at19:53:

To that I'll just reply that I don't find the melodies in those songs especially compelling. In my mind they don't measure up to TST's best, or even average, melodic compositions - they seem to simply sit in one place, never really getting out of neutral and going somewhere interesting. They just sound "tired" to me, especially coming in the wake of all that aggression.

Fortunately there's a lot of Taylor tunes to go around, so if we only disagree about two or three songs I think we're doing okay.

Big Grin

Posted by James on 07-08-2008 at20:00:

UNACCEPTABLE! ADMIT YOU'RE WRONG!

Tongue

Posted by Dr Rich on 07-08-2008 at20:20:

quote:

Originally posted by wakachiwaka
To that I'll just reply that I don't find the melodies in those songs especially compelling. In my mind they don't measure up to TST's best, or even average, melodic compositions - they seem to simply sit in one place, never really getting out of neutral and going somewhere interesting. They just sound "tired" to me, especially coming in the wake of all that aggression.

Fortunately there's a lot of Taylor tunes to go around, so if we only disagree about two or three songs I think we're doing okay.

Big Grin

There is an interesting tension on BibleLand.
It has "of all that aggression" coupled with the feeling of "never really getting out of neutral."

It is an album filled with rage and frustration, which does not work well as a fuel in the long haul, but rather begins to make one stagnant.
It really does make you tired.

I don't know if it's on purpose or not.
Just something I have noticed.

Posted by MarkyMark77 on 07-08-2008 at21:06:

"Broken Ladders to Glory"=brilliant

There's no great bombastic chorus or hook in this tune, which, to me, matches the lyrical content, regarding our continual and consistent struggle with all things spiritual, but no great, single, overcoming success until we're in heaven. I love it when the music feels like the lyrics, if that makes sense.

quote:

It has "of all that aggression" coupled with the feeling of "never really getting out of neutral."

That's exactly what this song, musically and lyrically, sounds like to me. Which makes sense. That tension is what we experience until we are live with God eternally forever. Even the whole "Bibleland" concept is a pale comparison to what awaits, as we, and Paul says, "our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil 3:20)

Pretty heady stuff for a Christian pop band!

Posted by Dr Rich on 07-08-2008 at21:15:

quote:

Originally posted by MarkyMark77
"Broken Ladders to Glory"=brilliant

There's no great bombastic chorus or hook in this tune, which, to me, matches the lyrical content, regarding our continual and consistent struggle with all things spiritual, but no great, single, overcoming success until we're in heaven. I love it when the music feels like the lyrics, if that makes sense.

quote:

It has "of all that aggression" coupled with the feeling of "never really getting out of neutral."

Darn tootin'! Pleased

Posted by Jimmy Brown on 09-07-2020 at05:24:

quote:

Originally posted by ftg3plus4

quote:

Originally posted by dennis
Oh?? Do tell. Big Grin

From the 1994 Terry interviews on this site:

quote:

I don't know much about Bakersfield. Part of the song is based on my own personal experience -- that was the death of my grandfather. Bakersfield was where we had to go and see him in the hospital. That song was written out of the experience of going to that particular city; my feelings towards the town were definitely colored by that sense of impending death. It could have really been any city.

(different interview)
My grandfather died in Bakersfield. We would have to travel off to Bakersfield to see him in the hospital in one of the bleakest towns on the face of the earth. He had always been a strong man, central in my life, and someone I deeply admired. To see him in that hospital, shut down the way he was, was very disturbing.... The references to (sportscaster Vin) Scully are there because my grandfather was the guy who always had Vin Scully on the radio in his garage when I was a kid...

Once I'd read the above, the song's rage made sense to me. (As did the references to "Scully." At the time BL came out, the name "Scully" was mainly associated with The X-Files, so its use in this song really confused me!)

For me, "Bakersfield" is the standout track on this album. It does ring true for me.

I spent Summer 1987 in Bakersfield. It really was a desolate patch of sun-blasted hardpan full of Okies and fundamentalists. I was there as a summer missionary with the Baptist Student Union, and one pastor I spent a week working with kept trying to convert me from the error of Presbyterianism. It was in many ways a thirsty, soul-crushing place. Or maybe that was just me. I think TST acknowledges how a place can meld with our personal experiences with "God is with them, but I won't be there."

All that said, I would go back to Bakersfield. I met some good people there. I was going through my old photos yesterday and remembering them. Yeah, I might go back if I thought I could say hello the those pleasant few.

Posted by Ron E on 09-07-2020 at22:17:

I blame you. You were the Presbyterian.

Jk! An interesting addition to the story for sure. I've never been to Bakersfield. Or California. I have been to a bakery. Often. Too often

Posted by Jimmy Brown on 09-09-2020 at01:22:

The Joshua Tree, or a Joshua Tree. Mojave Desert, June 1987.

Posted by Jimmy Brown on 09-23-2020 at00:11:

Listening to "Stone Away" this evening, I really miss Tim Chandler. To call him a genius is to sell him short. I could live a hundred lifetimes and not understand how to construct a bass line like that.

It half makes me want to get my Guild B10 out of the closet and half sell it and forget the whole thing.

Posted by Audiori J on 09-29-2020 at14:06:

They talked quite a bit about Tim's history as a bass player at his memorial service. I don't remember all the details just that he won a lot of rewards and was well known out that way as being an actual genius with the bass. Literally not figuratively.

Posted by ftg3plus4 on 10-29-2020 at07:14:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimmy Brown
I spent Summer 1987 in Bakersfield. It really was a desolate patch of sun-blasted hardpan full of Okies and fundamentalists.

But did you see the ghosts of all them Okies?

Posted by Jimmy Brown on 10-30-2020 at20:22:

I'm pretty sure they were all over. It would explain a lot.

Posted by wayneb on 04-24-2021 at16:55:

But not everything. We have to leave some mystery in the song!
Low Crawls and High Times is just the best thing on the album for me, though.

Posted by mindgasket on 08-10-2021 at08:17:

Bibleland was the first DA I ever heard. I don’t remember how I got the cassette, but I was a baby christian at the time and my Keith Green ears just couldn’t handle it. Stone Away was all I could process, so I threw it away! No kidding.

Fast forward almost 30 years and it’s my favorite DA album. Would love it on vinyl.

Posted by WoaaahJelly! on 08-10-2021 at13:27:

I bought your CDs, and I read your liner notes, and lovingly scrutinized your cover graphics, but you never came! I waited for you by the fountain in the Mall, AND I ROTTED THERE!

Posted by Jimmy Brown on 08-10-2021 at18:26:

quote:

Originally posted by mindgasket
Bibleland was the first DA I ever heard. I don’t remember how I got the cassette, but I was a baby christian at the time and my Keith Green ears just couldn’t handle it. Stone Away was all I could process, so I threw it away! No kidding.

Fast forward almost 30 years and it’s my favorite DA album. Would love it on vinyl.

That's quite a story, mindgasket. Glad you eventually came around. I guess DA changed their musical style so much over the years that it depended to a significant extent when someone encountered them. I encountered Doppelganger just when I was starting to long for something more, plus we had just read T.S. Eliot's "The Hollow Men" in English class, and was immediately hooked. If it had been one of the early albums I heard that same year instead, I probably would have bounced off.

Posted by Audiori J on 10-26-2021 at12:17:

On topic my view of Bibleland was always mixed. Basically I saw all the BAI releases kind of the same, sort of one dimensional or flat. Sort of garage band-ish. Less like what DA usually did in the studio and more like what they did live. That sounds like more of a criticism than what I intend, I think they are just different in direction and presentation. I always sort of assumed it had something to do with Gene Eugene's engineering style? I guess because to me all of the Frontline DA releases have a similar feel, sort of pristine digital and ethereal while the BAI stuff comes across in the grungy direct to tape vibe. Then you have the releases post green room which all seem to have a level of intimacy not found earlier. And then the stuff Terry and Rob have done together has a whole other slant. It's like ordering the same meal from different restaurants and they each have their own take that can put you in a different place.