Resplendent in Dignity

From the CD Project...

The Badlees - River Songs (1995)

Grade: DNL

Comments: Unmemorable roots rock except for the single "Angeline is Coming Home", which was a nice little hit in 1996. The Badlees are the result of one too many Columbia House memberships. (That keg was pretty much kicked by 1996, when I ordered this.) I also blame Philadelphia radio. I was in law school in Philly from 1995 to 1998, and the best thing on the radio was WXPN (the local NPR outlet). XPN fed into my tendency to be a sucker for anything with a banjo or harmonica in it, and I wound up buying crap like this.

Jesus Rocks

Continued from here...

From Petra, it was a short leap to the Rez Band. The Rez Band was bigger, badder, and better than Petra in every way. They were street enough to be controversial and threatening, almost earning them a trip to the banned list. Their 1984 album Hostage was one of the few Christian rock albums I continued to listen to after the Baker household ban on secular influences was relaxed. The album is rock with new-wavey touches, but the vocals by husband and wife Glenn and Wendi Kaiser are pretty tough. "Beyond the Gun" is a tale of apocalyptic Christian paranoia, set in a future where religion is forbidden. You should really watch the video. It's got black helicopters and everything. "Souls for Hire" had nice, crunchy guitars that sounded like ZZ Top.

But "Tears in the Rain" was the standout. It's a classic tale of the rise and fall of a rock star, seduced by fame but empty inside - sort of like Bad Company's "Shooting Star." I liked the narrative and the guitars. I liked the dramatic chorus (there's murder in money/prison in fame/danger in love/and tears in the rain). But mostly I liked it because it was so different. It seemed like Rez was making a great song that just happened to have a moral to it, rather than making a crap song that I was obligated to like just cause it was Christian.

White Trash Heroes

From the CD Project...

Archers of Loaf - Seconds Before The Accident

Grade: LOVE

Comment: This album may be the most amazing surprise of this project. I never got into the Archers during their indie rock heyday. I always sort of thought they were a second-rate Pavement clone. This live album was their last, and while fans of the band don't think it measures up, I love almost every one of the 16 tracks, particularly "White Trash Heroes."

Hallelujah

I'm still swamped with work, but I wanted to post this link to this article on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". Three things I love: my family, the interweb, and that darn song.