Daniel Amos

Item: Songs of the Heart
Author: Todd Brown

Songs of the Heart

(1995)

Reviewed by Todd Brown

Discogs Apple Music

Label Brainstorm ArtistsThe LighthouseJanuary 1996

alternative rock art rock college rock pop rock

Terry and the boys at Daniel Amos have reached a milestone which few ever see. This year marks their twentieth as a band. To celebrate, we are presented with Songs Of The Heart, their twelfth album.

This project is a travelogue of sorts. It is described by the band as being a musical film, purporting to tell the story of Bud and Irma Akendorf. As the liner notes state, Songs Of The Heart serves to tell of "their memories, joys, sorrows, pains, sufferings, dreams and unrealised expectations... and above all, their enduring faith and love."

True to the concept of the album, the songs are more like running narratives-escorting the listener through pieces of Bud and Irma's life, allowing the listener to be privy to the inner thoughts and workings of the pair. We find their initial passionate love, fatigue with the fallen world, the peace they find in each other, and finally death. It is a life cycle of sorts.

The music is geared to fit the more contemplative mode of the songs. Gone is the straight-out rock of Bibleland and the catchy pop of Motorcycle. What we are presented with is a sedate musical backdrop for the narrative, not unlike Robbie Robertson's Storyville. The guitars are understated. The keys are understated. The horns are understated. The vocals are understated. And herein lies the problem. Too much understatement. Nothing ever rises to the surface to take dominance.

Songs Of The Heart succeeds more on the level of a travelogue than it does as an album or as a collection of songs. The prime candidate to accept responsibility for this is a sub-par production job by Terry Taylor. Too often the sounds are confused. Instruments obscure each other rather than support, and Taylor's largely spoken vocal delivery crosses the line between subtle understatement and passionlessness far too often. In all, the lyrics are strong, but musically this is a substandard album from an exceptional band.