On his last solo outing, the 1998 Beatles-meet-the-90s masterpiece John Wayne, Daniel Amos frontman Terry Taylor took shots at spiritually bankrupt Orange County, as well as topics ranging from the Christian music industry to personal hypocrisy. This year's Avocado Faultline covers many of the same topics, but instead of talking from an outsider's perspective, Taylor has chosen to get inside the heads of his characters in a Flannery O'Connor-esque fashion.
For example, in the heartbreaking "Pretend I'm Elvis (For Just One Night)," a track originally written for the Lost Dogs' never-released album The Green Room Serenade Part 2, Taylor writes from the perspective of a lonely barfly attempting to pick up a woman:
You're a little long in the tooth, babe
Me, I'm puffy and under the weather
But the drunker I get, that band gets tight
And honey, you're lookin' better
So here's to dim lights in dingy bars
To the alcohol haze and the smoke
And the chance to reinvent ourselves
Hey baby, let's go for broke
In other songs, Taylor speaks from the perspective of a parent who has lost a beloved child ("The Afternoon"), a misogynist (the hilarious "Pie Hole"), and a man who has just seen a heavenly messenger ("Angels Must Smile Like That"). In fact, he role-plays so much in Avocado Faultline, that he felt it necessary to put a disclaimer in the lengthy liner notes:
"...It's important to draw a distinction here between the drunken lout in 'Elvis' as opposed to the actualities of my life. I wouldn't bother to do so, were it not for the fact that some people out there are perhaps a little thick and quick to vent some kind of knee-jerk condemnation and self-righteousness when they hear such a song. 'Pretend' is fiction. I am not this person."
Speaking of the liner notes, those of Avocado Faultline are easily the most in-depth and classy of any Terry Taylor-related album. The thirteen-page booklet, in addition to the standard lyric sheet, a brief essay by Terry Taylor on the subjects of Los Angeles, songwriting and the record, as well as full colour pictures of the various sites and places mentioned in the songs Terry Taylor fans will likely give Silent Planet some extra brownie points.
Avocado Faultline is, for the most part, finger-picked acoustic country music, with the rather strange (but still appropriate) additions of mellotrons, accordions and chimes, as well as the more typical country instruments like pedal steel and Hammond B-3. It's worthwhile to note that fellow Silent Planet artist Phil Madeira, who definitely proves his versatility, played most of the auxiliary instruments. Taylor has stated that the album would not be what it was without Madeira's musicianship and creative input, and he's certainly right on that account. There's a little bit of rock thrown in on "Built Her a Cloud," the only track to feature an electric guitar prominently, a slight jazz feel to "Angels Must Smile Like That," and a Dixieland outro reminiscent of Taylor's video game side project Neverhood Songs at the end of "Pie Hole." But the majority of these songs are straight-up country music. This may not please fans of DA's rockier material, but it should appeal to admirers of the Lost Dogs, as well as fans of old-school country artists like Hank Williams and Willie Nelson.
The Spirit of Avocado Faultline is classic Terry Taylor: funny, heartbreaking and convicting, all at the same time. If Silent Planet Records plays their cards right, then it will gain Taylor some new fans while still delighting longtime listeners.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Bandoppler 2000Reviewed by Chris EsteyIt still amazes me when I run into Christian alternative music fans unaware of Terry Taylor. Terry was the leader of original CCM band Daniel Amos, which in its earliest days started off Beatlesque pop, then played sometimes sardonic apocalyptic C&W in the 70s (their most mainstream-accepted period), and then transformed into a seminal, inarguably high quality alternative rock band from around…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Terry WandtkeThe liner notes accompanying Terry Taylor's new album Avocado Faultline are extensive and to be honest, I'm thrilled about that simple fact. Of course, I buy CD's for the music they contain but as a book lover at heart, I feel a bit cheated when they are only accompanied by a one page insert with scant information and no artwork. For me, the liner notes are part of the entire experience a CD…Similar sounding releases
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