From: ecater36@ursa.calvin.edu (Evan Cater)
Subject: Re: Steve Taylor's "I Predict 1990" (was Re: Dancing with commitment)
Organization: Calvin College
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 18:53:48 GMT

davisre@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Robert Davis) writes:

>In article <1993Jan21.184819.18890@cbnews.cb.att.com> ajw@cbnews.cb.att.com (andrew.j.whitman) writes:

>>So it's not all doom and gloom.  But I guess I'm curious as to whether
>>"I Predict 1990" is typical of Steve's work.  I'm intrigued enough
>>that I'm willing to check out the other albums.  But let's put it
>>this way:  if there were more guitars, I might be more intrigued.

>	Unfortunately, I don't think Steve Taylor ever hit his full
>potential.  His musical style was always in flux which shows an
>adventurous spirit, but also indicates he never really found his own
>voice.  Each of his albums seemed to look beyond the CCM community for
>inspiration, which is saying quite a bit given the time frame and his
>position in mainstream CCM -- it's one thing for Terry Taylor to be
>weird and provocative, but it's quite another for a guy whose every
>album was with either Sparrow or Myrrh.

I agree... ST as a solo artist always seemed confined by... almost a lack
of respect?... for music as an artistic medium w/o lyrics.  I once heard 
him quoted as saying "I love music, I love making music, but if I weren't
a musician I'd be finding a different way to say the same things." (This
is a horrendous mangling of the original quote... I don't even remember
where I heard it.)  It was like his lyrics (which are sometimes astound-
ingly good, esp. compared to other Myrrh artists) were always first and
the music was secondary.  He seemed to have *fun* doing the music, but 
it never had the thought, the commitment, or the integrity that his lyrics
had. (One exception IMO is "Since I Gave Up Hope," which is vastly 
enhanced by the fiddle.  It's whimsical, it's unusual and its exactly 
what the song needed.  Oh... the brass section in "I Blew Up the Clinic" is
great, too.)  I have nothing against synthesizers, some of my favorite music
uses them, but for some reason they just didn't sound genuine when Steve
used them.    

>	Is "I Predict 1990" his best solo work?  Probably.  It's the
>best overall (the other albums have even less guitar :-).  On each of
>his other albums I can think of songs that I enjoy tremendously (from
>I Want to be a Clone "I Want to be a Clone", from Meltdown "Colour
>Code," from On the Fritz: "This Disco" and "On the Fritz").  1990 had
>me intrigued at first with its cinematic and literate approach, and
>the most dramatic style change over his previous albums (trying to
>sound a little less like David Bowie, I think), but now I only go back
>to it to hear "Jim Morrison's Grave," "Svengali," and the chorus from
>"Jung and the Restless."
     I still love "Since I Gave Up Hope"... I like Andy's description: 
too clever not to like.  And too much fun.  But there's a difference
between the cleverness of _I Predict_ and the goofiness of some of 
his earlier stuff (remember "Lifeboat?").  I liked the goofiness, but
_1990_ is definately a matured, more developed album lyrically.

>	I was hoping Chagall Guevara would be a better vehicle for
>Taylor's lyrics, and while they haven't hit the peak I'm hoping for
>(yet), they do have a more sustained energy and musical texture than
>anything Taylor did alone.

    I agree... Even though harder rock is not as easily accesible for me,
I've grown to love _CG_.  Perhaps thanks to his co-writers, Dave Perkins
and Lynn Nichols and/or the freedom of the secular label, the music gets 
a lot more attention here.  It becomes harder to seperate the music from
the lyrics... one seems a natural outgrowth of the other.  That wasn't 
really the case with solo ST.


>Here's hopin'
>Rob
>-- 
>| Robert Davis                                    davis@sonata.cc.purdue.edu
>| "Look up, Hannah.  Look up."                            NeXT Mail accepted
>--
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