Exquisite alt-country from Christian music's mad genius.
Written: Aug 07 '01
Product Rating:
Pros: Outstanding songs written by Terry Taylor; top quality performances by the Dogs.
Cons: Feels like less of a group effort than prior Dogs CDs. A few weak tracks.
The Bottom Line: Masterful songs by Taylor, especially the slow ones, performed flawlessly by the Dogs. If you don't like country/folk, check out a recent Daniel Amos CD instead.
toby_baldwin's Full Review: Gift Horse by Lost Dogs
Too edgy for Christian radio, and too Christian for the mainstream--many of my favorite artists (the 77s/Mike Roe, The Call, Sam Phillips, T-Bone Burnett, Tonio K) reside in or have spent time in that limbo. Terry Taylor has been there for years. He was the main creative mind behind Daniel Amos, which enjoyed success as a Christian country band in the late 1970s. Shortly after that, the band ditched the cowboy hats and moral majority-style lyrics and delved into alternative strangeness. They never looked back. Taylor led the band through many incarnations (Daniel Amos, DA, Da, the Swirling Eddies), but the common theme was musical exploration and highly intelligent, humorous lyrics that reflect a faith not afraid to be cuttingly sarcastic or to ask the tough questions. You can guess how much of a market there has been for that...a small but loyal following.
The Lost Dogs are comprised of Taylor and contemporaries from fringe Christian music (some of whom object to being labeled as such): Mike Roe, guitar and vocal virtuoso and 77s frontman; Derri Daugherty, singer, guitarist and songwriter for the Choir; Gene Eugene, singer, songwriter, and all-around musician and sought-after producer in alt Christian music (he died last year); and several supporting musicians along the way.
Most of their albums have been kind of like Traveling Wilburys affairs - they would come together for a weekend, do a few of each other's songs and some traditional ones - and the results have been incredible (particularly 1993's "Little Red Riding Hood"), with much more of a folk and country tinge than the individuals' regular bands or solo efforts. This time is no exception in terms of style, but this one is different in that all the songs are written by Terry Taylor, who has been known to put out three albums in the same year under the different names by which his bands are known, and still yield a lyrical and musical quality unparalleled in Christian music.
Let me take you one by one through the tracks on this one.
1. "Ghost Train to Nowhere" - haunting, atmospheric, gloomy but soothing alt-rock ballad about souls "ever circling back on a one-way track". Features the vocal talents of all the Dogs.
2. "Free Drinks and a Dream" - more country/folk this time, about a man who loses everything in Vegas. Medium tempo. Like Track 1, the lyrics aren't cheerful, but the song comes off as soothing.
3. "If You Loved Here You'd Be Home By Now" - a silly, up-tempo country shuffle about a man whose wife has left him who puts a billboard atop his house featuring the words from the song title. The weakest spot on the album.
4. "Diamonds to Coal" - a kind of Wilburyesque rock song about losing everything for the sake of finding it. Good fun; not as good as the gloomier numbers, but enjoyable.
5. "Blessing in Disguise" - a real high point. Acoustic ballad with a country feel. Sung by Roe (first verse), Taylor (2nd verse), Daugherty (bridge), and Eugene (final verse). Hearing the late great Gene's voice on the final verse is rather moving to me, and I'm sure to others who loved his work. This song talks about trusting God that even when things don't make sense, it will all turn out good in the end.
6. "You are Loved and Forgiven" - solid rock song. Self-explanatory.
7. "Rebecca Go Home" - twangy ballad with haunting story of a man giving his wife permission to die. Lovely.
8. "Honeysuckle Breeze" - goosebump-inducing, pretty love song. Like many of Taylor's songs, the words can hold up as written poetry. Reminiscent of Song of Solomon. Listen by candlelight!
9. "Ditto" - medium-tempo country anthem seems kind of jarring (musically) after the prior song, but the lyrics feature the classic Taylor wit. A clever reflection on opposites attracting.
10. "Wall of Heaven" - another one with heartbreaking lyrics set to soul-healing music. Great acoustic guitar work, probably by Roe, and incredible vocals by him as well. Tells of a drunkard haunted by his wife's ghost who tells him she's searched the wall of Heaven, but his name's not written there.
11. "Farther Along" - the ending hymn. The Dogs usually end with a traditional (as in public domain) gospel number. This one leans more toward country than folk, as does the album in general. The words fit the theme of the album quite well: life is hard and we don't always understand, but "we'll understand it all by and by."
My brother gave me this CD at Christmas in 1999, and we played it over and over the week that followed. It's one of those that my entire family with our divergent musical tastes could all enjoy. If I have one primary complaint, it is that although I love this CD for when I'm down or upset, it is then that the up-tempo numbers are particularly grating. I almost wish the CD had been placed into two sets.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.