Description
Horrendous Disc is the third studio album by the American rock band Daniel Amos, released on Solid Rock Records in April 1981, though actually recorded in 1978. (It was the band’s sole release on Larry Norman‘s Solid Rock Records.) All songs written by Terry Taylor except the title track co-written with Jerry Chamberlain and Mark Cook, “Man In The Moon” written by Chamberlain, and “Never Leave You” written by Cook.
Daniel Amos had almost completely abandoned the country sound of their first record by late 1977 and early 1978, when this album was recorded at what was then known as Maranatha! Studios located in Santa Ana, California (to be renamed Whitefield Studios the following year). The project was quickly finished by the summer of 1978 with most of the songs co-produced by Mike Stone (who was the first employee of Record Plant LA and as well the nephew of Chris Stone, co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios) and the band, with Stone engineering assisted by Thom Roy and Wally Grant. Mixed by Stone, Ken Suesov, Mark Heard, and the band at Wilder Brothers Studios in Century City and Maranatha! Studios in Santa Ana, California.
While Daniel Amos was recording Horrendous Disc for Maranatha! Records, Chuck Fromm set it up for band to take the album to another label. Maranatha! was going through a time of adjustment as they were getting more into the praise music and childrens records. Daniel Amos left on good terms and with Maranatha!’s blessing. The band had already recorded everything on Horrendous Disc. The only thing left to do was mix it and do the artwork. After the band had finished all the work in the studio, they started meeting with all the different labels that showed interest. Although initially interested in a deal offered by Warner Brothers/Curb, Daniel Amos decided not to take the contract (“a good contract, but not the kind of thing we wanted.”), and in December 1978 the band signed to Street Level Productions. So it was decided that Larry Norman would put the album out on Solid Rock Records.
For reasons that remain unclear, the finished album was shelved by Solid Rock Records for nearly three years. In August 1978, CCM Magazine‘s publisher John Styll (who actually had listened to the album in it’s entirety the previous month, while visiting the band in studio) received a photograph along with an announcement of the upcoming release of the Horrendous Disc album, pending negotiations, information he passed on to the readers of the magazine. In April 1979 Daniel Amos finally began mixing their third album at Wilder Bros, and in August the band settled on a final track order for Horrendous Disc with test pressings of the LP being made by Word Records (the distributor of Solid Rock Records’ efforts) the following month. Solid Rock Records run an advertisement for Horrendous Disc in both the November and the December 1979 issues of CCM Magazine (“The Horrendous Disc. Get it before it gets YOU! From Daniel Amos on Solid Rock Records and Tapes.“), and in January 1980, various tracks from the long delayed album appeared on the radio show Rock & Religion (a.k.a. Rock Scope, a syndicated radio program based in Sacramento, California). In July, Word Records released a 10-inch Horrendous Disc promo EP to radio stations, pressed on blue and white swirled vinyl.
Finally, in April 1981, Horrendous Disc saw its long overdue release, just weeks before Alarma! hit record stores, the band’s follow-up on NewPax Records. Upon its release, Horrendous Disc became one of the top 15 selling contemporary Christian music albums of the year, and the track “I Love You #19” was as well listed as No. 19 on CCM Magazine‘s Top Airplay chart of 1981. (“I Love You #19” was first simply titled “I Love You” by songwriter Terry Taylor. The story behind the retitling has later been told by guitarist Jerry Chamberlain: “We gave ILY the #19 designation because Terry and I took a trip down to our local record shop and perused the yellow-paged directory of recorded music that used to perch atop the counters of major record stores in America. I remember counting the number of songs listed with the title, “I Love You”. There were 18 listed at that time…”)
After three years in limbo, the long-awaited Horrendous Disc was released to a hungry public, opening with the blistering riffs of «I Love You #19» – probably the hardest that Christian rock had rocked ever up to that point. This is reminiscent in many ways of the Beatles’ Abbey Road, especially «Sky King», «Never Leave You», and «Man in the Moon». Terry Taylor’s sardonic humor and wit come to the forefront on «(Nearsighted Girl With Approaching) Tidal Wave». There is a spooky concept-album-type finish with the title track – these are the same guys who did Alarma! and the “end times” saga at the end of Shotgun Angel. A great album all around. [Mark Allender, AMG]
It would be inaccurate to say that Daniel Amos is on the cutting edge of Contemporary Christian music. The group is far ahead, preparing the way for the knife. Horrendous Disc, finally seeing the light after nearly three years in a muddled captivity, may yet be ahead of it’s time. Alarma!, which would probably still be considered by Christians to be avant garde if released in 1984.
The near simultaneous release of these two albums provides a capsular history of the evolving Daniel Amos. Horrendous Disc is stylistically and vocally akin to Shotgun Angel (D.A.’s second album) and indebted to the Beatles’ Abbey Road in some respects, while Alarma! is a full blown realization of 80’s rock, drawing heavily on the new wave movement. Song length is also indicative of the group’s development: H.D. has nine (or 10, depending on the version hits the streets), longer songs while Alarma! has 13, shorter numbers.
Horrendous Disc falls into the category of, if you’ll excuse the term, mainstream Christian rock. Better played and more obtuse than most to be sure, it’s lyrics still, in the mainstream tradition, address God and man in praise and exhortation. Most Christians will understand the direction and intent of this record, with the possible exception of the title track.
«I believe in you», for example, fits perfectly into what Christian radio programmers consider to be appropriate and playable. «Horrendous Disc», on the other hand, is a bizarre, multi-faceted fantasy about the judgement day replaying of a person’s sordid deeds as recorded on a “horrendous” (by virtue of it’s content) disc. It won’t get much airplay, knowing the strictures of religious radio, but it is one of the LP’s most interesting pieces.
Alarma! marches in where most Christian music fears to tread. Terry Taylor has written the most poignant lyrics of his career; perhaps the most scathing ever put out by a Christian label. (“Sugar cane in cellophane” this is not.) While the lyrics are often obscured by the music, a reading of the printed lyric sheet will reveal strong commentaries on much of 20th century Christianity, including music («Alarma!»), TV preachers («Big Time/Big Deal»), isolationism («My Room»), world hunger («Faces To The Window»), judgementalism («Colored By») and the Church («Baby Game»).
The music on Alarma! is frenetic, raw, new wave. And Terry Taylor sings it that way too. Unlike H.D., Alarma! has undergone no “sweetening” (adding of strings and horns) or sanitizing in mixdown. No two songs sound the same.
Both of these albums bring the crucial difference between contemporary Christian music and other forms of gospel into sharp focus. This is thought-provoking literary stuff, not “pie in the sky” or “bless me” music. It may be a bitter pill for some to swallow, but you know what can happen if you don’t take your medicine…
Best cuts on Horrendous Disc: «On The Line», «I Believe In You», «I Love You», «Hound Of Heaven». Alarma!: «Ghost Of The Heart», «Alarma!», «Baby Game», «Walls Of Doubt». [John W. Styll, CCM, April 1981]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/horrendous-disc-deluxe-edition/1424005964)
LP tracklist (Original US Edition):
Side One
A1. “I Love You #19” – 3.33
A2. “Hound Of Heaven” – 4:06
A3. “(Near Sighted Girl With Approaching) Tidal Wave” – 3:05
A4. “Sky King (Out Across the Sky)” – 4:05
Side Two
B1. “On the Line” – 5:20
B2. “I Believe In You” – 3:45
B3. “Man in the Moon” – 4:00
B4. “Never Leave You” – 3:08
B5. “Horrendous Disc” – 5:20
Note: Simultaneously released on 8-track tape, cassette, and 12-inch vinyl LP by Solid Rock Records with the US vinyl edition housed in a gatefold jacket with lyrics printed on the inside. Released in Europe with a different tracklist featuring 8 songs only (“Tidal Wave” and “Man in the Moon” from the US edition were replaced with a new track entitled “After All These Years”). The central part of the image (the band members) featured inside the gatefold jacket of the the US edition was used as the jacket backside of the European edition. Re-issued on CD by Solid Rock Records in 2000. Available at Bandcamp: https://terryscotttaylor.bandcamp.com/album/horrendous-disc-hd-deluxe-disc-1
Rock & Religion Radio Show #96, 1/20/1980, released on a 12-inch vinyl LP by Sangre Productions, features several interview segments with the band (conducted by Mary Neely), along with various songs from Horrendous Disc. Part One. Tracklist: Intro – I Love You #19 / Interview / I Believe In You / Interview / Hound Of Heaven / Interview / (Near Sighted Girl With Approaching) Tidal Wave / Interview / On The Line / Closing. (Show #95, included on the same LP, features Matthew Ward.) (For transcript, visit: http://www.danielamos.com/articles/rrhd1.html) Available at Bandcamp:
https://terryscotttaylor.bandcamp.com/album/rock-religion-radio-show-96-horrendous-disc
In July 1980 Word Records’ radio promo man “dangerous Dan” Hickling released a 10-inch Horrendous Disc EP to radio stations, pressed on blue and white swirled vinyl. Side One (33 1/3 RPM) features “I Believe In You,” “Hound of Heaven” and “Horrendous Disc.” Side Two (78 RPM) has the flying saucer sounds, and “On The Line”.
Horrendous Disc (Super Deluxe Edition), Kickstarter-funded and released on CD and vinyl in 2018: * Vinyl Edition Box Set – The 12-inch Horrendous Disc 2LP in gatefold cover, featuring 21 tracks (remastered album on colorful red and green vinyl, with an extra vinyl of bonus tracks entitled Other Marvelous Mysteries), Ten Biggies From Beyond in single sleeve (the 10 Biggies demo tracks on vinyl), The 2018 Swirly EP on 10-inch blue swirl vinyl promo 4-track EP (a near replica of the original 1980 blue and white ep with different tracks), a 7-inch Picture Disc Single (2 songs) – all in a 12×12 box. * CD Edition Box Set – 2CD Horrendous Disc & Other Marvelous Mysteries in gatefold cover (27 tracks), single CD in sleeve – Ten Biggies From Beyond & Other Star Trax From Planet X (19 tracks), single CD in sleeve – Wondrous Cosmic Flashes (22 tracks), single CD in sleeve – Daniel Amos Live in ’79 (16 tracks), all in a 6×6 box. * Print – The Horrendous Book (photos and stories from the Making of Horrendous Disc).
Gatefold Cover Artwork
Gatefold Cover, Inside
The January 1980 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on Daniel Amos.
A full-page advertisement for the Daniel Amos’ album Horrendous Disc was featured in the April 1981 issue of CCM Magazine.
The Horrendous Book – Photos and stories from Daniel Amos and the making of Horrendous Disc. This 2018 full-color and 52 pages book, put together as a companion to the Horrendous Disc Deluxe releases, includes never-before-published photos from DA’s “missing years” (1978-1981) – on tour, in the studio, photo sessions for the album and promo shots, etc. As well featuring the inside scoop on the making of the album including details of early concepts for the album itself, the artwork, songs that never made it to the project and more, as well as new interviews with band members, Randy Stonehill and others that were connected to the story. Note: This is not the same as the booklet that comes with the CD box set. Very little material is repeated.
Rock & Religion Radio Special, 1980: Daniel Amos
Daniel Amos’ principal songwriter Terry Scott Taylor and his son Andrew talk about DA’s 3rd album, the controversial Horrendous Disc. 2020
A promo ad for the artists signed to Larry Norman’s indie label Solid Rock Records was featured in the February 1980 issue of CCM Magazine: “Not your typical Baptist men’s choir, that’s for sure. They’re renegades, they’re innovators, they’re ahead of their time … these guys are the true artists of Solid Rock.” The following artists are pictured in the advertisement: 1) Ron Salsbury. 2) John Pantano. [ A duo known as Pantano-Salsbury. ] 3) Larry Norman. 4) Mark Heard. 5) Tom Howard. 6) Randy Stonehill. 7) Mark Cook. 8) Ed McTaggart. 9) Jerry Chamberlain. 10) Terry Taylor. 11) Marty Dieckmeyer. 12) Alex MacDougall. [ 7-12 collectively known as Daniel Amos. ]
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