Description
Eye of the Storm is the sixth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Mark Heard, released on Home Sweet Home Records in 1983, distributed by Myrrh Records, a division of Word. The album was produced, recorded and mixed during July-September 1982 by Mark Heard at the Gold Mine in Los Angeles, California; with Heard playing most of the instruments himself. As well featuring guest musicians like Tom Howard and Phil Madeira on keyboards, Brandon Fields on saxophone, Al Perkins on pedal steel, and Harry Stinson on percussion. All songs written by Mark Heard.
According to the album’s liner notes Eye of the Storm is “a special, one-time release of acoustic guitar-oriented material. It is homemade. It was recorded on 24 track equipment one instrument at a time.” Stylistically, this acoustic-oriented release had more in common with Heard’s first two albums released in the ’70s than his previous ’80s efforts or the next ones. Standout tracks include “These Plastic Halos”, “In The Gaze Of The Spotlight’s Eye”, “He Will Listen to You”, and “The Pain That Plagues Creation”. The latter track actually entered the CCM chart in September 1983 and stayed on the chart for eight weeks.
Great stress is made on the sleeve of Eye of the Storm by Mark Heard that this is ‘a special one-time release of acoustic guitar-orientated material’ – in case anyone thought one of America’s most underrated rockers had permanently forsaken the amplifier. Once a creative sidekick of Larry Norman, Mark is a songwriter of melancholic sensitivity. This is only his fifth album in 15 years in Christian rock ministry and it is a little gem, offering laid back songs of biting imagery with a richly textured accompainment. [Buzz Magazine, November 1983]
The Storm’s Eye. In Victims of the Age, Mark Heard took a taxicab view of the world and its victims. Now, in Eye of the Storm (Myrrh), he shows us a sensitive picture of those who are bound to survive what ever this world throws at them; “Out in the eye of the storm/ The friends of God suffer no permanent harm.”
With moving lyrics and a predominantly acoustic sound (reminiscent of his first release, Appalachian Melody, and considerably more mellow than Stop the Dominoes or Victims), Mark chides us for trying to take our suffering and run away from God; “We hide our pain/ We try to laugh/ Fools to think our tears/ Would provoke holy wrath.” And he reminds us to keep looking up appreciatively; “The good we know must surely flow/ From the heart of a kind creator.” Mark is an honest and creative communicator. One of the few Christian musicians who really deserves the title “Recording Artist.” [Campus Life Magazine, 1983]
Ever since I got a copy of Mark Heard’s ‘Victims of the Age‘ I have been taking it to secular record stores to play for the people who stock the store’s record bins. I won’t be doing that with his new album, ‘Eye of the Storm’. That’s not to say the new album is bad. In fact, I think it’s very good. Parts of it are great. It’s just not as good as ‘Stop the Dominoes‘ or ‘Victims of the Age’.
‘Eye of the Storm’ sounds like a record Heard has intentionally aimed at a different audience than his two previous efforts, which are Christian rock ‘n’ roll classics. The new record is folk rock and sounds like a letter back to the Christians after Heard’s two rock ‘n’ roll blasts aimed at everybody.
(This makes me, once again, ask an old question: Why does my mind tell me soft music is “more Christian” and loud music is “more secular”?)
On ‘Dominoes’ and ‘Victims’, Heard used acoustic songs as occasional breaks in a stream of punchy, brittle rock. He would bounce the listener off the back-beat for several numbers and then slow the tempo, turn down the electric guitars and regroup. One critic called ‘Victims’ “Lindsey Buckingham with muscle,” and that’s the truth.
On ‘Eye of the Storm’ his sound returns to familiar territory: James Taylor-ish folk rock – but it’s not Heard’s answer to Bruce Springsteen’s stark ‘Nebraska’. Fine backup vocals and touches of synthesizer help fill out the album’s sound. The production is first-rate.
As for the tunes, the title track and a sarcastic, neo-Stonehill look at success entitled «Gimme Mine» are the album’s two up-tempo standouts. Among the slower tunes, the best are «In the Gaze of the Spotlight’s Eye» and «These Plastic Halos».
«Spotlight’s Eye» returns to territory mined on his rocker «One Night Stand». Heard looks at his ministry and, though tired, hears God calling him to play on. “I want to go home. I wish that this night would end. I’ve got to go on, shoot from the heart again.”
«Halos» notes that too often Christians hide their true feelings in an attempt to please God. This leads to a fine reverse image in the lyrics: “Fools to think our tears would provoke holy wrath,” he notes at one point in the song. Then later, the twist caused by this lack of honesty: “The tears of God fall on us.”
However, a few songs on the album are just not up to Heard’s recent standards. Something tells me he can write songs like «Castaway» and «Well Worn Pages» in his sleep.
‘Eye of the Storm’ will please many of Heard’s fans who questioned his move to rock ‘n’ roll. It is a fine album in its own right and shows Heard is a master of many different styles of modern music.
It will be interesting to see where Mark Heard will go from here. I vote for a mix of folk and rock, leaning toward rock. [Terry Mattingly, CCM, July 1983]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/gb/album/eye-of-the-storm/4261654)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Eye Of The Storm” – 3:00
A2. “The Pain That Plagues Creation” – 3:57
A3. “Castaway” – 3:16
A4. “Well-Worn Pages” – 2:44
A5. “He Will Listen To You” – 2:58
Side Two
B1. “In The Gaze Of The Spotlight’s Eye” – 3:59
B2. “Gimme Mine” – 3:33
B3. “These Plastic Halos” – 3:02
B4. “No One But You” – 2:27
B5. “Moonflower” – 2:24
Note: Simultaneously released on 8-track tape, cassette, and 12-inch vinyl LP by Home Sweet Home Records, with the vinyl edition featuring a folding insert with interview (Q&A) and essay. Later re-issued on CD by Home Sweet Home.
CREDITS. Produced and Arranged by Mark Heard. Recorded at the Gold Mine, Los Angeles, CA, July-September 1982. Engineered and Mixed by Mark Heard. Assistant Engineer: Janet Heard. Mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc, assisted by Wally Grant. All songs written by Mark Heard. Cover design by Mark Heard and Tim Alderson. Photographs by Mark and Janet Heard. Art Director by Tim Alderson. Handlettering by Sally Jo Withrow. Thanks to Tom & Dori, Jerry, Mike and Bob and Phil Madeira for assistance, Chris, Shanon, Daryl and Dawn, Bill and Jonathan’s Telephone Repair Service,Gary, and Jim Tyler. Love to the Circle of Cynics, Pat and Pam Terry and the Strat Brothers, the Perefits, my friends at L’Abri and in Zurich and Stockholm, and my folks. “This album is a special, one-time release of acoustic guitar-oriented material. It is homemade. It was recorded on 24 track equipment one instrument at a time.”
Musicians: Mark Heard (Linn Drums, Bass, Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitars, Lead and Slide Guitars, Accordion, Mandolin, Harmonica, Xylophone, Percussion, Voicehorns, Voicestrings). Guest Players: Tom Howard (Emulator, Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer – tracks: A2,A3,A4,B1,B3,B4), Phil Madeira (Synthesizer, Fender Rhodes on track A2 and B1, Eruma), Al Perkins (Pedal Steel), Brandon Fields (Saxophone), Harry Stinson (Tambourine, Shaker, Toothbrush, Bowling Pins). Background Vocals by Mark Heard (A4,A5,B2,B5); Mark Heard and Dave de Coup Crank (A1,A2,A3,B1).
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