Trendsetters: Alternative

Description

Trendsetters: Alternative is a multi-artist pop/rock compilation released on KMG Records in 2000. Alternative was one of four KMG samplers in the Trend Setters Series. The others were entitled Rock, Metal, and Hip-Hop, respectively.

The new sampler from KMG Records, Trendsetters: Alternative, reminds me very much of Brainstorm Records’ Rock sampler back in the early 1990s -­ and for good reason. It’s got many of the same artists as that sampler, doing in fact many of the same songs! The new Trendsetters series is a companion piece of sorts to the double-disc reissues that the label has been putting out for the last couple of years. The Alternative disc, for example, includes such pioneers as Terry Scott Taylor (and three other incantations of him), Adam Again, Lost Dogs, LSU, and Mad At the World.

The song selection is pretty good, for the most part-­props to KMG for including three songs from the hard-to-find Miracle Faith Telethon Terry Taylor album – ­but some song selections are puzzling. Why use LSU’s pop-punk cheese-fest «She’s On Fire» rather than one of the songs that actually helped shape the Christian alternative scene, such as «Bye Bye Colour» or «This Is the Healing»? Why aren’t bands like Jacob’s Trouble, Poor Old Lu or Mortal represented?

Still, if you’re looking to get into early Christian alternative music, this Trendsetters disc is certainly a fine place to start, especially since many of the albums represented here are long out-of-print and hard to find. [Michial Farmer, The Phantom Tollbooth, 9/6/2000]

> Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/album/2LJt6jkpsV1BPORUzbiOKQ)

CD tracklist:

01. Dr. Edward Daniel Taylor – The Miracle Faith Prickly Heat Telethon Of Love (from The Miracle Faith Telethon of Love, 1990)
02. The Swirling Eddies – Hide The Beer, The Pastor’s Here (The Party Mix) (originally from Outdoor Elvis, 1989, “Party Version” featured on The Miracle Faith Telethon of Love, 1990)
03. Lost Dogs – Pray Where You Are (from Little Red Riding Hood, 1993)
04. Terry Scott Taylor – Song Of Innocence (from Knowledge & Innocence, 1986)
05. Mad At The World – Fearfully & Wonderfully Made (from Flowers in the Rain, 1988)
06. Adam Again – World Wide (from Dig, 1992)
07. Daniel Amos – Darn Floor, Big Bite (from Darn Floor, Big Bite, 1987)
08. Lifesavers – She’s On Fire (from A Kiss of Life, 1986)
09. Mad At The World – Easy Way Out (from Mad at the World, 1987)
10. Lost Dogs – Scenic Routes (from Scenic Routes, 1992)
11. Adam Again – River On Fire (from Dig, 1992)
12. Terry Scott Taylor – Light Princess (from Knowledge & Innocence, 1986)
13. Daniel Amos – If You Want To (from Kalhöun, 1991)
14. The Swirling Eddies – Pyro Sets A Wildfire (from Zoom Daddy, 1994)
15. Dr. Edward Daniel Taylor – Young Peoples Ethnic Ministry (from The Miracle Faith Telethon of Love, 1990)