Flap Your Wings [Import]

The Choir | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 2001)
• Original Release Date: November 1, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Resolve Records
• ASIN: B00005YTET
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,232 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

True Tunes

The Choir was dead-on, reminding us why they are such a big deal.

Product Description

"If you can make a record, you ought to—why not?"

That’s the response of Steve Hindalong, lyricist/percussionist for The Choir, when asked about the release of Flap Your Wings, the band’s first studio album in four years. "Ultimately," says Hindalong, "if you get to keep making records, you win. You’re fortunate. At this point in our career, with all of us well beyond the age of optimum marketability, we’re astounded that we get to keep making music and that people want to hear it. Whether it’s a million or a thousand. That’s a lot of people that you receive feedback from and get to establish a rapport with."

To understand the band’s motivation for recording Flap Your Wings, one needs to look back to a reunion concert The Choir performed at a festival sponsored by KLYT in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the summer of 1999. Hindalong has a similar response to a query about what coaxed the seminal modern rock band out of its three-year long, self-imposed retirement.

"Somebody asked us to play a concert, and we asked, ‘How much?’ And then we said ‘Yes,’ the drummer explains, a sly smile crossing his face. Guitarist/vocalist Derri Daugherty, Steve’s friend of over 20 years (and creative partner for 17) offers a bit more elaboration on the subject. "There’s always been a tremendous amount of good will toward The Choir—nobody’s ever said ‘please stay retired!’ That was definitely one motivation for doing the reunion show. We had been away from the band long enough that the business stress didn’t bog us down." Perhaps saxophonist "Buckeye" Dan Michaels nails it best: "We had all grown so much as individuals since we last performed as a band. Maybe we found that we still have something to say. Maybe we still want to connect — with our audience and with each other. Maybe we simply wanted to rock. I'm sure it's more than that, but either way I think we're pretty excited to get back to doing what we love in The Choir with the friends that we love so much."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very moving and lyrically profound..., February 10, 2002

By 

H. Yu "smashnthrash" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flap Your Wings (Audio CD)

Where do I begin with a band like The Choir? The Choir (along with other Christian alternative bands like the 77s and Daniel Amos) have been around for the past twenty years or so and have put nine studio albums including "Flap Your Wings", one compilation, and two live albums. Unlike other CCM artists, The Choir have always explored what it means to be a believer even in the midst of doubt, suffering, pain, and sin. Then again, this is not without exploring themes of faith, hope, love, grace, and salvation among other things.

Which brings us to "Flap Your Wings". Lyrically, the album is not much different from all their other albums. Musically, however, the band are more mellow and introspective than they've ever been. The production is excellent in that the music comes across as being subtle, moody, and atmospheric. In other words, you get the feeling of being in a peaceful environment, yet you give your attention to what the singer has to say. For example, the title track suggests of focusing on heaven while "Mercy Lives Here" states that mercy is "at home with the saints and sinners". And "Beautiful Scandalous Night" states the importance of Christ's sacrifice on the night he was forsaken and betrayed.

Of the ten tracks on "Flap Your Wings", none are more moving than "Hey Gene" and "A Moment In Time". "Hey Gene" is a tribute to Gene Eugene (of Adam Again and Lost Dogs) who died in 2000. And "A Moment In Time" is a very moving love song.

If you're a longtime fan of The Choir, this is an album that you should definitely pick up. As a fan, I'm certainly glad that they have been nominated for a Grammy. I sure hope they win, for they certainly deserve it!

5.0 out of 5 stars The Choir at its best, December 17, 2002

By 

Robert Wormley (lakebay, wa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flap Your Wings (Audio CD)

Its been 10 years since my Choir C.D.'s were stolen. The last album I had was Circle Slide, so I expected Flap your Wings to be the same type of melodic, introspective alternative Christian music that I remembered.

I was astonished to hear the maturity that the Choir underwent in those 10 years. Some of the songs like, Sunny, Cherry Bomb and I don't mean any Harm, sound like the old Choir, chords fully explored with a slight grunge flavor. What I wasn't prepared for were some of the other songs that blend alternative sounds with introspective, worshipful lyrics.

Beautiful Scandalous Night, Mercy Lives Here and Flowing over Me are best described as Alternative Worship. In particular Beautiful Scandalous Night is one of the best worship songs I have ever heard, played and sung. My High School and Junior High students in my youth group love it. Flowing over Me is another worship song that is easily playabe in a worship band.

Alternative Christian music is usually not translatable to worship in a Church. It is a tremendous achievement for the Choir to be able to produce soungs this deep on a album that also deployes one of the best alternative sounds around.

After hearing this album, I decided to buy the other albums that the Choir has produced in the last 10 years. I found that Steve and Deri, after moving to Tennessee, greatly expanded their talents into other areas. Their work on several worship albums, like At the Foot of the Cross, clearly has matured and deepened their ability to bring the listened to a reflective state of worship through their music. I highly recommend this album as one of the best Christian CD's I have heard in the last 15 years.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The "comeback" album, July 6, 2005

By 

Greg Brady "columbusboy" (Capital City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Flap Your Wings (Audio CD)

It had been 4 years out of the limelight when the Choir regrouped for this effort in 2000. So how did the time apart affect the music? Well, it seems to have diverted some of their melancholy to sunnier outlooks. Much of this is more optimistic lyrically from Hindalong's take on fatherhood in "Cherry Bomb", a fond reminisce about dead musician friend Gene Eugene ("Hey Gene"), and a look back at the first blush of love ("A Moment in Time"). Probably the only darker tunes here are "Shiny Floor" and, ironically, "Sunny".

HIGHLIGHTS:
Far and away the best track here is the poppy tribute to dead musician and frequent collaborator Gene Andrusco (AKA "Gene Eugene"). They simultaneously envy him and mourn him. ("Hey Gene, we remember you/Yeah, we laugh when we think of Eugene/ Hey Gene, we remember you/Yeah, we cry when we think of you Gene/Hey Gene, we remember you/We love you anyway...") They slide in a snarky aside to Eugene, who specialized in feedback drenched alt rock with band Adam Again, in the end, playing on "traditional" images of Heaven. ("I suppose you're playin' a harp now..."). "Shiny Floor" is Hindalong subtly decrying the superficial Christianity that tries not to acknowledge that believers still suffer...the "fluffy, happy God" many seem to serve ("Yes, I'll try to be agile/Like a lynx on the hunt/'Cause I don't want to knock any candles over/Or spill any punch/On your shiny floor..") It dissolves in a wash of white noise. "Cherry Bomb" is Hindalong's tribute to his 12 year old Emily ("Cherry bomb, cherry bomb/with a face just like a cherub/She's a bomb, yeah, she makes her presence known..she's as sweet as anything I know") It's Emily's trumpet heard playing "Alouette" at the coda. "Beautiful Scandalous Night" is a marvelous look at what Christ did on the cross for us. ("At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree/On that beautiful scandalous night you and me/Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white/On that beautiful scandalous night") It does a good job summing up how cruel barbarism turned to something wonderful for all of humanity in the end.

LOWS:
"Mercy Lives Here" has a nice melody but ultimately it's just not particularly memorable. "Flowing Over Me" also tends to drift by without making much of an impression.

BOTTOM LINE:
This can't stand alongside their BEST work, but it's still better than 95% of what comes out of "CCM" circles. Even in its scant 40 minutes, there's at least 1 tune that will be part of the Choir's best works. Choir fans will have to have it, but if you're new to the band, try WIDE EYED WONDER, CHASE THE KANGAROO or DIAMONDS AND RAIN first.

3 1/2 stars