Shotgun Angel: 25th Anniversary [Super Audio CD - DSD, Deluxe Edition, Original recording reissued]

Daniel Amos (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Please Note: Requires SACD-compatible hardware
• Original Release Date: 1977
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Super Audio CD - DSD, Deluxe Edition, Original recording reissued
• Label: Millenium 8 Records
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• ASIN: B0001PICSG
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #687,464 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A sterling shining classic of Christian music, April 16, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: Shotgun Angel: 25th Anniversary (Audio CD)

I don't hand out 5 star ratings easily and this won't QUITE get one but for reasons mostly related to technical issues with this reissue rather than the content of the songs themselves. This is the 2nd album from the group which sprang from Costa Mesa, CA based Calvary Chapel and saw them expand their more or less Eagles sound with more rock influence (think Beatles a la ABBEY ROAD).

The album was remarkably cohesive with it flowing together track to track, in some cases quite literally. (The final acappella harmony of "Days and Nights" butts into the train whistle that launches oil fever fantasy "Black Gold Fever" and the railroad crossing warning sound at the end of that track segues into "Praise Song", not to mention the last 7 tracks which function as an extended suite on the theme of Earth's final days much like the 2nd side of the Beatles vaunted ABBEY ROAD release.

The group utilizes clever wordplay. They take the idea of God's Word [the Bible] as LITERAL food for the soul amid the chewing and lip smacking sound effects in "Meal" and imagining an assembly line for the administering of the number of the Beast in "He's Gonna Do a Number on You" ("NEXT!" [stamping sound fx] "NEXT!" [stamping sound fx]..etc etc). They also craft dazzlingly beautiful visual imagery (he tells a woman who's been taken away to Heaven in the Biblical 'rapture' "Guess it was your destiny/To go where you are free") and the "posse in the sky" (the Horsemen of Judgement day finding and jailing the Devil and his sympathizers).

It all falls apart on this disc though due to mastering problems. The seamlessly crafted blending of songs and themes that made this album so special in its inital incarnation on Maranatha! Records (CD08727) falls apart here on this M8 Records reissue because of mastering errors that cause extra pauses between tracks. Imagine if there was a 2 second lag on tracks on The Beatles SGT. PEPPER between the title track and "With a Little Help from My Friends" and you'll understand why this is so problematic.

BOTTOM LINE:
This is without question one of the finest Christian rock CDs EVER released. That's why it should be well done in the reissue. It might be worth getting this to tide you over but eventually you're going to want to shell out the extra $$ to get the Maranatha! version.

(-1 star because of the remastering goofs..)