Satellite Sky

Mark Heard

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fingerprint
• ASIN: B00000J6ZG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #243,660 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Band members:
Mark Heard- Electric Steel mandolin, Electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, hammond organ, accordian, harmonica
David Raven- Drums
Fergus Jamison Marsh- Electric Guitar
Michael Been- Bass
Buddy Miller- Electric Guitar
Jack Sherman- Electric Guitar
David Miner- Stand-up Bass
Jim Goodwin- Horns
David Baker- Percussion
Doug Berch- Hammered Dulcimer, Mountain Dulcimer

Product Description

Lyric-driven alternative rock.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musical excellence, August 6, 1999

By A Customer

After his untimely death (at the age of 40) in 1992, Heard was described by singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn as "my favorite songwriter." It's no wonder. I have been listening to Mark Heard's music since his 1979 APPALACHIAN MELODY, and will unshamedly say that he was the best of the singer-songwriters of his era. His music is eclectic, but always crisp and excellent. And his lyrics reveal a man of deep feeling, who felt the pain of a fallen world but still held to an abiding faith. Five stars is not enough.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never better, and never more missed, July 4, 2002

By	Mark J. Aronstein "mjaronstein" (Annandale, VA United States) - See all my reviews

...Any CD, LP or cassette from Mark Heard is worth hearing, but this one is just SO great... perhaps the penultimate in CCM. Mark always managed to write in a way that was immediately personal without being maudlin... relevant without being cliche'. The characters and passing thoughts on this release are so well-drawn and complex:

"She will speak the truth and she will ache and she will bleed/ for the idiots who own the air the prophets have to breathe/ Love is so blind..."

"Well I looked at my own silhouette/ It looked back with a bad attitude"

"She is reading her own tattoos/ her diary is the evening news/ and she can't give a damn on cue/ on a freight train to nowhere"

"Skyscraper looks like an x-ray, streetlights look infrared/ bus-fume aphrodisiac slaps at the back of my head/ The night is in your turn-signal eyes, lipstick on your coffe cup/ Gimme a tip for the waitress, the natives are restless, we gotta get out of this dump/ Lost on purpose, lost on purpose, we could try to figure it out, but we don't trust us..."

"Treasure of the broken land--parched earth give up your captive ones/ Waiting wind of Gabriel blow soon upon the hollow bones"

I could go on. I learned these lyrics long ago, but I'm still uncovering all that they mean, even after many listenings.

If screaming these songs at the top of my lungs is an act of worship, then count me among the faithful. This is one album I really NEVER do get tired of.

If you still have doubts, look at the list of artists Mark influenced and produced over the years: Bruce Cockburn, Pierce Pettis, Buddy and Julie Miller, Sam Phillips, Randy Stonehill, Phil Keaggy, The Choir, Ashley Cleveland, Tonio K., Victoria Williams, Vigilantes of Love, etc. etc. etc. The love was real.

So check out Mark Heard's music, especially this album, okay?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important music from the heart so thoughtful and clever!, October 9, 2002

By	Philip D. Parshall (Maple Valley, WA United States) - See all my reviews

... This album (his last) is so profound and deep I have listened to my copy at least two dozen times and still find new meanings to what Mark was saying. Each song speaks to me on some level. His tears and questions are similar to my own and he relates them using unusually clever imagery, both musically and lyrically. His poetry is deep in meaning and his cries and frustrations are so vulnerably shared that they are felt like a nerve ending.Most artists don't stick their neck out artistically/or personally, thus we often can't relate with them. Mark was different. We feel like we are being invited into his deepest thoughts. This is rare in art. "Satellite Sky" works on all levels-It's cutting edge music and profound poetry!!