Prints of Darkness | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Dead Artist Syndrome | ||||
Released | 1990 | |||
Recorded | 1990 | |||
Genre | Gothic rock, indie rock, darkwave | |||
Length | 37:49 | |||
Label | Originally released on Public Records and rereleased on Blonde Vinyl | |||
Producer | Brian Healy, Thom Roy | |||
Dead Artist Syndrome chronology | ||||
|
Prints of Darkness is the 1990 debut album by Dead Artist Syndrome. Originally released independently on Public Records and later by Blonde Vinyl Records, It was the first mainstream albums to introduce gothic rock to the Christian music industry Forever gaining the projects mastermind Brian Healy the title "The Father Of Christian Goth". CCM Magazine categorically stated " The best example of what Christian Alternative Music is".
Dead Artist Syndrome is a Christian gothic rock band formed in 1989 in Orange County, California. The group consists of singer-songwriter Brian Healy and a rotating cast of side men. Healy was dubbed the "father of Christian goth" by Rozz Williams, and is an ordained minister. The name of D.A.S. according to Healy is "Dead Artist Syndrome means greater in death than in life, be it James Dean, Van Gogh or Jesus Christ". His debut album Prints of Darkness was a notable, groundbreaking release. The band has been sporadically active due to health issues, releasing two albums in the 2000s, and another in 2015. In 2006, Dead Artist Syndrome was named "Outstanding Orange County Band" by the editors and readers of Rock City News, a Los Angeles local music paper. For several years Healy was privately in poor health his gallbladder exploded while recording vocals resulting in emergency surgery, and a neurological disorder his wife Marie Tullai Healy described as "a combination of Michael J. Fox and the late Foster Brooks everybody thought he was drunk, Brian was falling down he broke his arm, slurring his speech trying to complete his record, next thing we know he's in a wheelchair, finally in 2012 they discovered the cause and he had brain surgery and is 100% back to his old self and had no idea any of this was going on, inside his head everything was fine". Healy himself has said on his Facebook page 'He's back" and is actively recording, producing others and hosting Frontline Records Rewind Broadcast and podcast
Gothic rock is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted towards dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure.
The Christian music industry is a small part of the larger music industry, that focuses on traditional Gospel music, Southern gospel, contemporary Christian music, and alternative Christian music. It is sometimes called the gospel music industry, although this designation is not a limitation on the musical styles represented.
The album was recorded at Neverland Studios and Whitefield Studios. In 1990, Brian Healy independently released Prints of Darkness as a one-man band. The album is characterized by post-punk influenced guitars, dark synthesizers and Healy's deep, gothic baritone vocals. Musicians Gym Nicholson and Ojo Taylor of Christian alternative rock group Undercover, Mike Sauerbrey of Christian alternative rock band The Choir and Lifesavers Underground frontman and Blonde Vinyl Records president Mike Knott each made guest appearances. [1]
Post-punk is a broad type of rock music that emerged from the punk movement of the 1970s, in which artists departed from the simplicity and traditionalism of punk rock to adopt a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and diverse influences. Inspired by punk's energy and DIY ethic but determined to break from rock cliches, artists experimented with sources including electronic music and black styles like dub, funk, free jazz, and disco; novel recording and production techniques; and ideas from art and politics, including critical theory, modernist art, cinema and literature. Communities that produced independent record labels, visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines developed around these pioneering musical scenes, which coalesced in cities such as London, New York, Manchester, Melbourne, Sydney, and San Francisco.
A synthesizer or synthesiser is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals that may be converted to sound. Synthesizers may imitate traditional musical instruments such as piano, flute, vocals, or natural sounds such as ocean waves; or generate novel electronic timbres. They are often played with a musical keyboard, but they can be controlled via a variety of other devices, including music sequencers, instrument controllers, fingerboards, guitar synthesizers, wind controllers, and electronic drums. Synthesizers without built-in controllers are often called sound modules, and are controlled via USB, MIDI or CV/gate using a controller device, often a MIDI keyboard or other controller.
The Choir is an atmospheric Christian alternative rock band currently comprised of Derri Daugherty on guitar and vocals, Steve Hindalong on drums, and Dan Michaels on saxophone and lyricon. Long-time bassist Tim Chandler passed away in 2018, and guitarist Marc Byrd was the fifth member of the band between 2005 - 2014, although he is not officially inactive. As of 2018, the band has released 15 studio albums, three EPs, five live albums, one single-disc compilation, one retrospective box set, and is still active and touring.
At the time the album was released, most Christian music enthusiasts who weren't familiar with gothic music didn't know how to classify Prints of Darkness. It was most often compared to one of the best known gothic rock groups, The Sisters of Mercy. The album displayed satirical lyrics, a theme Healy would later become known for. Both Dead Artist Syndrome and its gothic rock style achieved more notice after Blonde Vinyl Records reissued Prints of Darkness in late 1991. The album begins with the song "Christmas", which is not a Christmas carol, but a rather sarcastic rock song that was said be a denouncement of the secularization and commercialization of what has become known as the "winter holiday season". "Amy" is a haunting, romantic ballad, while "Red" is a gloomy piece about a man who is mourning the loss of his wife, who may have either cheated on him, divorced him or died. The lyrics are said to symbolically to describe the apostasy of many churches, and relate to the Bible's description of the Church as the "Bride of Christ". The album ends with "Reach" which is a synthesizer-driven worship song. [1]
The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company WEA. Currently, the band are a touring outfit only.
The album was re-issued in 2003 as a 13th Anniversary Edition with three bonus songs ("Surrender", "Rich Girl" and "Christmas [live with 77's]" on the label BCM Music. "Rich Girl" was originally recorded for Prints of Darkness, but left off because it was thought to be too sarcastic at the time.
Barnstorm is the debut studio solo album by the American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh, following his departure from the James Gang. The album was released in October 1972 on the labels ABC and Dunhill. The core band on this album – Walsh, bassist Kenny Passarelli and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Joe Vitale – was also named Barnstorm. It was the first album to be recorded at Caribou Ranch in Colorado.
A Christmas Album is the seventh album and first Christmas album by Christian music singer Amy Grant. The album was recorded in nine studios in mid-1983 and was released later that same year.
Ten Years of Harmony is an official double album compilation album released by the Beach Boys in 1981, and spanning their entire Brother Records-era up to that point (1970–80), including some unreleased or rare material. Although the song "Darlin'" was recorded in 1967 while at Capitol Records, the version on Ten Years of Harmony is a live version, recorded in 1973 for the album The Beach Boys in Concert.
Cheap Trick is the first studio album released in 1977 by the American rock band Cheap Trick. It was their debut album for Epic Records, produced by Jack Douglas. The album did not reach the Billboard 200 chart but did "bubble under" at number 207 for one week in April 1977.
Blondie is the eponymous debut studio album by American rock band Blondie, released in December 1976 by Private Stock Records.
Spoiled Girl is the 12th studio album by the American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released in 1985.
Michael Knott is an American singer-songwriter and frontman for various bands, many of them Christian. He has released some 35 albums, including solo albums and with bands such as LSU and Cush.
Whistle Rymes is the second solo album by John Entwistle, bassist for British rock band The Who.
Spy Glass Blue is an American post-punk/new wave/Britpop band formed by Allan Aguirre of Scaterd Few, is credited for legitimizing and authenticating the post-punk genre in Christian alternative music (ACM) much in the same way that Scaterd Few defined punk rock in Contemporary Christian music (CCM). In the words of the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, Spy Glass Blue is a "rare example of Christian goth music." As Allan's solo effort shows Allan's artier side where Scaterd Few showed his edgier side. Aguirre likens the band's presence to the restructuring of other Christian Alternative bands: Mortal to Fold Zandura or the Crucified to Stavesacre.
Blonde Vinyl was an independent record label founded in 1990 by Michael Knott. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music describes the label as "one of Christian music's first true indie labels."
Bara no Seidou (薔薇の聖堂) is the fourth and final album by the Japanese visual kei rock band Malice Mizer, released on August 23, 2000. The title roughly translates as "Church of Roses" or "Sanctuary of Roses". In February 2007, Bara no Seidou was re-released by German record label Trisol Music Group, packaged in both jewel case and limited slipcase versions, both including the Cardinal music video collection DVD.
The Works is the eleventh studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 27 February 1984 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and it is the band's first studio album to be released by Capitol Records in the United States. After the synth-heavy Hot Space (1982), the album saw the re-emergence of Brian May and Roger Taylor's rock sound, while still incorporating the early 80s retro futuristic electronic music and New York funk scenes. Recorded at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, California and Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany from August 1983 to January 1984, the album's title comes from a comment Taylor made as recording began – "Let's give them the works!" During the decade, after a negative reaction against and ban of the music video for "I Want to Break Free" in the United States, the band decided not to tour in North America and lost the top spot in U.S. sales, but sales around the world would be even better. The Works has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.
Deitiphobia is a Christian industrial, electro and techno band from the United States formed in 1990 consisting of the duo of Wally Shaw and Brent Stackhouse. Known originally as Donderfliegen, the band changed names to Deitiphobia in 1991 to better clarify the band's focus on Christianity. The band's name means "Fear of God".
Rainbow is a collaborative album between Japanese rock band Boris and guitarist Michio Kurihara. Wata contributed vocals to the title song, which has a music video made for it by Foodunited.
Secret Story is an album by Pat Metheny released in 1992. All of the music is composed by Metheny, and it is one of his most ambitious and successful studio ventures, integrating elements of jazz, rock, and world music. On the performing side, it includes collaborations with the Pinpeat Orchestra of the Royal ballet of Cambodia, the London Orchestra and its conductor Jeremy Lubbock, the Choir of the Cambodian Royal Palace, Toots Thielemans, and Lyle Mays.
Breakfast with Amy was an American Christian alternative rock band, formed in 1986 in La Habra, California at the La Habra Four-Square church. At that time, the band consisted of vocalist David Koval, bassist Jeff "Tennessee Beans" Beahn, guitarist Christopher Colbert, and drummer Paul Pellegrin. The pastor of the church was throwing a Saturday night concert. A band had backed out and he needed a replacement. David, Christopher, Paul and Jeff quickly formed "Friends of Amy" to perform.
Dad is the second studio album by the Christian alternative rock band Breakfast with Amy, released in 1991. Produced by the band at Casbah Studios in Fullerton, CA, Dad was the group's second studio album and first studio release with new label Blonde Vinyl Records. Breakfast with Amy's new home with Michael Knott's record company, which was at the time at the forefront of the Christian alternative rock scene in Southern California, allowed the band access to a much larger audience than before with Narrowpath Records. This album saw the band use more punk sounds than in their previous release, although some neo-psychedelic/funk influences are still present.
product # bvcd 3482 or Love Gift is the third and final studio album by the Christian alternative rock band Breakfast with Amy, released in 1992. Love Gift was the band's last release on Blonde Vinyl Records, and ended up being one of the last releases by any record label owned by Michael Knott. The album is considered a concept album with random audio inserts, short phone conversations, instrumental jams, and pre-song warm ups, as well as two self-described "dramas". Also included were two live songs from a previous tour. Musically, Love Gift continues with the punk/alternative rock sounds of their previous release Dad, and could be considered their most progressive album to date.
The Game is the eighth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released on 30 June 1980 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the US. The Game features a different sound from its predecessor, Jazz (1978). The Game was the first Queen album to use a synthesizer. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "Sail Away Sweet Sister", "Coming Soon" and "Save Me" were recorded from June to July 1979. The remaining songs were recorded between February and May 1980.