Line #101 Music/Alarma


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alarma.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Left and right, the killers, crazed in stereo / Their words are like bullets from the radio...]]
3
4	->''Alarma!\
5	Somebody's crying\
6	Alarma!\
7	Somebody's dying\
8	Alarma!\
9	Somebody's turning away...''
10	-->-- '''"¡Alarma!"'''
11
12	->''Had ''Alarma!'' been released in the general market, it would have slotted nicely alongside Music/{{XTC}} or Music/{{Devo}}, but Christian music buyers had no frame of reference for the music whatsoever, let alone the fact that [[NewSoundAlbum it was coming from a band]] who'd [[GenreShift previously given them songs]] with titles like "Posse in the Sky" and "Jesus is Jehovah to Me."''
13	-->--''' J. Edward Keyes, [[http://jedwardkeyes.tumblr.com/post/132149706815/daniel-amos-doppelganger-alarma-1983 An Athiest's Guide to Christian Music]].'''
14
15	''¡Alarma! (The Alarma Chronicles Volume I)'' is Music/DanielAmos's fourth studio album, and their second NewSoundAlbum: this time, signaling their transformation into a NewWaveMusic band.
16
17	On their previous album, ''Music/HorrendousDisc'', DA had abandoned CountryMusic for rock. Since then, PunkRock had irrevocably altered the mainstream musical landscape. Many Christians dismissed punk and its offshoots as "nihilistic" and worthless, but DA found themselves listening to a lot of Music/ElvisCostello and Music/TalkingHeads and hearing great potential in this new musical frontier. The band decided they wanted to record music in what was then the most cutting-edge and groundbreaking genre of rock music, and incorporate a Christian message into it. They knew what their next album had to be.
18
19	The album production was very PostPunk: a distinctly "thin" sound, with the treble emphasized and the bass turned way down. (Almost like a wailing alarm...) Oddly, DA kept several aspects of their prior styles--like their '70s pop melodies and falsetto vocal harmonies--and fused them with this new style. They also had strange little throwbacks like the country-ish "Props" and the SurfRock tribute "Endless Summer".
20
21	The lyrics were every bit as incendiary as the music. DA intended the album to be a wake-up call for American Christians, so most of the songs were razor-edged {{satire}} of their shortcomings: their hypocrisies, double-crossings, and lack of concern for the downtrodden. To further drive the point home, the liner notes featured [[http://www.danielamos.com/articles/alarmac1.html a story by frontman Terry Scott Taylor]], in which his AuthorAvatar dreams about visiting a decaying city that embodies a twisted parody of the church's flaws.
22
23	''¡Alarma!'' hit the shelves in 1981[[note]]mere weeks after the release of ''Horrendous Disc'', owing to that album's ludicrous three-year delay[[/note]]. For the old guard of the Daniel Amos fandom--who preferred DA's country albums and felt ''Horrendous Disc'' was a horrendous betrayal--this album was the final nail in the band's coffin. But DA pressed on and rebuilt their fan base from almost nothing. And for those new, very loyal fans, this album was the start of something amazing.
24
25	DA promised that ''¡Alarma!'' was just the first part in a four-album series. The second album in the series would come out in 1983: ''Music/{{Doppelganger}}''.
26
27	!!Personnel:
28
29	[[AC:Daniel Amos is:]]
30	* Terry Scott Taylor: rhythm guitars, lead vocals, backing vocals
31	* Jerry Chamberlain: lead guitars, backing vocals, percussion on "My Room"
32	* Marty Dieckmeyer: bass guitar, keyboards, lead vocals on "Props," percussion on "My Room"
33	* Ed [=McTaggart=]: drums, percussion, backing vocals
34
35	[[AC:Additional Musicians:]]
36	* Alex [=MacDougall=]: marimba on "¡Alarma!", congas on "My Room"
37	* Karen Benson: vocal on "Ghost of the Heart"
38
39	!!Tracklist:
40
41	[[AC:Side 1:]]
42	# Central Theme (3:18)
43	# ¡Alarma! (3:21)
44	# Big Time/Big Deal (3:04)
45	# Props (1:58)
46	# My Room (3:25)
47	# Faces to the Window (2:31)
48	# Cloak & Dagger (2:16)
49	# Colored By (2:58)
50
51	[[AC:Side 2:]]
52	# C & D Reprise (0:43)
53	# Through the Speakers (2:42)
54	# Hit Them (2:28)
55	# Baby Game (2:43)
56	# Shedding the Mortal Coil (1:20)
57	# Endless Summer (2:52)
58	# Walls of Doubt (3:57)
59	# Ghost of the Heart (2:36)
60
61	[[folder:Other versions]]
62	'''1991 CD reissue:''' has the original tracklisting, plus three bonus tracks:
63	[numlist:17]
64	# No Spaceship
65	# Out of Town
66	# My Room (Demo Version)
67	[/numlist]
68
69	'''2013 Deluxe 2-Disc Collector's Edition:''' has the original album on disc 1. Disc 2 contains:
70	# Little Things
71	# Off My Mind
72	# As Long as I Live
73	# No Spaceship
74	# Out of Town
75	# Only One
76	# Central Theme (Demo Version)
77	# My Room (Demo Version)
78	# Faces to the Window (Demo Version)
79	# Colored By (Demo Version)
80	# Through the Speakers (Demo Version)
81	# Hit Them (Demo Version)
82	# Endless Summer (Demo Version)
83	# Walls of Doubt (Demo Version)
84	# Props (Vocal Mix)
85	# Big Time/Big Deal (Alternate Mix)
86	# Shedding the Mortal Coil (Alternate Mix)
87	# Ghost of the Heart (Alternate Mix)
88	# ¡Alarma! (Instrumental)
89	# Colored By (Instrumental)
90	# ¡Alarma! Reading by Malcolm Wild
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	----
94	!! Provides examples of:
95
96	* AllJustADream: The liner notes story is presented as a vision akin to [[Literature/BookOfRevelation John's Revelation]].
97	-->Was it all a dream? It seems like it now. But then it also seems so real. More real than anything I've ever experienced when awake. But I was not awake. At least I don't think I was. I don't know--maybe I'm going crazy. But I must write it down before it all disappears, or I will go crazy.
98	* BitchInSheepsClothing: "Cloak & Dagger" is all about this sort of person.
99	-->There's UsefulNotes/ColdWar tactics hidden in a smiling face\
100	A pretty kind of poison that will leave no trace
101	* BystanderSyndrome: The narrator of "My Room" knows that the world outside is on a path to destruction, but the most he'll do to help is push pieces of paper under his door.
102	* CentralTheme: Ironically, the song "Central Theme" isn't quite about the central theme of the album. The song describes how Jesus is the axis around which the universe and all of history revolves. Whereas the album as a whole is about how American Christians have failed to make Jesus the central theme of their lives, because they don't live up to Jesus' teachings.
103	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Carried into BlackComedy. In the liner notes story, a churchgoer sees a starving child outside the church and goes to help them... by slipping the kid a piece of paper that says "I love you."
104	* ConceptAlbum: A satire of the shortcomings of American Christians--particularly hypocrisy and failure to help the needy--intended as a wake-up call for the listener.
105	* CorruptChurch: DA skewer anyone who uses the Gospel to line their own pockets, or who add man-made rules to Jesus' message.
106	** The final verse of "¡Alarma!":
107	--->A wise guy in the sky invites you to a guilty party\
108	Won't charge you at the door \
109	But sure knows how to get your money
110	** "Colored By":
111	--->When someone with charisma tells me "Don't wear shoes"\
112	I tell them "Go back, where did you get that?"
113	* CrisisOfFaith: "Walls of Doubt" reassures listeners that going through a crisis isn't the end of the world, and that God will be there to meet them on the other side.
114	-->It's alright\
115	You can let go now\
116	Love is the master's plow\
117	Crash down the walls of doubt
118	* {{Cyclops}}: In the liner notes story, a one-eyed giant threatens the narrator and the church he hides in.
119	* DontShootTheMessage: [[invoked]] In "Colored By", DA lament how easily preachers can scare people away from "the real thing" by tacking their own, unnecessary rules on the end. In "Through the Speakers", DA wonder how to get their message across in a song without turning listeners away.
120	* DroneOfDread: The song "¡Alarma!" opens with thirty seconds of buzzing synthesizers.
121	* ItsAllAboutMe: The narrator of "Faces to the Window" sees starving children while he's eating his breakfast. He complains that they're ruining his meal and even prays to God to relieve him of this terrible burden--and he does nothing to help the children.
122	* EyelessFace: The cover art is a photo of the band, with their eyes airbrushed out.
123	* FlatCharacter: As a satire of just how shallow many Americans' faith is, they're depicted as literal cardboard cutouts, both in the song "Props" and in the liner notes story.
124	* ForeignLanguageTitle: ''¡Alarma!''. They even included the punctuation so we'd know it's Spanish.
125	* FountainOfYouth: At one point in the liner notes story, a whole church congregation turns into crying babies before the narrator's eyes.
126	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
127	** The cyclops in the liner notes story takes on a greater significance in ''Music/VoxHumana''.
128	** "Shedding the Mortal Coil" is from the perspective of a dying man. [[spoiler:''Music/FearfulSymmetry'' reveals that the narrator of the entire ''Alarma Chronicles'' is a DeadManWriting.]]
129	* GlorySeeker: The narrator of "Big Time/Big Deal", who wants to preach the Gospel to the entire world, and hopes to become super-famous while doing it.
130	-->I want the big time, it's not for everyone\
131	I want the long line, to tell them what I've done
132	* HeadInTheSandManagement: In the liner notes story, Reverend James Cursory reassures his church congregation that everything is okay, there are no problems--and the rampaging giant outside is just their imaginations. All they need to do is sing and feel good, and their imaginary problems will go away! The giant levels the church while they're singing.
133	* {{Hypocrite}}: Hypocrisy is a recurring theme of the album. "Hit Them" deals with it most directly, describing how the Gospel message is only effective if the messenger also demonstrates God's love through their own actions.
134	-->Words have their place\
135	But live what you say\
136	God can have his way\
137	When you hit them with love
138	* IntangibleTimeTravel: Well, without the time travel. As the narrator wanders the city in his dream-vision, he's invisible, inaudible, and intangible to everyone in the city. However, he's still convinced that the cyclops could hurt him.
139	* LiteraryAllusionTitle: "Shedding the Mortal Coil", an idiom from ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''.
140	* LyricalDissonance: "Ghost of the Heart". Lyrically, it's a hopeful song about overcoming one's own vanity and hatred with God's help--and those verses are set to the creepiest music on the whole album.
141	* ManChild: "Baby Game", a satire of Christians who never bother to learn any theology and persist in believing exactly the same thing they did as children.
142	* MinisculeRocking: "C&D Reprise" is under a minute long, "Shedding the Mortal Coil" is just over a minute, and "Props" is just under two minutes.
143	* TheNewRockAndRoll:
144	** "Colored By" references the moral panic that got whipped up when it was believed that music with a strong beat was inherently dangerous.
145	--->Down in UsefulNotes/{{Africa}} they beat the drum\
146	They like the big beat\
147	White man through the P.A. says "Don't beat that drum"\
148	They tell him "Go back, where does it say that?"
149	** The album cover actually did inspire a minor fit in RealLife, since MoralGuardians thought the {{Eyeless Face}}s looked "Satanic".
150	* NoEnding: Right there in the chorus of "Endless Summer".
151	-->We were looking for an endless summer\
152	We're still looking for an endless summer\
153	It's no surprise we'll be looking endlessly
154	* NonIndicativeName: From the story in the liner notes:
155	-->I stood before the gates of this city where a sign announced the ironic name of the place: "Light of the World." It had to be some sort of bizarre joke, as the only light emanating from it was dim and pallid.
156	* NotSoDifferentRemark: In the story from the liner notes, an obscenely wealthy man--wearing furs and numerous gold rings--kicks a homeless beggar off his doorstep. The narrator is horrified by this, then finds an identical set of gold rings on his own fingers.
157	* OnlySaneMan: In the liner notes story, the narrator finds himself in a WorldGoneMad, and finds he's the only one to recognize how messed-up the place is. The narrator outright calls himself "the only sane mind in this mad world."
158	* PeacefulInDeath: The narrator in "Shedding the Mortal Coil", who considers his mortal existence "out of date" and "unnecessary".
159	* ProsceniumReveal: The short, odd "Props" ends with stagehands rolling up the sky and putting it away, then all the bystanders (revealed to be cardboard cutouts) fall over.
160	* ShoutOut: "Endless Summer"--the title is a [[Music/TheBeachBoys Beach Boys]] reference, and the lyrics mention [[Music/JanAndDean "Surf City", "Drag City", and "Dead Man's Curve"]].
161	* TheShutIn: "My Room" is a satire of Christians who only socialize with other Christians and avoid anyone outside the church. So the lyrics exaggerate it to the point that the narrator lives his entire life inside his room--except to gather in another room with other shut-ins.
162	-->There's many little rooms, with people like me\
163	We often get together, in a bigger room
164	* SongStyleShift: "Cloak & Dagger". The verses and chorus are zippy "spy music"; the extended outro slows down to half-time, with a languid guitar solo playing over it.
165	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Bassist Marty Dieckmeyer sings lead on "Props".
166	* TakenForGranite: The photo montage inside the album gatefold includes one of the band members transformed into a white statue.
167	* {{Title 1}}: The album was subtitled ''The Alarma Chronicles Volume 1'', because DA planned from the get-go for this to be a four-part series. Impressively, they stuck to the plan and actually completed ''The Alarma Chronicles'' by 1986.
168	* WorldGoneMad: In the liner notes story, the narrator dreams of an alternate world that's a twisted parody of the flaws of American Christians. The inhabitants see nothing strange when preachers mix patent nonsense into actual passages from the Bible, and they fully believe that positive feelings are the solution to all life's problems.

Context Music / Alarma