Daniel Amos

Shotgun Angel

CCM Magazine June 1988
"The Best Contemporary Christian Albums of All Time"
(Selected by the CCM Magazine staff)
#19

"Hats off to the band!" hails Baker. Jonathan David Brown (now with Twila Paris!) produced this early Daniel Amos, uh, DA, uh Da project. "This album from DA’s Eagles period was an artist triumph," Rabey says. Somewhere between country and new wave, the guys came up with a winner in Angel. Pinzon elaborates, "Most bands lose fans during the transitional period; it is a tribute to DA’s talent that their transitional album is still their most popular." Side two’s musical vision of the end times is a seamless masterpiece. "Father’s Arms" and "Days and Nights" are standout cuts too.



Syndicate December 1990
4 points out of 5
CD Reissue
By Brian Q. Newcomb

It's way past time for all of DA's albums to hit the street on compact disc, and slowly but surely (actually, all of a sudden) that's happening. Shotgun Angel the band's second vinyl confession finds Terry Taylor, Ed McTaggart, Jerry. Chamberlain and Co. laying the groundwork for all that was to come. It's not quite a rock 'n' roll album, but it has Beatles and country rock influences, strong melodies, some very. promising writing and enough silly stuff to warrant both excitement and dread. Somebody please tell me why they recorded "Meal," and Taylor has written other beautiful songs, but "Father's Arms" is clearly a classic.
Of course the second side of the album takes a rather obnoxious pre-millennial dispensational look at the book of Revelation, something I learned in seminary is probably an inadequate approach. Since, I've become a pan-millennialist; the foundational tenets being that the future is in God's hands, Jesus is coming back, We know not the day or the hour and it'll all pan out in. the end. DA presents its own pop opera on the end times, and for the most part it'll be acceptable to all kinds of Christian perspectives. Certainly "Sail Me Away" and "Posse In the Sky" are fabulous songs with engaging imagery.
The tracks convert to digital very nicely, although my vinyl copy has sounded pretty bad for years. It's exciting to have this classic back in a format that will last until Jesus' return. - Brian Q. Newcomb



“Not until now have we seen an album that is as versatile, professional, or as serious musically as is Daniel Amos’ ‘Shotgun Angel’.”
CORNERSTONE newspaper

“’Shotgun Angel’ should inspire other musicians to break some of the molds they’ve cast themselves in.”
ACTS

“This record is a flat-out winner. Brilliant.”
CAMPUS LIFE

“’Shotgun Angel’ is truly an offering of excellence to the Lord.”
BUZZ magazine (Eng.)