Larry Norman - In Another Land

I'm kind of surprised I didn't write about In Another Land earlier. I suspect this may be longer than it needs to be (likely a lot longer), sorry in advance but you should stick around anyway - it may be worth it. In terms of watershed albums this is right near the top of the most influential albums I have ever heard. The album was released in 1976 and a number of the older kids knew about him, but I was pretty clueless about Christian music. I was at a youth conference in '77 or '78 (things get fuzzy ) and the cool kids (who were likely four or five years older) were talking about an upcoming concert he was going to have in Vancouver, likely the Queen Elizabeth theatre but honestly the details are sketchy. The fact I remember anything at all is kind of amazing. 

It was the youth group dances in the late '70s and early '80s where I first got a taste of his music. The big dance songs were "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music" and "The Rock That Doesn't Roll" the latter was off In Another Land. His earlier albums were hard to find. I didn't know it at the time as I had no idea what out of print meant, but his early albums were out of print, so me looking through the "N" section in the record store never did yield any results.

However In Another Land was in print and you could get it at the Christian Bookstore, and I developed a wonderful relationship with the lady who ran the little shop where I grew up. She'd often bring things in for me, and the little section was pretty well stocked considering what a small market it was for the stuff she sold. 

When I finally had my copy I was over the moon. I had a couple of other "Christian" records that were given to me, but this would be one of the first I bought for myself. Larry seemed like a guy who always had something to say, and he'd say it. The packaging for the album was a kid's dream. It was full of credits, essays, reviews, interviews and all manner of self indulgent navel gazing. Reading through the stuff now it's kind of self aggrandizing and a little embarrassing. Larry was an artist and while his forays into the mainstream on major labels, Capital, MGM, Verve never seemed to catch on - he did manage to carve out a niche for himself. The quotes he included on the album insert seemed cool at the time, "Larry Norman is probably the most important songwriter since Paul Simon" - Billboard Magazine, or my favourite "The top solo artist in his field." - courtesy of Time Magazine. As a kid this just seemed to validate that Christians were cool too. Heck, given everything he'd done up to this point he was practically an elder statesman and he was still only in is mid twenties.

So here was this grizzled veteran who had started his own record label Solid Rock Records, and started putting out albums. In Another Land was recorded in 1975 and released in 1976. It was the third in his trilogy following Only Visiting this Planet and So Long Ago the Garden.

Since this is going to be a long and overly wordy entry I may as well go all in. It's time for another blow by blow entry into the blogosphere, or as I like to think of it, me just wasting my own time for an audience of one.

Here we go:

"The Rock That Doesn't Roll"

This is really where my love for Larry Norman's music really began. Lyrically this isn't heady stuff, just a song about Jesus being the rock and he doesn't roll. How many times have you heard the phrase "Wowie zowie" in a song? Not many. I often wondered if it was this turn of phrase that garnered the comparison to Paul Simon. This song served as my introduction to Jon Linn's guitar playing. I have no idea where Larry found this guy, but his fingerprints are all over this album. There's a reason he's billed as the magnificent Jon Linn.

"I Love You"

Stylistically this was almost country. Larry delivered the vocals with a subtle hillbilly lilt, singing "yer" love song. The harmony vocals provided by Randy Stonehill were a wonderful counterpoint to Larry's lead vocal. The guitar solo by Jon Linn, which was short and sweet, was so good. This was never my favourite song, but that solo saved it for me. This was written in 1973, and it would be the first of several songs that weren't written in 1976. I remember thinking it was kind of weird to see how many old songs were on the album.

"U.F.O."

This is the song where Larry mused, "and if there's life on other planets / then I'm sure that he must know. and He's been there once already / and has died to save their souls" which to me made perfect sense. If God was God and the universe is infinite there's nothing to say we're God's only creations and with this simple phrase Larry brought everything under one umbrella. Musically this was Larry playing his nylon stringed guitar using his rather unique picking pattern. It isn't the only song in his repertoire - it was just the first I was exposed to. The droning feedback that comes in as the song closes is to me really effective. Heck even the goofy slowed down tape that cross fades into the next song works. Like "I Love You" this was written in '73.

 "I've Searched All Around"

The staccato rhythm guitar is so cool on this one. Lyrically this contains the great line, "I've opened the mouth of love and found a wisdom tooth."  I've always liked this song.

"Righteous Rocker #3"

At the time I had no idea Larry was revisiting songs from other albums in his trilogy. This was almost an a cappella version of the song that appeared on Only Visiting This Planet and here it serves to bookend the original by using it as a precursor to "Deja Vu" where he re-positions some of his earlier work.

"Deja Vu"

The song is broken into two segments: "If God is My Father" and "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" the first was new, and the latter an older song. While it may have been an older song it was new to me. I didn't know at the time that much of the vitriol had been stripped out of the lyrics. This was likely deliberate, either to satisfy the conceit that represented the concept element to the album. Regardless it was a wonderfully written piece. The first side being labelled, "In the World" with the songs loosely written from the perspective of searching - I could be reaching here as I try to shoehorn the songs into some sort of narrative structure.

"I Am a Servant"

Closing out the first side "I Am a Servant" was as close to a hymn as Larry got. While this was never my favourite on the album there was something about the song that felt raw and honest. Unlike the "look at me Jesus" stuff modern performance oriented praise music has morphed into, this song was a humble prayer set to music. We are unworthy of the blessings bestowed but humbly seek guidance and direction on how to best serve.

Let's take a short intermission while I turn the record over.

"But not of the World" is the back side of the platter. For whatever reason this side always felt like a collection of interludes with a couple of songs thrown in the mix. Of course the reality is that isn't the case at all. I think a lot of this had to do with trying to get through the opening track "The Sun Began to Rain" which was a jaunty ragtime number that featured Dudley Moore on piano. Let's start there shall we?

"The Sun Began to Rain"

Christians seem to love it when famous non Christians are found on religious stuff. While Dudley Moore was still a couple of years out from appearing in 10 and Arthur he was still pretty well known as both a comedian and as a musician. This song for whatever reason has always irritated me. Not just a little ... a lot. I get that it's lyrically clever and I always thought the last line, "... and let the Son begin to reign" was cool, the song though was just so out of place. Thankfully it's just a little over a minute long so it was often over before I could get up and move the needle.

"Shot Down"

Another one of Larry's woe is me I'm being repressed songs (okay okay I don't know of any others). When I hear this song I often imagine the scene in The Holy Grail with him digging in the dirt with Michael Palin and Terry Jones. "Help! Help! I'm Being Repressed!" I do love this song though, as it always felt like a musical companion to "The Rock That Doesn't Roll" and Jon Linn's short solo is perfect. The only real complaint is the song is too short.

"Six Sixty Six"

This is an amazing song. Lyrically this was so good, and the accompanying guitar work was in the same vein as what he'd done on "U.F.O." and as I'd learn was a bit of a go to for him. I've always loved the opening verse:

In the midst of the war he offered us peace / he came like a lover from out of the east / with the face of a lover and the heart of a beast / his intentions were six sixty six

This is probably one of the most poignant songs on the album. The one thing that always baffled me was who played the banjo? The credits seemed so meticulous that it seemed to me a glaring omission. I'd get my answer decades later on the CD when it was revealed to be none other than John Michael Talbot who played the intermittent banjo.

"Diamonds"

Another very short song. Pretty and all but this little one verse song never felt finished and was more of a segue into the next song.

"One Way"

A slow song in the same vein as "I Am a Servant" that seems to be a little musical pat on the back to encourage Christians to stay the course. At the time I didn't know this syrupy Larry Norman was quite different than the piss and vinegar Larry found on the two earlier albums in the trilogy. Of course thematically this fitted with the smiling Larry on the cover.

"Song For a Small Circle of Friends"

If push was to come to shove and I was asked to name my favourite song on the album this would be it. When I was a kid it was "The Rock That Doesn't Roll" but as time went on I grew into "Song For a Small Circle of Friends" and the message here is not lost on me. Lead by example. However, it's the opening line speaks to me still.

Well my life is filled with songs / but I just could not get along without my friends

Musically this is a completely fleshed out idea, and it stands out because the songs on the second side seemed to be so short and incomplete. The ideas worked together and propelled the album along, but they just felt like musical sketches. This is in many ways the centre of the entire album and speaks to the hope of a better life and the reassurance that He loves you. I always found this song to be like a quiet witness. Just watch me, you'll see ... this is what I believe. Of course I'm likely just imprinting what I want to hear on this, but that's how it felt ... and how it feels. Jon Linn seals this one for me.

"Hymn to the Last Generation"

Closing out the album and clocking in at just under two minutes this always sounded so good cranked really loud. It was short, but it was so effective and the last ringing piano notes were pounded out like a deliberate counterpoint to the lone note that ended "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles as Larry sang, "In another land". For such a short song it had a big impact. 

Then it was over, this strange album that had such an impact on me. It was a gateway that would lead down a rabbit hole. Over the years I'd pick up his Phydeaux re-issues of the first two albums in the trilogy and his later work, and then his website was selling CDs I'd end up with dozens of discs ... many just repackages or compilations. His heyday was actually relatively short, but his impact was lasting. 

It was interesting when nearly 25 years ago CCM Magazine published their list of the 100 Greatest Albums in Christian music. It would be Larry's 1972 album Only Visiting This Planet that would be ranked #2. Oddly it was beaten out by Amy Grant's Lead Me On from 1988. Regardless, I suspect most people got to Larry's earlier albums via In Another Land as his 1972 album (the original Verve release was I suspect already hard to find). In Another Land does make the list but it's #38 which actually belies the album's influence in my opinion. Still a list is just a list and has no more weight than any other made up ranking system other than this was in a magazine. In my my mind it's of no more importance than the silliness I'm writing that is nothing more than my opinion - unsubstantiated by any facts or citations. I'd roll out the "this is my truth" horseshit, but that's a cop out.

Regardless, here we are. In Another Land remains to me a pivotal album. The liner notes on the vinyl release were a wealth of information, and while I may not have agreed with everything Larry wrote I listened and took it in. He had an opinion and like it or not he tried to back it up.

In later years there would be a fair bit of controversy with respect to Larry and his music and ministry, with some calling out the hypocrisy of his do as I say not as I do lifestyle. All I know is what I have experienced in the grooves on his records, and if Larry was a broken vessel it didn't lessen the impact of his observations and message. My buddy Dave (miss that guy) who was on the road as a soundman in the mid '80s with Larry during a tour of the western provinces had nothing but positive things to say about his time with the band.

Bonus Drivel:  Stop me if you've heard this one ...

I've lost almost all of the banophernalia.com reviews I'd done over the years but the UK Larry Norman site asked many years ago if they could use them. I'd forgotten what I'd written about In Another Land so I figured I'd see if I could find it - which I did and man I didn't have a lot to say. Weird to think this is from 25 years ago ...

This was the first Larry Norman album I ever bought. I wore out two vinyl versions and cassette copy of this album. The album is 25 years old now and I can't believe that it's been that long (I was still in high school when I got my first copy - I'm not that old).

The CD version has a bunch of bonus tracks that are okay, but they're nothing to write home about. What really holds up are the other tracks. I still love listening to this album - with the exception of the Dudley Moore song "The Sun Began To Rain" (I wish I knew why this song irritates me so much).

When asked how people should listen to this album Larry replied, "With the volume up loud and their parents safely in the other room." "Six Sixty Six" is one of those songs that gives me chills, and "Hymn To The Last Generation" really does sound better turned up loud. Although I'm the parent, and I have to wait until my kids are in the other room.

The reissue is well packaged, but a lot of the great notes and interviews from (one of) my vinyl version are missing, and I guess to those of you who don't know any better, don't know what your missing.

Reviewed November 8, 2000