Fans of Daniel Amos' early guitar rock may regard this new wave pop album as an artistic surrender to the electronic trends of the 1980s. But this album is in fact a good deal more creative and intelligent than most of the Euro-synth music that influenced it. The band (identified only as DA this time) does invoke the computerized stylings of Depeche Mode, Human League, and Alphaville, but echoes of Pink Floyd are equally audible. Terry Taylor's verse is at its most sublimely lyrical, describing familiar Christian theology with a fresh mysticism. In Taylor's hands, doctrine that in lesser hands would sound sterile is full of shadows, beauty, fear, and hope. DA has made an interesting choice: to use this trendy, much-debased synthetic pop genre as a context for its most poetic material. There is a sizable dose of Taylor's usual goofy humor and biting cleverness ("Sudden Heaven" is a manic electronic hoedown; "Instruction Through Film" mocks campy '50s educational films while taking shots at moral legalism), but there's also a good bit of serious literary allusion (the album title is a reference to William Blake's "Tyger! Tyger!," "Beautiful One" paraphrases Robert Frost, and much of Taylor's poetry evokes the spiritual awe of Gerard Manley Hopkins or T.S. Eliot). Unfortunately, the low-budget pop sound does sometimes slip into the tinny hokiness common to the lesser purveyors of '80s pop. But DA's high ambition never falters. ~ Darryl Cater, All Music Guide
Terry Scott Taylor (Synthesizer), Terry Scott Taylor (Harmonica), Terry Scott Taylor (Guitar (Electric)), Terry Scott Taylor (Vocals), Daniel Amos (DA) (Main Performer), Tim Chandler (Guitar), Tim Chandler (Bass (Electric)), Tim Chandler (Bass (Upright)), Tim Chandler (12-String Bass Guitar), Greg Flesch (Dulcimer), Greg Flesch (Synthesizer), Greg Flesch (Mandolin), Greg Flesch (Guitar (Electric)), Greg Flesch (Organ (Pump)), Greg Flesch (E-Bow), Ed McTaggart (Synthesizer), Ed McTaggart (Percussion), Ed McTaggart (Drums), Rob Watson (Keyboards), Rob Watson (Drums (Snare))
Fearful Symmetry is a lush, synthesizer driven pop album, lyrically wrapped in puzzles that the listener has to decipher. Nearly every song on Fearful Symmetry in some way deals with pain or darkness - from the William Blake-inspired "Sleep Silent Child", a song about death, to "Strong Points, Weak Points", a song about doubt. The album title comes from a line in The Tyger by Wm. Blake. The album ends on an upbeat note however, with the touching ballad, "Beautiful One".
Fearful Symmetry was the final chapter of a four part series of albums by DA entitled The ¡Alarma! Chronicles, which also included the albums ¡Alarma!, Doppelgänger, and Vox Humana. The band raised eyebrows on the tour that followed each release, by presenting a full multimedia event complete with video screens synchronized to the music, something that was unusual in the early 1980s for any band. This album, along with the other three albums from the Alarma! Chronicles, was re-released as part of the Alarma! Chronicles Book set in 2000. The Book Set included three CDs, over 200 pages of lyrics, photos, liner notes, essays, interviews and other information in a hardcover book.
As with Vox Humana, keyboardist Rob Watson was unavailable for the photo session for this album. Thus the album's group photo only shows four of the five band members.
