Vox Humana is a 1984 album by rock band Daniel Amos, released on Refuge Records.
Vox Humana was a much brighter album than its predecessor, Doppelgänger, and included catchy, synthesizer-driven pop songs with lyrics about technology's role in American culture. "Travelog" was a song about a television-obsessed man "basking in the blue light".
Danish author Søren Kierkegaard, Polish poet Czesław Miłosz, and Britons Malcolm Muggeridge and William Blake are all quoted in the liner notes of the album. DA also included a beautiful tribute to Blake with the ballad, "William Blake."
"Dance Stop", a song condemning nuclear arms escalation, asked listeners to dance to the song and stop suddenly when the word "stop" is sung. Due to the fast, upbeat punk rock style of the song, it is nearly impossible to follow the song's musical directions. The song went on to become a popular concert favorite for DA fans in later years, with audience members doing their best to follow the rules.
Vox Humana was the third of a four part series of albums by DA entitled The ¡Alarma! Chronicles, which also included the albums ¡Alarma!, Doppelgänger, and Fearful Symmetry. The band raised eyebrows on the tour that followed each release, by presenting a full miltimedia 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 3 CDs, over 200 pages of lyrics, photos, liner notes, essays, interviews and other information in a hardcover book.
Although when the album was recorded, D.A. only had four members, guitarist Greg Flesch joined in time for the 1984 Vox Humana Tour. Though keyboardist Rob Watson was part of the band when the album was made, he was unavailable for the photo session due to being on tour with Petra. Leo Sorentino, road manager for The Choir, appeared on the album cover in Watson's place (despite not particularly resembling him).
Track listing
Side one
- "Travelog" (Taylor)
- "(It's The Eighties, So Where's Our) Rocket Packs" (Taylor)
- "Home Permanent" (Taylor)
- "It's Sick" (Taylor)
- "William Blake" (Words and Music by Taylor, Arrangement by Taylor/Chandler)
- "Dance Stop" (Words and Music by Taylor, Arrangement by Taylor/Chandler)
Side two
- "Live And Let Live" (Taylor)
- "When Worlds Collide" (Taylor)
- "As The World Turns" (Taylor)
- "She's All Heart" (Taylor)
- "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (Taylor)
- "Sanctuary" (Taylor)
Personnel
Production notes
- Engineered by Doug Doyle.
- Second Engineer: Rob Watson with thanks to Bruce Swift.
- Arrangements: T.T. and the DA Boys.
- Recorded and Mixed at 3-D studios, Costa Mesa, California.
- Mastered at Motown, LA by John Matouchek.
- Art Direction, Layout and Graphics by Ed McTaggart.
- Album Art Concept: Terry Taylor.
- Photographics and Photography: Linda (Photo) Dillion Baley and Ken Baley.
- "Foot" art by Phil Yea.
- Special Hair Effects by Cathy Kern.
- "Boot" shadow by Gary DeLacy
