Statesville Record and Landmark from Statesville, North Carolina • 21

Statesville Record Landmark March 29 1975 imprimis A weekly review of top rated books and albums available in this area THE ALLELUIA AAIR By Malcolm Boyd Word Books $595 Released to coincide with the Easter season Malcolm prose poem Alleluia is really a sermon constructed in the time honored form of the parable Boyd an Episcopal minister and longtime contributor to con temporary religious thought and writing has presented his story in what amounts to a children book format with big print and lots of pictures and the appeal both visually and verbally is based on simplicity Attempting to humanize Christ and make the Christian message relevant to the sufferings of con temporary society Boyd has thousands of in chur ches all over the world suddenly free themselves from their crosses and hit the highways and byways of the earth in the guise of common man Meanwhile the empty crosses instead are filled with the victims of world the black the poor and the obviously oppressed Books Compiled by Weekly) ICTION Michener Seven Per Cent edited by Meyer Heller Ebony owles Tryon NONICTION Bermuda Ber litz with Valentine Newman Palace Rather and Gates and Bugliosi Things Bright and Beauti Herriot Albums (Compiled by Record World) Led Zeppe lin You Never Been Mel Olivia Newton John on the Bob Dylan Were Once Vices Are Now Doobie Brothers Minnie Riper ton Labelle Earth Robin Trower BY THE LANDMARK STA of course but also the rich with empty lives and the middle class man hounded by creditors The message is obvious: We crucify each other often without even realizing it Our sense of sin is not to be equated superficially with sexuality but more deeply with a lack of love In parable the people of the world come to realize and make amends for their sins and abounded as crucifixions became few and far ortunately parable does not end with this simple af firmation of faith and he continues to postulate a society in which belief is oppressed and persecuted by a tyrannical state Reaffirmation is required to set things right again and this reaf firmation takes the form of accept ing as did Christ the trans gressions of others Real Christian love then is revealed not only as forgiveness but as the willing and even joyful assumption of responsibility In many ways Alleluia is trite but it is the plight of simple truths to become trite through constant reiteration The admonition to thy has been repeated over and over for centuries but is still largely ignored In true Christian fashion Boyd manages to reveal faults and flaws without assigning blame or sing ling out sinners His book em braces humanity and is an ex cellent antidote to the self righteous preachments that some times mar the Easter season Simon DOG SOLDIER United Artists LA405 After a long absence Keef Hart band has returned to rock music this time reincarnated as the group Dog Soldier The name is derived from the Cheyenne warrior society and the music is oriented towards the sounds created by the Plains Indians While Dog Soldier is comprised of five Englishmen they prove fairly competent at recreating a uniquely American sound Opening with To Dog Soldier sets down a driving beat with special emphasis on drumming The group deviates from the opening theme however on the second cut While is an ex cellent tune with intricate melancholy keyboard work by Mel Simpson it sets a disturbing pattern for the entire album Dog Soldier is a finely honed group that exhibits masterly con trol over each song The group also is well balanced with each song The group also is well balanced with each member contributing both as musicians and composers to the album Although each song proves the group to be composed of exem plary musicians the album as a whole lacks a sense of direction Each song stands out but does nothing to contribute to the album as a whole Only Miller opening and closing tunes placed on the record like bookends give a semblance of unity final number Like repeats the driving drum beat of his opening tune but breaks into the com idea of an Indian rain dance complete with a cloud burst Dog Soldier is a talented group and their first album is an in teresting indication of better things to come What the group lacks is a leader to point them in a direction YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND OUR REVIVAL SERVICES South View Baptist Church Wallace Springs Road Statesville Mi 1' HJs JIIIH BUD LYLES HEAR SINGING EVANGELIST BUD LYLES SUNDAY Thru RIDAY March 30 April 14 7:30 Nightly Nursery Provided Evening with John Den John Denver Like A Linda SPECIAL MUSIC EACH SERVICE AG Price Pastor Tel 872 9554 MALCOLM BOYD LY BY NIGHT Rush Mercury SRM 1 1023 By is a strangely schizophrenic album almost evenly divided between second rate acoustic music and the dated concept of the power trio format me alone and let me rock and sings bassist Geddy Lee on I If only he and the rest of the band would rock and roll their work would be a lot better Unfortunately their heavy metal material tends toward highly pretentious compositions with epic overtones Being basically an informal medium where improvisation is important rock is ill suited to this kind of pos turing which comes off as heavy handed rather than heavy Especially horrendous is Tor and the Snow in which the snuffling hog sounds made by Alex Lif guitar are so grotes quely ugly that they seem to be a takeoff on that kind of music On the whole guitar work is more than competent and drummer Neil Peart also does well for himself but voice a blatant copy of the uncontrolled hysteria of Robert Plant is un pleasant in the extreme also a put on as revealed when Lee drops the act to sing revealing a thoroughly mediocre normal singing voice I can only hope that By will do exactly that Pam Simon 0 9 ENCE 11 Ga Galvanized Chain Link Minimum at this low price 1 79 Per Lineal oot I INSTALLED! Includes Top Rail Line Posts ittings and Ties Terminals Gates and Corner Posts are extra Call or Estimate At No Obligation ENCEMASTERS INC Tel 872 0662 Ronstadt '1.