Day 436 - iDEoLA- Is It Any Wonder?

436. iDEoLA- Is It Any Wonder?
from the Album Tribal Opera
(What? Records/A&M, 1987)

"On Mark Heard's Stop the Dominoes! the poet lamented …

I'm too sacred for the sinners
And the saints wish I would leave

But this was not supposed to be the case for Heard working under the pseudonym iDEoLA on the newly created What? Records in 1987. This was to be a label dedicated to allow Christian artists the free expression to write and perform what they wanted and would include a strong relationship with mainstream counterpart A&M to market, distribute and promote the releases to the mainstream radio and record market. Label mates Tonio K. and Dave Perkins were perfect fits for this type of fledgling project. But unfortunately for all involved (including the consumer) the dreams never truly materialized.

But what we are left with, though, is one the best singular recordings in CCM. This is one of the few releases in this countdown by an artist with only one release. Of course with iDEoLA that isn’t quite accurate as the mastermind and singular performer is the late Mark Heard.

Musically this was quite a departure for Heard as his previous releases were acoustic or electric driven folk, rock and blues. But like Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwod Mac), to whom Heard is often compared, he felt free as an artist to expand his musical horizons while remaining true to his core, which is songwriting. There will be many who will disagree, but I am firmly convinced that Mark Heard was the very best songwriter in Christian Music and rivaled the very best in all of music including Bruce Cockburn, Peter Gabriel and Bob Dylan.

Musically this is electric and eclectic. Both world music and rock and roll. Samples, steel drum sounds, electronic bass and both acoustic and electric guitars. The comparisons to the aforementioned Lindsey Buckingham and Peter Gabriel are fair and complimentary. But hidden within the punctuated production and world rhythms are some of Heard’s finest lyrics and melodies.
…
The first, and I believe, only pop radio single follows with Is It Any Wonder. … It made sense to make this tune the first single as it is clearly the most accessible and pop driven tune. It was almost like the first time I heard Springsteen’s, Dancing in the Dark. It was a folk/Americana rocker placed on top of a straight dance beat. But somehow it worked. But unlike Springsteen, Heard actually had something worth saying.

I had a dream, it was a mystery
i dreamed of science and of history
i dreamed that since we stood up out of the dust
we formed our words on lips of beauty and trust

i should’ve known better than that
i should’ve known better than that
everything looks different in the morning

is it any wonder
is it any wonder
is it any wonder we dare to live in our dreams
…
It should be noted here just how stellar the production of this project. It was easily one of the finest produced albums for its time and still sounds sonically strong. Despite the electronic and manufactured feel of the project musically, it lyrically carries the stamp of the raw emotion connected to the struggles of the human condition. In fact, it is these raw and very personal lyrics couched within a very artificial setting that makes them so impacting and worthy of our attention. (Source: CCM's Greatest Albums)

Here is original studio released music video for the song: