Created By: Jonathan
Dysart (DJJD)
Original Creation Year:
2005
Year of Re-master:
2010
Song Listing
Side A
Side B
Side C
Side D
Origin of the Album
Basically,
this concept album was inspired wanting to break away from work in the dead of
winter and just be myself – take a vacation physically, mentality, and
spiritually.
I
just reached my personal landmark of ten CD volumes, nine of them spanned over
a year of time. I did not know if I should make some more or not. I
did not have any ideas offhand at that time. That all changed when I had
to go to a client site near Naperville, IL. It was suppose to be six
weeks straight, including weekends.
One night in the hotel suite, I was bored watching television. I was a
bit tired at that time, so I decided to turn on the hotel menu system, which
contained play list of songs. This is now commonplace in digital Cable
and Satellite, having a rock channel, a pop channel, a country music
channel. I turned off the lights and turned the music channel on, and
just dazing out of the hotel window, anxious to get a vacation or get away from
this predicament. I wasn't angry. I just wanted a nice and
peaceful vacation.
All of the sudden, I heard one song that I hadn't heard from a long
time: “Thunder Island” by Jay
Ferguson. The song was talking about being out in an island and
enjoying the summer. I had that song implanted in my head.
Sometime when the six weeks were finished and finally settled back in at home
and at the home office, I started preparing my next project for this album, and
that song popped up. Hey, why don’t I make an album with the basic theme
of vacation?
I downloaded “Thunder Island” first, but was stuck on moving forward. To
get my creative juices flowing, I then decided to look at DJJD
Volume 1 and try to make it parallel that to this album. DJJD
Volume 1 contained mainly soft rock songs, with a dose of pop and
disco. I can do that with this album. I've already done
country, hard rock, alternative rock, and pop, why don’t I make another soft
rock album. Instead of it being emotionally explosive, as was the theme
of DJJD Volume 1 with the cloudburst album cover, why don’t I
make an emotionally calmer album, all themed around going on vacation?
I started looked through the artists from DJJD Volume 1 for
some ideas. Two artists came to mind: Eric Carmen, Gilbert O' Sullivan,
and 10cc. It was the
song “Sunrise” by Eric Carmen (on the same album as “All by Myself”). The
introduction of the song faded in, similar like the rising of the sun – thus
“Sunrise”. It’s the positive version of All by Myself. And
then I found “I’m Mandy Fly Me” by 10cc, which had a fantasy feel to it but a
positive one (not in the case with I'm Not in Love.
I couldn't find any Gilbert O’ Sullivan until I remastered the album,
due to availability. However, those three songs, including “Thunder
Island” became the foundation of the album.
Concept and Theme of the Album
I
found some contemporary soft rock songs as well as some alternative rock
songs. I have the album start out with a good start “Brighter than
Sunshine” by Aqualung, as usual in my template. Then I had a couple
alternative songs continue the angst I was going through, similar in nature
with DJJD Volume 9. However, I add a dream of hope of
“getting out” with the song “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane. Then the
dream comes to fruition with “Sunrise”. The second quarter of the album
then continues the vacation, whether physically or mentally with the sense of
redemption, with “Thunder Island” until it hits with knowing that vacation in
ending – “Time Has Come Today” by The Chamber Brothers. When remastering
the album, I decided to remove Adia by Sarah
McLachlan, because it did not fit with the overall theme. I was too
depressing. Adding “Get Down” by Gilbert O’ Sullivan and “Seasons in the
Sun” by Terry Jacks gave it a boost. The first half also repeats the use
of the sun, whether shining or not, and daytime.
Most of the second half of the album does not fit with a explicit theme, but
the themes of many of those songs have similar them.
It isn't until it gets to the last quarter of the album, where (in my
opinion) is the best ending string of song of an album that I ever did.
It’s so emotionally powerful. The ending sounds better when it is
nighttime, in my opinion, compared to the other three quarters of the album is
mainly about the daytime and the summer sun. It would not be until DJJD
Volume 16 - the instrumental album – which I competed with that
quality of an ending.
Concept and the Album Cover
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