Created By: Jonathan Dysart (DJJD)
Original Creation Year: 2009
Year of Re-master: 2010
Song Listing
Side A
Side B
Side C
Side D
Origin of the Album
I took a major break from making
anymore albums since my last album DJJD
Volume 30. I did not know if I would
make another album at that time, because of just losing steam or the
momentum. That winter of early 2009, I
had the conviction to make another one.
But to do so I would break one of my personal rules for these: create an album from music tracks that I
already owned. The message, or goal, of
mine was more important than my personal creative rule.
The only songs that I extracted
from the Amazon and YouTube websites were the following: “Pressure” by Billy Joel, “Land of Confusion”
by Genesis, “Amazing Grace” by Judy Collins, “The Man Comes Around” by Johnny
Cash, “What Shall We Do Now? (Empty Spaces)” by Pink Floyd [remastered album],
and “Show Me the Way” by Styx [remastered album]. All of the other songs came from my personal
CD albums. “Pressure” and “Land of
Confusion” were the first songs that I started.
From there, this album was created fairly quickly with not a lot of
revisions.
Note that this was also the first
album that I created without the use of the iTunes software. I had completely moved all of my albums and
songs from iTunes to Windows Media for more flexibility and transport.
Concept and Theme of the Album
I nickname this album - the "GRACE" album.
The inspiration of this album came from a dark time in my life around that
period. Working was getting more
difficult than ever, my health was deteriorating, many of my friends were
leaving, and the political and cultural climate of the United States was
definitely breaking down. I could not
see anything optimistic ahead – no “light at the end of the tunnel”.
I
was listening to my album DJJD Volume 27
and was recalling John Lennon’s first solo album after the Beatles breakup: “John
Lennon / Plastic Ono Band”. The album was
nicknamed the “Primal Scream” album, which was inspired by John and Yoko’s
undertaking of primal therapy with the guidance of Arthur Janov in London. With the experience he received from the
therapy, John was able to channel his emotions into an album of self-revelatory
material. It was John Lennon’s most
personal album for his solo career.
Why
can I not make my own “therapy” album, where I can get both of my frustrations
out as well as getting inspiration at the same time? I did that to a certain extent with DJJD Volume 27 and DJJD Volume 29. I also wanted to make a secular Christian
album at the same time in a way, interplaying most of those Christian rock
songs that I like but were done by secular artists – or those artists who
record music under a secular music industry.
Now I had the opportunity to do so.
The
first half of the album would show my personal pain, both inwardly (loneliness,
loss, stress, etc.) and outwardly (culture, politics, current events,
etc.). The second half of the album
would be mostly inspirational and Christian music, given me the hope to get
through the personal pain. To do that, I
would have to use a lot of music that I already owned, which I have mentioned above.
Concept and the Album Cover
Searching for the album cover was
quite simple. I wanted to find a picture
that represented GOD’s grace, but a picture that is not so direct in its
message (which I prefer artistically anyway).
Finding the picture was fast. It
was one of the first pictures that I found, when I Googled the word
“Grace”. The only adjustment I did on
the picture was adding the album title.
When I was remastering this album,
the same picture existed on the internet.
So, I downloaded the same picture and added a different album title of a
different font. To create the back-album
cover, I wanted to find a picture that represented Jesus through the Simon
& Garfunkel song “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. I found a great picture of that depiction,
downloaded it, and applied the song listings as well as the album title.
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