Devils, Angels & Saints (©1992 Eden)

the songs: Hello / Redemption / Fall Apart / With You / Angeline / California Dreamin' / Alone / Obsexed / Beautiful World / If The Stars Should Fall / Take My Hand / Devils, Angels & Saints

I kind of found this one by accident. Okay so the cover says Brian Healy / D.A.S, but it's Dead Artist Syndrome. I know very little about the band other than what I can pick out of the liner notes. The way it reads is that Brian Healy is the band, and he picks up sidesmen as required. This time much of the backing comes from Derry Daugherty and Steve Hindalong from the Choir.

Overall this is a solid album. It brings back a lot of memories of the 80's. Particularly bands like Simple Minds, and The Psychedelic Furs; but that's not a completely fair comparison. He has his own sound. He's got a dark brooding almost gothic quality to his singing - and at times if I close my eyes I can picture him as a Vegas lounge singer having fun singing rock songs (hard to explain, but if you know the band you probably know what I mean). This is a cool album. His cover of California Dreamin' is wicked (in a good way).

Reviewed December 27, 2001

Happy Hour (©1995 Alarma)

Y.S.D. / Radiation / U.S.A. / Glory / Heaven / Dance With You / Bride Song / It Must Be Love / Happy Hour

This time around Brian is joined by Mark Harmon and Mike Roe from 77s, which makes for a slightly rougher album than Devils, Angels & Saints. The lead track, Young Sexy and Dead is really catchy, as is U.S.A. Happy Hour grew on me after a while. It's a weird little tune which reminded me of Depeche Mode covering Johnny Cash. Too bad they opted for drum machines rather than a real pounder - I guess you can't have everything.

I've listened to this a fair bit, but overall it's never really caught my attention. Not to be too harsh, it is a pretty fair album, with some very solid moments.

It's just not something I listen to very often.

Reviewed March 26, 2004

Saving Grace (©2003 Galaxy 21)

1: In Your Hands 2: Life Amongst The Dead 3: Follow 4: Machine 5: Ticket To Hell 6: Jesus Wants You To Buy This Record 7: Falling 8: Christian America 9: Pray 10: Biding Our Time 11: Richard Cory 12: Reject 13: Revolution Of Love

Here I sit listening to Saving Grace by DAS (I’ve been listening to it all day). Perhaps I was too quick to write off Mister Healy. This is pretty catchy musically, and to be honest the last couple of albums I bought were relegated to the shelf after a few cursory listens (I just didn’t have the energy to spend the time to really get acquainted with the music). I’m going to have to give the guy a few more listens to see if I was out to lunch or not (listened to them again, and Saving Grace is easily the equal of D.A.S., and in my opinion much more consistent than Happy Hour which I still find uneven).

This time around Brian has enlisted the assistance of Jeff Elbel (otherwise known to the world at large as, Jeff Elbel) who pops up in the most unexpected places. One day I’ll have to ask Jeff about this one … until then I’ll listen to Saving Grace a few more times. Perhaps I should write Mister Healy, and ask him - there's a novel (if not a short story) idea.

I know people have squished DAS into the Goth box (have to be a big box), but what is this mysterious Goth stuff anyway? Granted Saving Grace is a dark brooding album but it has a twisted sense of humour. I think I’d enjoy chatting with Brian, so long as we could talk about farts and not dwell on anything too cerebral - I'm pretty shallow after all (not to mention attention defi ... where was I?).

The songs here are all pretty accessible, actually bordering on catchy given the subject matter Brian wraps into the music. Jesus Wants You to Buy This Record is a great tune. In fact all of the songs here are all better than a kick in the groin and a fork in the eye. Considering the blender this guy has been through in real life I’m impressed that he’s not bitching and moaning about life, the universe, and his need for a pickup truck with low mileage and an in-dash CD player.

He’s definitely an interesting character, and it’s pretty safe to call the guy an artist (he still has both ears, but he’s still an artist).

Reviewed October 6, 2004