#298 WORLD OF SAND by Servant (1982)

WORLD OF SAND by Servant (1982)
Rooftop Records - RT 1000

Producers: 
Jonathan David Brown, Jim Palosaari, Servant


File Under: Synth Pop/Rock

Time Capsule-Worthy Track:

Cheap Talk 

With their first two albums Servant had earned for themselves a cult following of passionate proportions. A musical ministry arm of the Highway Missionary Society, they were true believers – holdover hippie Christians who actually lived communally and practiced what they preached. Their music and overall presentation in the early years was rough, raw, rowdy, and sometimes ragged around the edges. Their live concerts were an assault on the senses, utilizing laser lights, drama and special effects to an unheard-of degree in the late 70s and early 80s. A Servant concert was a big deal.

After 1980’s Rockin’ Revival, Servant’s community formed its own record label (Rooftop Records) in order to exert greater control over their music, and struck up a distribution deal with the Benson company. The result was World of Sand, a somewhat transitional album that found the group moving away from the classic rock and blues of their first two releases and toward a new style of synth-driven pop and new wave that was gaining in popularity. World of Sand boasted a larger recording budget, better production values, a cover illustration from the highly regarded Kernie Erickson (who gained a measure of fame for his illustrations on the covers of several Sweet Comfort Band albums), and is said to have sold over 20,000 units in the first two months of availability. The group’s biggest liability was probably their vocals. But whatever went lacking in that department was more than made up for in authenticity and sincerity.

Lyrically, World of Sand continued the Servant tradition of taking strong stands against the love of money, excesses in the Church, hypocrisy, and lukewarm Christianity. The album is most remembered for its novelty, rock-opera style tracks – namely, Jungle Music and Sudden Death.

Blogger David Lowman wrote, “Jungle Music must have sounded really good on paper…but has not worn well these many years later.” Agreed. In the vein of Larry Norman’s Why Should the Devil (Have All the Good Music), Petra’s God Gave Rock and Roll to You, Terry Clark’s A Little Rock and Roll, Rick Cua’s You Can Still Rock and Roll and DeGarmo & Key’s Don’t Stop the Music, Jungle Music is a full-throated defense of Christian Rock music as a valid art form and evangelistic tool. At the time, the so-called "Rock Wars" were raging hot, and this song made some great points along those lines. It was later dramatized in the band’s live concerts (to great effect) and the end of the song featured spoken dialogue that cleverly name-dropped a lot of the most popular Christian Rock bands and solo artists of that era. But like so many novelty songs, this track doesn’t hold up well to repeated listening. The safari sound effects and repetitious nature of the melody just wear out their welcome after a while. That said, it was very memorable and was an important apologetic for people who loved God and rock and roll…in that order.

Sudden Death is where things got real. It’s an 8-minute musical retelling of the deaths of three of Servant’s young community members in a tragic accident. It’s basically a musical suite or “rock opera” that navigates several musical and emotional twists and turns. I’m sure that this was cathartic and incredibly helpful to the band members in their efforts to come to terms with what had happened and why. And it is amazingly impressive on that front. But at the same time it can be difficult, painful, and even gut-wrenching to listen to. Which means that this song, as well, doesn’t lend itself particularly well to repeated spins. 

Sudden Death was important for another reason, however. It was a harsh reality check for those who mistakenly believed that “Jesus takes away all your problems” and that bad things never happen to “good” people. On their official website, the members of Servant wrote, “In a glitzy, self-centered era, the notion that following Jesus might entail horrific loss was a message that found its way to many wounded hearts. That God was big enough for our anger and confusion was healing to many, ourselves included.”

The tragedy of Sudden Death is resolved in the hopeful “altar call” song Come, Jesus, Come…ending World of Sand on a high note.

The initial release of World of Sand featured eight songs on the main LP with an included 7” bonus record that featured Cog in the Wheel and a muscular instrumental titled Treeplanter Stomp.

After World of Sand, Servant moved even further toward an 80s sound and continued to deliver their message of holiness and Bible-based social justice in some of the most entertaining ways possible.