Darkness Reveals the Beauty of Truth was the debut album I released in 2007.  Most of it, I recorded over two two-week periods when my wife and kids went away to visit family in the summers of 2006 and 2007.

I did everything on this album except mastering, which was done by Ty Tabor of King’s X.

I purposely didn’t involve any outsiders, even to receive any feedback (I did let a few musician acquaintances hear it right at the end, during mixing).  The challenge was to see if I could make music that other people will enjoy, if I made it purely for my own enjoyment.

Looking back now, I am pleasantly surprised by how well it holds up, considering it was a first album done on a shoe-string budget.  The only thing that separates this album from truly great works, in my mind, is my singing.  Unfortunately, that’s like the most crucial piece missing — and I’ve always felt that way, so I could never get behind it wholeheartedly, knowing that it fell short on that one critical aspect.  But the songwriting’s there, the arrangements are there, the guitar playing — wow!  Even production isn’t half bad, especially if you turn up the volume as you listen.

I chose these songs specifically, not because they were my favorites but because I felt they were the simplest to put together.  A wise move, if I can say so myself.   But as I was assembling it, I was trying to see if I can create an arc out of these songs — not quite a story or a concept album, but a recognizable progression.  The same way U2′s Achtung Baby does.  I think the arc is there, though it’s too vague to be of any value.  It starts out with dubious invitations, then enter doubts, resentments, and betrayals, and ends with a plea to give up.  I see a soul that’s battered and scarred, and is losing it.

What can I say — I’m just into dark, heavy stuff.  :-)

My original idea was to follow up with an album called Darkness Reveals the Depth of the Fall. It picks up where the arc leaves on this album, and goes lower, if you can imagine that.  ;-)

1. Shark P
2. Diamond Sleeps Tonight P
3. Tiny Toon P
4. Empire P
5. Half Step P
6. Cult (Falsetto) P
7. Lunar Ascent P
8. Throwing Away the Key (At the Gate) P
9. Outcast Probe P
10. Lucy Struck Out P

You can buy the CD from CDbaby.com.  Or sign up to my e-mail list to the right, to download all songs (slightly edited, but still all listenable).