Gospel-prog with a mystical vibe: on the cusp of the eighties, Jimmy Hotz brought it.....
Beyond the Crystal Sea - 30th Anniversary Edition
Artist: Jimmy Hotz
Born twice Records
9 tracks / 42 minutes

It was 1979 and Christian music fans that leaned toward prog/art rock didn't have a lot of options. Along comes Jimmy Hotz' Beyond the Crystal Sea, with cover art featuring Hotz (?) looking like a New-Age saint, staff-in-hand, in front of an icon-heavy representation of all things spiritual: angels, sailing ships, rainbows, castles, the Universe itself..... Well, we never said that prog/art was free of pretentiousness – and judging by the cover art alone, we knew that this wasn't going to be at least a little more adventurous than the latest Steve Camp or Amy Grant album.

Actually, Beyond the Crystal Sea was considerably more adventurous than much of what was offered in the CCM arena in those days.  Hotz both hits and misses the mark over the album's nine tunes (two of which, “Long, Long Ago” and “The Gates of Time” are bonus songs added to this CD), presenting well-produced tracks that range from hard-hitting instrumental epics (“Teton”) to overly spacy, wide-eyed Christian flower-child material, frequently talking about time and space, crystal ships, love and such – not that there's anything wrong with that. In retrospect, though, I think we've all learned that our feet have a habit of being pulled back joltingly to the ground more often than we ever thought they would. Why do I feel like a grouchy old guy writing these words?  Maybe because lyrics like those in “The Vision Ship” no longer mean as much to me as they did when I first heard them: “Rest my weary neighbor / With dreams in your heart / Sing of far and distant lands / board the Vision Ship, and let your worries go...” hey – I live in New York. If you do that, you'll be mugged before the Vision Ship leaves port....  

Lest you think this is a negative review, let me say that this is an enjoyable album, although it's perhaps a bit stuck in time, making the nostalgia factor pretty important in terms of how well you may or may not enjoy it. While the playing and composition are fine, the lyrics can sound a bit dated and the vocal performances are a bit limp. You can still pump up “Teton” and have a great time, though.

Lyrically, the album is certainly 'Christian' in its message and imagery if perhaps sometimes overly mystical-sounding. Although the liner notes indicate that the album is “written, produced, engineered and performed by Jimmy Hotz,” there are additional credits for Brian Tankersley and Wayne Six on bass (as well as Hotz), Gary Ingram, Rocky Mountain (?), and Russell Dunlap on drums, Phil Huston, Paul Mills and Hotz on keyboards, Kemper Crabb on recorder and Bob Farrell and Carol Chambers joining Hotz on vocals. Hotz gets the sole credit for guitar, and his playing is quite good, fitting squarely in the prog guitar camp.

You might want to dig out your love beads, fire up some incense and turn on a strobe light while listening. Black-light posters are optional.

Bert Saraco
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