Danny ChaiDang it, I messed up my count, so there are 11 entries in my top 10. Consider it a tribute to divadave. Will anyone get through it? Even Minho? Doubtful. In chronological order.
Amy Grant – The Collection (1986). I’m cheating; this is a greatest hits compilation, not a single album. But most people who got into Christian music after 1986 have only this Amy Grant album and none of her earlier albums, so it’s like an album for them, or at least it is for me.
Anyway, if you listen to Amy Grant’s old stuff, there’s a reason why she was the queen of CCM – her music was simply better (overall) than everyone else’s stuff. Therefore, owning this album is almost like owning the best of Christian music pre-1986. And this album shows you why Amy Grant was so popular. She’s not the most musical artist, she doesn’t have the most vocal range or power. What she does have, and I can’t fully explain how it is, but her voice has the gift of catching you. When she sings, you feel what she means. It’s a gift.
The music has definitely aged, so it’s hard to recommend to a kid now. But it really is the best of Christian music at the time. And it also has one thing albums don’t have enough of – a medley. Steven Curtis Chapman has a medley on his live album, but I’m struggling to think of any others. And the Ageless Medley on this album is a lot of fun. Given the context, this is the best Christian best-of album ever.
Michael W. Smith – i2eye (1988). MWS has been very popular for a very long time, and his gift is being able to tap into the zeitgeist of the current leanings of CCM while stamping his own flavor on it. I wouldn’t quite say he pushes the envelope, but he definitely imparts way more creativity while staying within the confines of mainstream CCM. Like his first 2 albums. No one will ever call them cutting edge. Nevertheless, he does interesting things, like play around with irregular and complex meters. That’s his brilliance, to be creative while being solidly mainstream.
This is MWS’s most rock-oriented (less pop) album, which you would never tell by the album cover, where he looks like a nerd. It’s very 80s keyboard driven, but it’s hard keyboard, not cheesy keyboard. The lyrics (mostly by Wayne Kirkpatrick) are uniformly amazing, and he does some interesting things musically. Like he has this one instrumental / vocal interlude based on This Present Darkness. I even give him credit for his video of Secret Ambition (where he’s wearing a hideous sleeveless vest), for using an actor to play Jesus who actually looks Middle Eastern. Even the throwaway songs on the album, like I’ll Help You Find Your Way, has incredible energy. It’s his most consistent, rocking, strongest album.
Whiteheart – Freedom (1989). The best Christian rock album ever. Whiteheart has a fascinating history. The lead singer on the first album was Steve Green, and if you know Steve Green, imagining him in a rock band is almost comical. Their next lead singer was convicted of statutory rape and sentenced to prison. Their next singer (Rick Florian) was their roadie who they heard off hand singing and dancing. They’ve also gone through more musicians and lineup changes than perhaps any other band in Christian music.
Somehow, through all the turmoil, for one album, with a producer known more for pop than rock (Brown Bannister, Amy Grant’s main early producer who later did a lot of work with SCC, and pretty much all Christian artists), they produced this rock masterpiece. This particular lineup is like an all-star band. Rick Florian has an amazingly clear voice and impressive range. The drummer, bassist, and lead guitarist all went on to become top studio musicians and producers. The musicality on this album is incredible. Like the drums on the first song (Bye Babylon) – the velocity, precision, and energy is unbelievable. And it’s not pure musicality – it’s musicality coupled with songs that grab you. Which all adds up to the best Christian rock album ever.
You can get a sense of the energy on this album from concert video of a reunion they had in 2006. It’s the same lineup as on that album, except the drummer (Jon Knox instead of Chris McHugh). For most of the song, you can see the whitebread crowd sitting down except for a few sparse individuals. By the end of the song, they’re all standing, clapping, and responding to the energy in spite of themselves. That’s my favorite type of concert moment, when a crowd can’t help but respond to the music. Mind you, this song (and album) came out in 1989, and you kind of have to understand the Christian music landscape at the time to understand how remarkable it was. The album holds up really well.
Out Of The Grey – Out Of The Grey (1991).
Out Of The Grey – The Shape of Grace (1992).
So Out of the Grey is my favorite band of all time. I first heard them as an opening act for Steven Curtis Chapman (The Great Adventure tour) and thought – hey, they’re pretty good. Then I explored them and was completely blown away. I became such a fan that I would fantasize about becoming a famous rock star for the sole purpose of popularizing Out of the Grey – they could be the opening band, I would re-release their under-appreciated songs to secular radio, re-release different versions of their albums. I know it sounds crazy, but I have worked out exactly what I would have their set list be for a secular audience that would appreciate them more, and what order I would release their songs as singles to secular radio. It’s a specific, elaborate plan. That’s how much I am a fan.
I just love their music – I find it really interesting, compelling, catchy, musical, and all around awesome. Christine Dente has the best voice – let’s just say it – in all of music. The kind of voice that sears and melts you at the same time. If their more aggressive music isn’t your thang, you should listen to her singing on Michael Card’s second lullaby album – it’s like being in heaven.
Plus her lyrics are thought provoking without calling attention to themselves, if that makes any sense. Like, Steve Taylor and Wayne Kirkpatrick are better lyricists, but sometimes their lyrics are almost too good; they distract from the song rather than engage. Christine’s lyrics are not like that – they complement the music perfectly and you only realize how good they are when you pore over them.
So these two albums are the finest Christian pop-rock albums ever made. They are the pinnacle of musicality, song-strength, and production. And they were tragically under-appreciated by the Christian music world. The problem is that they were just too good for CCM. It’s almost comical, but after their first album came out they were nominated by CCM Magazine for best alternative artist. Alternative??? That’s how square CCM was at the time. Actually, soon after I got their second album, I was so enthusiastic that I made Minho and James listen to it on a car ride to some random hiking trip we were on and even they thought it was weird. In any case, yeah, they were just too far ahead of their time. If they had come out 15 years later, it would have been a much different story, I think.
Every single song on their first two albums though are really catchy musically, well-produced, well-performed, and lyrically interesting. I could seriously write a long entry on every single song – each one is that good. Anyway. I’ve gotten a few people into OOTG but no one shares my fervor, which is probably healthier, but yeah. Amazing music.
Rich Mullins – The World As Best As I Remember It Volume 1 (1991).
Rich Mullins – The World As Best As I Remember It Volume 2 (1992).
Even taken separately, both of these albums make my all time favorite list. Rich Mullins was the most poetic and thought-provoking lyricist in Christian music, and he regularly wrote phrases that you could linger on for years. His voice wasn’t strong, but he imparts a rawness and realness to it in a way you can’t duplicate. I’ve written about this before, but his concert for Liturgy, Legacy… (another good album but with kind of a weak 2nd half) was the best, most amazing concert experience I’ve ever had.
Anyway, these albums make my list because they’re uniformly strong, musically compelling, and lyrically deep. Some of it is heartbreaking; all of it is moving.
DC Talk – Jesus Freak (1995). I think it’s fair to call this a revolutionary, incredibly influential album. Every song on this album is not just good, but great. Their previous album was the pinnacle of Christian fun-rap, but this album took a turn towards hard rock, and after a couple of years when the rest of CCM caught up, kind of swung all of Christian music in that direction. It was hard-edged rock that everyone liked.
It’s sad that DC Talk will never come up with an album as good as this again. The problem is, the strength of DC Talk is TobyMac. He’s their best songwriter and producer by far. However, he can’t sing. On this album, he retained most songwriting and production control, so the music was awesome, and the others could cover the singing. On their next album, it was more of a team effort songwriting / production-wise, and not as good, because KMax and Tait just aren’t as good. Tait is a little too conventional, and KMax is too esoteric (you can see this in their solo efforts).
But yeah, it was a revolutionary album that everyone loved without a single bad song and mostly great ones. It has to be on anyone’s all time greatest Christian albums list.
Caedmon’s Call – 40 Acres (1999). I’ve described this album in this way before, but this album is like a spectacular Austin City Limits episode. It’s perfect Country Rock. It’s nothing showy, just solid music through and through, great musicality, tight arrangements, lots of energy. Also has really good, thoughtful lyrics, although to be honest, it kind of resonates more with self-focused college-age than now. If I had knees, I would dance to this album. Love the energy and the passion.
Chris Tomlin – Arriving (2004). The best worship album ever. You know how good it is? Many of the songs are borderline manipulative. Meaning, people respond to some of the songs so consistently and so well that simply including them in a worship set is emotionally manipulative. That is what you call a good song, and there are many of them on this album. Unlike every other album on this list, it’s not a perfect album; there are a few clunkers. But it has the greatest number of truly classic worship songs of any worship album ever, and that warrants inclusion in my all time greatest list.
David Crowder Band – A Collision (2005). I’ve already written about this in my blog. But it’s the most ambitious Christian album ever that worked. Ballsy music, approaching brilliant. Like mixing in bluegrass, and the reasoning behind it – brilliant. Some of the arrangements are symphonic in their scope; I’ve described it as being like a rock opera. This album pushes the edge in many ways and I connected with this it emotionally in a way I haven’t with anything since Elliott Smith. An amazing achievement.