The Greatest Christian Albums Ever

[melon1]

I'd recommend to everyone Daniel Amos's Shotgun Angel and Scaterd Few's Sin Disease. Also, I suppose U2's October would count.

[JACkory]

I've never heard of Scattered Few.
But I have been a fan of Daniel Amos for about 26 years and I don't think Shotgun Angel is representative of their career output. It was their second album and they were still trying to be CCM's version of the Eagles...it's not a bad album by any stretch, but they REALLY blew it away with their 3rd album, Horrendous Disc. One spin of that slab and you were left scratching your head and wondering if it were the same band.
Horrendous Disc has aged awfully well, and it sounds better to me now than it did in 81.
But it's not my favorite DA disc. Doppelganger, the second volume of the Alarma Chronicles is my all-time favorite, followed close by the third Alarma album, Vox Humana. Unfortunately they have been out of print for a long, long time. It's a crime that they're last outing, Mr. Buechner's Dream didn't open the ears of the world to their unique brand of classic rock...I still think it's one of their best.

My favorite "Christian albums" include, but are not limited to:
David Crowder*Band.....A Collision
Rich Mullins.....Songs & Songs II
Keith Green.....The Ministry Years (Volumes 1 & 2)
John Michael Talbot.....Come to the Quiet
Ten Shekel Shirt.....Much
Randy Stonehill.....The Sky is Falling
Stavesacre.....Absolutes
Waterdeep.....You Are So Good to Me
Caedmon's Call.....In the Company of Angels
Bebo Norman.....Ten Thousand Days
Resurrection Band.....Colours
Mercy Me.....Almost There
The Swirling Eddies.....Zoom Daddy
Larry Norman.....In Another Land
Mark Heard.....Eye of the Storm
Plankeye.....Strange Exchange
Chris Tomlin.....Arriving
Charlie Hall.....On the Road to Beautiful

Those are all excellent...would need to look into my collection to list more.
(I also consider all of Bach's music to qualify as "Christian" and I love just about all of it!

[sisyphus]

i ain't no christian, but jesus is alright with me. i'm remembering JARS OF CLAY. they were purdy big for a spell...

[JACkory]

Jars of Clay are still around and they're a lot better than they were at the beginning of their run...I never liked "Flood", which was pretty much their only mainstream hit. The last thing I bought from them was The Eleventh Hour, and it's pretty good (with one exceptionally good song, "Fly"). I think the last album they put out was primarilly a praise/worship album and I've heard a couple of tracks from it that are quite nice. I also enjoy their contribution to the City On A Hill projects ("The Comforter Has Come" in particular).

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

What qualifies here? What separates a 'christian album' from an album recorded by a committed and open christian?

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Jeremy Enigk-Return of the Frog Queen

[Thorngrub]

[Adam]

How's about this?

[RocDoc]

T-Bone Burnett's already been mentioned?

[maarts]

I recommend the output of Iona. It's the only albums that I could categorise as Christian with singer Joanne Hogg delving deep into Celtic Christian folklore for her lyrics, the music is just timeless! A sort of Celtic prog with ambient undertones and Joanne's voice is just angelic!

[JACkory]

jllm said:

What qualifies here? What separates a 'christian album' from an album recorded by a committed and open christian?

I would think they were one and the same, but I didn't create this board, so don't ask me.

My list was pretty much limited to albums that are considered "contemporary Christian"...I personally think Marvin Gaye's What's Going On is one of the greatest Christian albums ever made, but I wasn't looking outside of "marketing genre" when I made my list.
Of course, Melon did state that U2's October qualifies, so I'm assuming that Christian spirituality is the only litmus test for consideration.

I still don't have any Sufjan Stevens albums, either.

[JACkory]

I'm gonna have to check out Iona, too, looks like.
Thanks, maarts.

[melon1]

Waterdeep.....You Are So Good to Me


I know of this album thanks to you, JAC. And I love it.

Scaterd Few is a mostly punk/thrash rock band of the very early 90s. The lead singer looks very mysterious with eyeliner and dreads. They also do an acoustic song as well as a reggae song which is probably their best. Their lyrics are very deep. The singing is an acquired taste and most of the people I've played it for didn't like it, but they dug most of the music. I only have a cassette of it without the artwork. My brother was lucky enough to find a CD of it. I couldn't find one even on ebay. They only had a cassette. PM me your address, JAC, and I'll send you a tape of it. You'll be glad you got it. The artwork is really worth it though, so you might want that cassette I found on ebay if it's still there.

Also, JAC, do you dig the 77's. I love the song "God Sends Quails". Probably my favorite song in Christian music. Also love "The Sheep and the Goats" and "The Prodigal Son Suite" by Keith Green.

[melon1]

thorny said:

I don't know if I've ever laughed harder than at the end of the title track to this album when he goes:

"To HELLLLLLL with tha devil....devil.... DEVILLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Galactus]

I don't listen to much contemporary christian music but I don't mind alittle Jesus in my rock. This is the singer from Superdrag going solo for Jesus, it's pretty good really.