Released on this day 32 years ago, this album made dc Talk a household name among Christian music fans. At this point, dc Talk was mostly Toby McKeehan rapping on the verses and Michael Tait and Kevin Max singing on the choruses. With Free At Last, this was definitely still the case, but the band experimented with sounds and repertoire. "Free At Last" veers into Gospel, while "Time Is..." gets a bit more rock edge. Covers of "Jesus Is Just Alright" and "Lean On Me" with new rapped verses are highlights as well as the original tunes. A number of the songs challenge mainstream cultural norms promoting abstinence and modest clothing, which was kinda weird to me both when I first heard this and still today. This album is definitely a time capsule of where Christian music was in the early '90s, for better and worse, and a lot of fun.

Release Year: 1992
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify

Ashley Cleveland is one of my favorite voices in music. She can really belt out a vocal and her deep alto is such a contrast to many other female artists. Ashley Cleveland's third album, Lesson of Love, is a rock album that mixes in a lot of Gospel influences and also includes a few hymns from other Christian traditions. But even though it's got a few hymns, it still is a rock album. Ashley's husband, Kenny Greenberg, does great guitar work throughout and songs like "He Is", "Revive Us Again", and "You Are There" keep the album energetic. I love all these songs and never tire of hearing Ashley's voice and her perspective on the world.

Release Year: 1995
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify

This is my favorite album from southern rock band Needtobreathe. It's got a bit of everything: southern rock, some gospel influences, and some real honestly about love and relationships. Brothers Bear and Bo Rinehart started this band over 15 years before, and at this time were struggling to have a good, healthy relationship. They tried to write through this struggle in songs like "Brother" and "Wasteland". This album, I think, has their best sound and the most variety of types of songs, and every song is a solid one. Most of these songs are still played at their shows regularly 10 years later, at least on occasion if not every show.

Release Year: 2014
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify

Singer Derek Webb was one of the original members of Houston-based folk-rock band Caedmon's Call. But in the early 2000s, he left the band and started his own solo career. I See Things Upside Down is his second album and my favorite of his albums. Released on this day 20 years ago, it's much more rock than most of his other albums, which are more acoustic or Americana. This albums an exquisitely-produced folk-rock album with a full band sound and lengthy songs full of beautiful instrumentation. Lyrically, Derek Webb calls the American church on to higher standards and loving our neighbor better while also speaking to our imperfect nature, which are things I've tried to take to heart. More recently, Derek has personally gone to places that don't resonate with me, but I definitely enjoy this album and his earlier works regularly.

Release Year: 2004
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify