If you've been reading my Album Of The Day posts for a while, you may have picked up that I'm a fan of the bit offbeat, artsy music along with some of the normal standards. So when Christian pop/rock/rap band DC Talk broke up, it's not too surprising that my favorite release was from Kevin Max, the member with the crazy harmonies and the poems. Max's first solo album, co-produced with Adrian Belew (King Crimson), is definitely an artsy rock record. Kevin Max's powerhouse vocals take center stage along with lots of musical sounds including some Middle Eastern styles and other world music. With songs like "Be" and "I Don't Belong", it's an album about individuality and universal themes more than the spirituality that was front and center in DC Talk. It's still a great listen and one of my favorite albums from Toby, Mike and Kevin in the last 25 years.

Release Year: 2001
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Released on this day 10 years ago, this is Mat Kearney's final album created for a major label though he continues to create excellent singer-songwriter music more independently. This is possibly his most straightforward pop album. The hip-hop influences that appear on some of his albums are here, with some loops and big drum sounds. The title track has the most hip-hop vibe with spoken-word verses and a great backing track with some programming. Upbeat pop is the style of the album, though, with only a few of the later songs foregoing the heavy drumbeat and bass for an acoustic guitar. Many of the songs are love songs, like "Billion", "One Heart" and "Air I Breathe", plus a love letter to "Los Angeles". Many songs speak to life's hardships and relationships, like "Moving On", "The Conversation" and "One Black Sheep". Listening to this today reminds me that this album is even better than I remembered and I should listen to it more often!

Release Year: 2015
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I'm currently reading Charlie Peacock's new book, an autobiography of sorts. So I've also been interested in the music from his 45 years or so making music and collaborating with so many other musicians. This is his second major-label record, and it's '80s pop that includes elements of jazz, funk, and more. His lyrics contain somewhat religious language, but they're not preachy and speak to his personal experiences as a man struggling with understanding his faith. It definitely sounds very dated as many albums from the '80s do, but it's good songwriting and quality production. I think my favorites were songs I was already familiar with, "Down In The Lowlands" and "Lie Down In The Grass", but the whole album is a good listen. More recently, Charlie Peacock wrote hits for Amy Grant and helped start careers of bands like Switchfoot, The Civil Wars, and many more, as well as he continues to record new jazz piano and pop albums.

Release Year: 1986
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Buy Charlie's new book, Roots & Rhythm: A Life In Music

Released on this day 29 years ago, this is my favorite album from the Newsboys, a Christian band that has been active for about 40 years and gone through many band members. This mid-'90s release is their best of their career, in my opinion. They were still only a few years into moving from Australia to the U.S.A., and partnered with the rock songwriter and producer Steve Taylor to help them out with the lyrics. Take Me To Your Leader is a great collection of pop/rock tracks that still holds up really well compared to many Christian albums from the era. "Take Me To Your Leader", "Breathe" and "Breakfast" were some of the most popular songs with Christian music fans at the time, but the whole album is full of solid lyrics and musicianship like "Cup O' Tea" and the epic "Lost The Plot". It's one of the best Christian music albums of the '90s, I think.

Release Year: 1996
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