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Album Of The Day: The Big Picture by Michael W. Smith
"Wisdom from the sacred page / Is turned and ignored / In a world that's wired for sound." Released 40 years ago yesterday, this is the third album by Christian pop royalty Michael W. Smith. Smith and his frequent songwriting collaborator Wayne Kirkpatrick craft '80s keyboard-heavy pop songs about life and Christianity on this release. Though this was a few years before I started listening to Michael W. Smith as a kid, it's been an album I'd listen to on occasion over the last 25 years or so, and "Old Enough To Know" and "Rocketown" were on his first hits compilation that I listened to a lot throughout the '90s and beyond. More than his '90s works, I would say that the '80s music sounds very dated, but it's still pretty fun for an occasional listen. "Rocketown" is the most well-known song from this album, telling a story of a modern day Jesus Christ hanging out on the street and in the bars and presenting revolutionary ideas. The first half of the album is long songs full of electronic keyboard sounds, with "Lamu", "Wired For Sound" and "Pursuit Of The Dream" all over 5 minutes long. I think Michael W. Smith perfected his sound and started writing even better songs as the '80s and '90s progressed, but it's fun to hear these early, maybe more experimental years where the drum machines ruled and the guitars were hiding behind the keyboards on most songs.
Release Year: 1986
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Album Of The Day: Bone by Andrew Osenga
Released 10 years ago tomorrow, this is the fourth in a series of EPs from Andrew Osenga, each containing music of a different genre. This entry in the series is guitar-based post-rock instrumentals. Though it's a 6-track EP, each track averages over 5 minutes long for nearly 32 minutes of beautiful electric guitar playing. Some moments are calm and soothing, while others are a flurry of guitars, drums and bass making a climax to the music. And the track titles are a short poem to read since, well, there are no lyrics for the tracks to be titled upon. On the weekends, I often listen to instrumental music like this while reading a book, so this EP has been played many, many times by me. Thanks, Andrew, for all you do and for being the soundtrack to our lives, as well as spanning so many genres of music. Speaking of which, why do I have in my music library a cover "My Heart Will Go On" by Andrew Osenga?
Release Year: 2016
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Album Of The Day: Fault Lines by Andy Gullahorn
"A broken heart is better than one that doesn't feel." Released 10 years ago this past Monday, this is the sixth album by Nashville-based independent singer-songwriter Andy Gullahorn. He writes somewhat dark and occasionally humorous songs about God's love and grace as well as his own humanity. For example, on one song he starts with a joke about a hairpiece and then tries to understand communion at church in the second verse with the same chorus, "Is it real?" Through his mostly acoustic pop songs with a bit of a country twang, it's clear that Andy thinks deeply and struggles with life, and he puts that in songs that are still full of hope and faith in God. His wife Jill Phillips sings harmonies on a number of the songs. These songs are simple and well-written and though they might not be on repeat in my brain, I find lots of great musicality and lyrical depth to them. I've had the pleasure of seeing him live a few times, and I feel right at home with the awkward laughter as he cracks a joke and then delivers life lessons in the same verse.
Release Year: 2016
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Album Of The Day: Live Vol. 1 by Colony House
Released 5 years ago today, this is the first live album by rock band Colony House. In early 2020, they released their third album and started touring the world, but then the world shut down in March and they could not tour. Thankfully, they had recorded some of their shows and decided to put together this album that captures the energy of their live shows. With 18 tracks including a acoustic medley of songs, they perform many of their songs from their first 3 albums, have some fun jams and guitar and drum solos, and do a cover of The Ramones's "Blitzkrieg Bop" too. Colony House are the band I've seen the most in the last 10 years and one of my favorite bands. They put on a quality show, and it's fun to have that energy and crowd interaction to listen to at home or on the go.
Release Year: 2021
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Album Of The Day: Transparent by LaRue
Released 25 years ago last week, this is the second album from LaRue, the brother-sister duo of Phillip and Natalie LaRue. Though this is an album in my collection, it's not a favorite of mine; I think I've only listened to it a few times in the last 20 years. But that doesn't mean it's not a decent listen for the first time in about 10 years. I remember liking these songs a lot more when they came out, but they're still not bad. Phillip and Natalie wrote all these songs themselves and have a good mix of pop and rock. Their vocals are both excellent and distinct, their harmonies are magic and I forgot how much some of these songs rock, like "I Can't See" and "Seem To Be" near the end of the album. Though they were known for Christian pop, songs like "Jaded" and "Brianna's Song" show that these youngsters were struggling with the complexities of life and not just singing about platitudes they heard in church. It's been a long time since I listened to this, but it's still worth a listen all these years later, actually.
Release Year: 2001
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Album Of The Day: The Kid by Thad Cockrell
Released 2 years ago today, this is one of the albums I have paid the most for, and it's Thad's 5th album as a solo artist or band leader. I had heard of Thad Cockrell many years ago, but only really got to know his music when I saw him singing vocals on the band Leagues about 15 years ago now. Since then, I've been following his career with interest. For whatever reason, Thad Cockrell decided to make this album a bit of an exclusive item. It's not available on streaming, and Thad says this album is best understood if you listen to the whole 18-track, 80-minute album in one sitting. You can buy it for $99.99, and that's really the only way to hear it at this time (and maybe ever). Thad seems to like the old-school album experience and is arguing that, this way, he gets enough money to recoup the cost of making the album. I'm not sure it's working out for him, but I wish him the best. I like Thad's style and his often falsetto vocals. It's a long album that mixes pop, rock, country and soul, but it's definitely well-done musically. The songs are personal and fun, mostly lyrics about his life and love, with some occasional religious references. I had enjoyed Leagues and Thad's previous solo album, so I decided to take the leap and support independent music and buy a copy, and I'm glad I did.
Release Year: 2024
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Album Of The Day: You Are Fullness by Young Oceans
Released 5 years ago earlier this month, this is the fourth studio album of new songs by Young Oceans, the indie-pop/soft-rock moniker of Eric Marshall. Eric writes songs of praise and prayer to God and fashions beautiful, epic music beds to go with these songs sung with a bit of echo. The songs are musically layered and probably not conducive to communal worship at church in this form, but they are beautiful songs that could be used for personal inspiration and reflection. Young Oceans is one of those artists that I hadn't really heard of and checked out until 6-9 months ago despite being around for nearly 15 years now, but I'm really liking the musical vibe and the lyrics of all his music, and need to check out more of his releases.
Release Year: 2021
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Album Of The Day: Live by Jennifer Knapp
Released 20 years ago today, this the first live album from Jennifer Knapp, a folk-rock musician most well known from the late '90s and early '00s. Recorded during this era and assembled by her guitarist Mark Lee Townsend, this album is an excellent collection of recordings that captures how Jennifer's live shows differed from the album versions, at least when performing with the full band. Captured here along with some of her biggest hit songs are some of the bits of a concert, such as getting the audience to cheer and talking about how big the crowd is tonight. And "His Grace Is Sufficient" has a long guitar solo in the middle that goes into intros of all the band members complete with a bit of a solo, which is really fun. The energy of her live show is captured well and you can tell Jennifer Knapp and the band were having fun doing a rock show. Closing out the album and keeping the audience in suspense, the song "Undo Me" has a very long intro where the band vamps with a different version of the song with the same lyrics before jumping into the regular song. It's a fun hour of music from mostly her first two albums and quality live recordings.
Release Year: 2016
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Album Of The Day: Recognition by Carolyn Arends
Released 5 years ago yesterday, this is the 12th and latest album by Carolyn Arends, if my counting is correct. I first heard Carolyn Arends when she was a Christian pop/contemporary singer-songwriter in the mid-to-late 1990s. But after that style gave way to rock in the 2000s, she continued to release new music on smaller Canadian labels and I didn't hear it as much. But in 2020, she launched a crowd-funding campaign to release a new album, and I got a copy from supporting that campaign. Honestly, I haven't listened to it too much since it's release, but it's a good album and I enjoyed my listen today a lot. Her lyrics are honest, have some fun turns of phrase and show that, like the rest of us, she is struggling with life in this modern day. A highlight is "Without Music", which features Amy Grant on harmonies and a verse; it's a beautiful song about the gift music is to humanity. And through it all, Carolyn Arends makes it clear that what keeps her going is her faith in God and God's love. It's a beautiful album of new pop with a bit of a country flavor from an experienced musician, and I'm happy to have contributed a tiny bit to help the artist release it.
Release Year: 2021
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Album Of The Day: Native Tongue by Switchfoot
Released 7 years ago last week, this is the eleventh album from Switchfoot, a band I first saw play live in 1999 and have seen play live at least a dozen times more since then. On this 14-track album, there's a song or two (if not more) for each Switchfoot fan, I think. "Let It Happen" and "Take My Fire" really bring the rock from this experienced band. "Joy invincible", "Wonderful Feeling" and "All I Need" are good songs that that can make Christian feel like the band is speaking to them. But I really like the songs where the band experiments musically and calls us lyrically to think about the deeper things in life. The title track encourages us to speak in love, our native tongue, and not just use the words others taught us to say. "Voices" also challenges us to silence all the advertising, social media, and other voices and listen to the voices that count. "Dig New Streams" is an excellent song that first sounds like a slow song but then suddenly changes into a rock song and even morphs a few more times, while also challenging us to try something new. And "Prodigal Soul" is a plea to God for help that I identify with a lot. This isn't Switchfoot's best album, in my opinion, but it's still a quality set of songs from this longtime band. I'm looking forward to hopefully a new album from Switchfoot in 2026!
Release Year: 2019
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