Blog
Album Of The Day: Chase The Sun by The O.C. Supertones
Released 27 years ago today is the third album from The O.C. Supertones and my favorite album of theirs. Some of their albums may be a bit more ska, a bit more rock 'n' roll, or other things, but I like this one. Don't get me wrong, songs like "Grounded", "One Voice" and "Sure Shot" are definitely rockin'. But songs like "Hallelujah" and "Chase The Sun" have a bit more of a surf rock mixed with reggae vibe. The instrumental track "Revolution" near the end goes full on surf rock jam too. As with all their albums, The Supertones keep the Christian message front and center with songs like "In Between" and "Old Friend". "Away From You" is a beautiful pop/rock song featuring excellent background vocals from Christian pop singer Crystal Lewis and is one of the best tracks of the band's career. It's not their most rock or ska release though it does have plenty of horns and rock music, but it's overall their best in my opinion and I highly recommend a listen.
Release Year: 1999
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Acoustic Sketches by Phil Keaggy
Released 30 years ago sometime this month to the Phil Keaggy Club and re-released a few years later on Sparrow Records, this is the fourth instrumental album by Phil Keaggy by my counting. It's an hour of Phil Keaggy playing beautiful instrumental acoustic guitar in a studio, sometimes a short composition and sometimes longer. Often there's a few layers of guitars on top of each other, but sometimes it's just solo guitar, and sometimes a few other instruments are playing along too. And at least once you hear a guitar recording being played backwards for a unique sound too. After a listen to this, you will probably be convinced that Phil Keaggy is a guitar master as he coaxes so many different, beautiful sounds out of the instrument. This album is a beautiful series of instrumentals that I never tire listening to. It looks like the streaming version is a bit of a "Deluxe" version and includes 4 bonus tracks that I'm not sure even I've listened to yet, but the original 19 tracks are what I have on CD.
Release Year: 1996
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Buy on Bandcamp
Album Of The Day: The Violet Burning by The Violet Burning
Released 30 years ago yesterday is this third album from alternative rock band The Violet Burning. Like many albums from this era, it has a lots of distorted guitars and that "grunge" sound. The band started in the early '90s as a bit more of a modern worship band for Vineyard Music, but quickly became much more than that, though Michael Pritzl's lyrics often contain religious imagery and blend them with language of love. Honestly, this band isn't one I listen to often, but when I do give them a listen like today, I like it. The music is mixed higher than Pritzl's vocals sometimes, which some might not like, but I think it fits. I think I song I remember the most from previous listens is "Low" and "Arabic Trremolo Radio", partially because they're some of the best songs on this album, but also probably because they re-recorded them on later albums. This album is definitely more the underground rock scene of that era and cemented the band as a rock powerhouse, not just an early modern worship group. The band continues to make music and I've not really kept up with their recent, independent works.
EDIT: See comments below for a response from The Violet Burning where I got a number of my facts wrong. They were never a church worship band, as I thought. Thanks to them for letting me know I was mistaken!
Release Year: 1996
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Journey Into The Morn by Iona
Released 30 years ago today in North America and a few months earlier in the UK, this is the fourth album by Celtic progressive rock band Iona. It's a beautiful, cinematic 78 minutes of music, including guitar, drums, pipes, and of course singer Joanne Hogg's heavenly vocals. Most of the songs on this album contain some vocals and are not just instrumentals, but certainly not all. Many of the song lyrics contain religious themes, but also contain references to places and life in Ireland. It's a beautiful album, though nor my favorite album of theirs, and runs the gamut from serene instrumentals and vocals to a bit more raucous guitars, keys and all-out rock, sometimes even a choir. There's definitely some Gaelic lyrics too. The album ends with a beautiful, 8-minute version of "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross", a classic English hymn. This is often the soundtrack to reading a book on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon for me and I love this band's work. Included here is the original album art featuring a band photo and the newer artwork for the band's 2009 independent re-release.
Release Year: 1995
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Bloom by Audio Adrenaline
Released 30 years ago tomorrow, this is the third album by Christian rock/pop band Audio Adrenaline and my favorite album of their discography. Nearly 2 years after this released, I heard the bluesy, mid-tempo track "Man Of God" from this album on Wow 1998 and thought it was worth checking out their full album, and it was a big part of jumping on the trampoline while listening to music as loud as possible in the back yard that summer. At this point, the band who was known for cheesy Christian pop like "Big House" were deep in a rock groove. "Never Gonna Be As Big As Jesus" is probably their most well-known song from this album and a good one. The songs all point to Jesus in subtle or not-so-subtle ways, like "Secret" starting the album out with a good groove and not exclaiming what the secret is, while "I'm Not The King" just exclaims it. The only song not written by the band is a cover of Edgar Winter's "Free Ride", which fits very well with the rest of the album and seems like it could be a song about Jesus and not some '70s song about some other type of spiritual awakening. And I know some hate non-musical interludes, but I've always had a soft spot for "Jazz Odyssey", a funny bit where a jazz radio DJ starts playing a song and it gets a bit too rock—it's hilarious every time. The band wears their Christianity on their sleeve, but they still put together a good classic rock album with hints of grunge. It's really the only album from Audio Adrenaline I listen to every year or two.
Release Year: 1996
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Days Of Ash by U2
"We love you more than hate loves war." Released today, this is the surprise new release from Irish rock band U2, a 6-track EP released on Ash Wednesday and containing the most new songs they've released in over 8 years. As they often do, Bono and the band get political, in this case honoring and celebrating people from across the world who fought for truth and freedom. "American Obituary" notes Renée Good's death as a sad day, but reminds Americans that the people have the power, not our leaders. A poem called "Wildpeace" by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai is also recited by Nigerian journalist Adeola Fayehun over a bed of music by U2 and producer Jacknife Lee. The final song, "Yours Eternally", features the vocals and writing of Ed Sheeran and the vocals of Ukrainian singer Taras Topolia. And "The Tears Of Things" is a heartfelt song finding Bono struggling with the world's injustices and his role in the world, which is my early pick for the best song on the EP. It's a beautiful set of rock/pop songs and finds the band making new music with purpose to shine light on the good people of this world in troubling times. Fans and critics seem to be liking this new music, and not just because it wasn't forced into their iTunes account.
Release Year: 2026
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Temptation Come My Way by The Showdown
Released 19 years ago this coming Friday, this is the second album by Tennessee-based metal band The Showdown and their only album I listen to regularly. Unlike most of their albums before or since, this album doesn't have a lot of screaming and plays a lot like a classic metal album in sound, in my opinion. The guitars, drums and bass are big and loud, and the vocals are intense and growling but not screaming except for the last song. Many may know their cover of Kansas tune "Carry On Wayward Son" from this album, and it is an excellent version, but I like their original songs that fit well right along side that cover. I saw them play a bunch of these songs before the album release and the band were all whipping their long, blond curly hair in time to the music while playing, so they had lots of showmanship performing this music as well. Lyrically, there's a few religious references, but this album is mostly just about the everyday struggles in life. I never really got into their other music, but I really, really love rockin' out to this album.
Release Year: 2007
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Departures by Jon Foreman
Released 5 years ago this past Thursday, this is the first solo album from Foreman though he has been releasing solo EPs for many years, has been the lead singer of Switchfoot and has had a few other collaboration recordings in his nearly 30-year career. Jon's solo style is definitely less rock 'n' roll than Switchfoot, and is a bit more acoustic in general, though there are exceptions, of course. Jon has a great skill in exploring everyday life as well as philosophy and theology through songs. He echoes the Psalmist with "Jesus, I Have My Doubts", an admission of losing faith in God, and then follows it up with "Thanks Be To God", a song of thanks in hard times. "The Ocean Beyond The Sea" opens the album with a very epic and cinematic sound, and "A Place Called Earth" is a beautiful duet with Lauren Daigle. And "The Valley Of The Shadow Of Planned Obsolescence" may be about an old cell phone, but it's also about relationships, both in person and online. I highly recommend this album for anyone looking for good, thoughtful music with some spiritual leanings.
Release Year: 2021
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Big Town by Ashley Cleveland
Released 35 years ago today, this is the first album from Christian rocker Ashley Cleveland. She's known for her powerhouse vocals as well as mixing genres, as there are elements of Gospel, country, and more in her rock music. I bought my first Ashley Cleveland album about 20-25 years ago, and at least a decade or two ago, I went to Ashley Cleveland's website and she said this album was out of print, but then had a link to the full download of this album. And I immediately loved this album! Reading about it later, Cleveland was signed to Atlantic Records, but was dropped after this album for her music being "too Christian". On the other hand, Christian music audiences found the music "not Christian enough". Frankly, I love this kind of music that mixes honest songs about struggling with love and relationships right in with other songs about religious themes. Ashley Cleveland talks about her struggles with men in songs like "Willy", "Tentative Man" and "I'll Call You". Songs like "Angel", "We Can Dance" and "Walk To The Well" and the opening title track definitely have more of a Gospel flair than other songs. And well, "I Could Learn To Love You" might be about a man or about God; I'm really not sure. Another thing I love on all of Ashley's albums is the stellar guitar work from Kenny Greenberg, whom Ashley married only a few months after this album was released. It's an excellent debut from an all-time favorite rock artist of mine. She went on to release nine more albums and has appeared on many albums by other artists as a background vocalist. I think she has mostly retired from regular performances.
Release Year: 1991
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify
Album Of The Day: Testify by P.O.D.
Released 20 years ago last month, this is the 6th album by nu metal band P.O.D. and their last album on Atlantic Records. The band is known for lots of heavy guitars and screaming and some rap-style delivery on some of the vocals. Some songs get a bit reggae as well, especially the opening track "Roots In Stereo", which features guest vocals from Matisyahu along with P.O.D.'s lead singer Sonny. The Internet says "Goodbye For Now" was a pretty successful single for the band, and well, it may have been the last most of the world heard from P.O.D., despite that they have released another 6 albums in the last 20 years. Honestly, I picked up this album about 20 years ago because I liked their previous Atlantic releases, but I've almost never listened to it. It's definitely a dozen songs from the band, but most of them are just not that exciting or memorable. I do now remember hearing "This Time" on Christian rock radio a lot, I think, and it's a pretty good song. Their albums released after this I never even bothered to listen to, though I do like their earlier albums a lot and listen to them on occasion. Maybe my interests in music changed, or maybe the band changed; I'm really not sure which.
Release Year: 2006
Listen on Apple Music
Listen on Spotify