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Album Of The Day: A Collision by David Crowder Band
David Crowder Band was known as a rock band that also led worship at their University's church, recorded albums and toured the world. They were mostly known for their rock/electronic sound, at least until this album. Released 20 years ago yesterday, David Crowder and the band brought their love of classic country and even a bit of bluegrass music to their sound. Starting with a Loretta Lynn cover as an intro, the album sounds mostly like the Crowder Band albums released previously, mostly modern rock with some electronic elements. But then, halfway through the song "Be Lifted Or Hope Rising", a country song breaks out including mandolins. And this style continues with "I Saw The Light" and through a Sufjan Stevens cover. These songs started me looking into classic country music in the years after this album came out. But even if you're not here for the country fest, there's lots to love here. "Foreverandever, Etc.", "Here Is Our King", and "We Win!" are energetic praise songs. "Wholly Yours" has a bunch of fun wordplay mixing "wholly" and "holy", words that sound pretty much the same though they are spelled differently. This album is probably David Crowder Band's finest, and with over 65 minutes of music, there's much to love here. You might skip the closing two tracks which is a scripted interview about art and worship, but I usually listen to it because it's pretty funny. This is an epic album and is a work of art more than it is a few new songs to be sung at church services.
Release Year: 2005
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Album Of The Day: When The World Sings by Fine China
"Yeah, we rock harder than you ever knew." Released 25 years ago yesterday, this is the first album by Fine China, an indie rock/pop band. This release is produced by Joy Electric's Ronnie Martin and has a lot of similarities to the electronic rock label-mates. The vocals sound similar, and there is a lot of electronic synth elements, though a bit more of a band feel than Joy Electric albums, I think. Lyrically, these songs are pretty short and simple, but ruminate on life and love along with a lot of talk of making music. This is a fun album that I don't listen to too often, but it's been one I enjoy on occasion as it's very different from most of the music I listen to.
Release Year: 2000
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Album Of The Day: An Octave Above The Original by Ill Harmonics
"Rhymes come fresh and they always ill / When we rockin' the rockin' the Casbah." Released on this day 25 years ago, this is the first album from hip-hop duo Ill Harmonics. After rapping together in the Dallas area starting in 1995, they made it on MTV's "The Cut" in 1998, and this album on Uprok Records made them a part of a burgeoning Christian hip-hop industry. The duo of Blake Knight and Playdough (aka Harry Krum or Krum) switch off rapping over guitars, keyboards, bass and drums, a bit more sparse of a production than most rap albums. They make fun of the fact that they're white men on "Gringos", talk about their insecurities on "Will I?", about how competitive the rap game is in "Woe Is We", and there's lots of fun wordplay and a few samples throughout the album. Sadly, this album seems to be not currently available on streaming, so I guess you'll have to find a CD or something like that to give this a listen.
Release Year: 2000
Album Of The Day: There's A Light by Liz Vice
First released independently sometime in 2013 and then re-released on a record label on this day 10 years ago, this is the first album from Liz Vice. This is an excellent indie rock/pop/Gospel album. The backing band and the arrangements are simple and beautiful, and it gives this album a timeless quality that it could have been made 50 years ago, not just over a decade ago. Liz Vice's vocals are the star of this album and she does a great job singing songs that share the gospel, both new songs and old. Though she was about 30 years old when this released and she only recently started performing, she sounds like she's a seasoned musician on this debut album. Her later albums are slightly different lyrically but still worth a listen as well.
Release Year: 2013 / 2015
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Album Of The Day: Go West Young Man by Michael W. Smith
"Get on the love crusade." Released 35 years ago today, this is the sixth studio album from Christian pop artist Michael W. Smith. Before Michael W. Smith was known for making worship music, he was one of the most experienced songwriters and performers in Christian pop music, and this album brings the '80s pop feel even though it was released in 1990. "Place In This World" is this album's biggest hit and propelled this album to platinum status, and "For You" has a fun trombone solo in the bridge. The title track kicks off the album with a bit of a country nod including the sound of horses neighing right at the start. This album also is the first recording of Michael W. Smith's first modern worship song, "Agnus Dei", though here it's just an orchestral pop song that later became a praise song sung at church services. This album definitely feels like it's from a different time, but it's still fun to listen to as it's fairly well-done pop with a Christian message.
Release Year: 1990
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Album Of The Day: The End Is Not The End by House Of Heroes
Released 17 years ago today is one of my favorite albums ever, the third and best album from House Of Heroes, one of the most underrated bands in my opinion. Give this album a listen and you might love it as much as I do. The album is an epic 14-song rock odyssey. All the songs have a bit of a World War II theme, and the band mixes the themes of war, religion, and love together throughout this album. The songs are so catchy, the band's gang vocals are tight and Tim Skipper's lead vocals are so dynamic. I've had "If", "Lose Control", "Baby's A Red" and many more stuck in my head many times since this released. And you know I'm a huge fan of an epic album closing that "Voices" and "Field Of Daggers" provide. It doesn't get much better for this fan of rock music than this album, and I highly recommend you listen to it.
Release Year: 2008
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Album Of The Day: Flyleaf by Flyleaf
Released 20 years ago next month, this is the first full-length album from Flyleaf. It's a quick 11 tracks of pretty hard rock, but quality songwriting and musicianship from this new band and great vocals from lead singer Lacey Sturm make this album memorable. Lacey's vocals are on the edge of singing and screaming, a few moments are certainly screaming. Some of the best songs on this album had been released on an EP the year before, like "Breathe Today" and "I'm Sorry". It's high-energy rock with a positive message. Honestly, this is one of those albums I loved at the time and don't listen to much anymore, but I liked giving it a listen today.
Release Year: 2005
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Album Of The Day: Love Press Ex-Curio by Charlie Peacock
Released 20 years ago tomorrow, this is Charlie Peacock's first release as a jazz/improvisational music artist. For nearly 30 years before this, he had been playing in bands and performing his own brand of jazz-tinged and funk-infused pop, but on this album he records himself doing jazz on the keyboards and some electronic programming along with many of his musical friends and experienced jazz players. The title Love Press Ex-Curio is short for "Loves Pressure Exhibits Curiosity," probably a phrase that describes Charlie well. This is an album of experimental jazz with some electronic music and may not be for everybody, but I like the beauty and unpredictability of these compositions and improvisations. In the last few years, Mr. Peacock has released a good number of jazz and other types of instrumental albums on streaming, and sadly none of them are yet on physical formats like this one because some are quite good.
Release Year: 2005
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Album Of The Day: The Collection by Sara Groves
Released 12 years ago yesterday, this is the best of Sara Groves, one of Christian music's best singer-songwriters and the only artist that I know of who lives only two miles away from my house. (I was a fan before I knew she lived in the area, though.) Sara Groves writes piano-based pop with a jazzy bent, and definitely has a God-given gift for melody and rhyme. She sings beautifully and honestly about the struggles of life and also God's love, grace, relationships with friends and family, and much more. If you've never heard her music, I highly recommend you listen to this, as it collects some of her best songs from the first 15 years of her music career. It's a two-disc compilation of songs from her first 9 studio albums and though it does not have my favorite song of hers, "Loving A Person," it is still a great collection. If you like this, start listening to her albums after that and find even more great songs from Sara.
Release Year: 2013
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Album Of The Day: Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan
"Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is." Released 60 years ago last month, this is the album that cemented Bob Dylan as a force in rock 'n' roll. His first albums were covers of American folk standards, but more and more he started writing his own new folk songs and started having a full band back him on his recordings. In July of 1965, he played 3 songs including the new single "Like A Rolling Stone" with his rock band and an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival, where the audience was very divided about this new type of music from one of the young men who brought folk music back to the charts. A month later, this album was released and it's been one of the most iconic albums of rock music ever since. Dylan's songs keep the pace moving fast and the lyrics as poetic and hard-to-comprehend as ever. Bob Dylan also pushed the boundaries of what was allowed in music at the time, with a 6-minute lead single and an 11-minute closing track on Side B. This album is an important moment in music history and it's still lots of fun to listen to all these years later.
Release Year: 1965
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