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Album Of The Day: Best Laid Plans by Sandra McCracken
About 20 years ago, I first became aware of the work of Sandra McCracken by listening to this album, Best Laid Plans. It's a beautiful, well-produced folk-rock album and I'm told a few songs even had radio airplay around the UK 20 years ago, even though McCracken is from the United States. It's definitely a bit different than the albums Sandra is most well known for now, which are more often modern hymns or reworking of old hymns and psalms to modern folk/rock. This is original, personal lyrics on relationships, spirituality and life and a bit more of a rock edge than her newer music. I think it's still one of best albums, though I do enjoy listening to her 15+ other albums as well. Thanks, Sandra, for creating such beautiful music for all these years and I hope you keep making music for many years. It was fun to see you play live a month ago in St. Paul, too!
Release Year: 2004
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Album Of The Day: The Night We Called It A Day by Deepspace5
Released on this day 23 years ago, this is one of my favorite albums in underground hip-hop. Deepspace5 is a collective of rappers and producers, and having so many voices and producers from song to song keeps the sound fresh and varied. The producers provide great beds for the rhymes and the different rappers create brilliant wordplay. Between most tracks on this album, there is a few seconds of freestylin' from one of the rappers, too, which brings a loose, underground vibe throughout. Underground hip-hop may be an acquired taste, as it is more about unique sounds and rhymes instead of highly memorable, poppy songs like you might hear on the radio. But I find albums like this to be fun as I pick up something new that I didn't catch before with every repeat listen.
Release Year: 2002
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Album Of The Day: Slow Parade by Gileah Taylor
A number of people who I highly respect on music listed this album in their top albums of 2024, and so I'm catching up on this artist. Gileah Taylor worked with a few producers to create a beautiful, slow indie pop album. To quote Josh Balogh's review, "This is music for the dark night of the soul yearning for the relief of daylight. The album explores themes of loneliness, dark vs. light, and hope amid grief." This was my first listen to this album today, but it was an interesting listen on a cold, dark winter night. I'm not sure it has immediately grabbed me, but it is well-done music. I will definitely give it a few more listens and maybe it will become a favorite of mine.
Release Year: 2024
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Album Of The Day: Silence by Blindside
Blindside is a hard rock/metal band from Sweden, though their lyrics are in English. They were given their big break when their friends in P.O.D. brought them on tour and signed them to their label. This album is a masterpiece of great drums and bass, intense guitars, plus singing and screaming, if you ask me. Although they've released a number of albums since then, I think it's probably still one of their best albums, if not their best. "Pitiful" and "Sleepwalking" are still some of their most popular songs on streaming and are definitely my favorites as well. Lyrically, the band seems to be talking about relationships and knowing yourself. With all that energetic metal and screaming, you don't really expect this album to close with a five-minute, acoustic song called "Silence" either, but it's a perfect ending to have a moment reflect on the music you've just heard.
Release Year: 2002
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Album Of The Day: These Christmas Lights by Matt Redman
OK, the Christmas season is nearly over, so here's my last Christmas album for the year. Nearly all the albums celebrating the Christmas holiday are comprised of carols and other standards. However, on These Christmas Lights, worship leader Matt Redman decides to do something more original. Some lyrics from old Christmas hymns are present, but Matt Redman and team decide to put them to new melodies and write new worship lyrics to go with them. Honestly, I'm not sure it was the best choice for the artist, as many want to hear their favorites along with a few new songs. And none of these songs really keep me singing them days later, unfortunately. But I do think it's not bad and is worth a listen to this album from an accomplished artist who has been doing worship music for over 30 years now and has written many songs that are sung in churches around the world.
Release Year: 2016
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Album Of The Day: Christmas by Michael W. Smith
As I said a few weeks ago, the Christmas season for me is traditionally full of choirs and orchestral music as well as the pop/rock in my collection. In Michael W. Smith's first Christmas album, he leans into the choral and orchestral sounds so hard, there's almost no pop music sensibilities left, and I love it. Though "Lux Venit" and "Christ The Messiah" sound like they could be adapted from some classical piece, they are actually original songs by Smith and friends, like most of the others on this album. "Gloria" and "All Is Well" are probably the most pop of all of them, and they are excellent '80s pop, though there's definitely a full choir in these songs too. It's a beautiful album to listen to in a quiet moment or, as I prefer, to play it loud and better hear the quiet parts as well as fill the house on the loud parts just like you're at church for a Christmas mass.
Release Year: 1989
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Album Of The Day: Let It Snow Baby... Let It Reindeer by Relient K
Relient K is the biggest pop-punk band in Christian music history, I think. In 2001 they released rather dark and brooding holiday-themed songs, "Santa Claus Is Thumbing To Town" and "I Hate Christmas Parties". In 2003, they released the first version of this Christmas album as Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hand, adding mostly quick punk-pop versions of classic carols, their masterful version of "12 Days Of Christmas", and a few slower carols leading into the piano-based ballad "I Celebrate The Day", one of the best original songs about Christmas in the past few decades. Deck The Halls... was originally a bonus disc on a re-release of their latest album, so not really a full-fledged, widely-available album. But in 2007, they added a few more holiday standards, a song that originally appeared on a The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe-related album, and a few more originals including one about "Boxing Day", to make a real album of all this Christmas fun. I love Relient K because they always have a variation in styles, both musically and lyrically. One moment, you've got a silly song, the next minute an earnest song, and then a punk rock version of the "Hallelujah Chorus". This album ends with a choral version of "Auld Lang Syne" with a personal message from the band styled after The Beach Boys' Christmas album. Or maybe there's a hidden track of a silly version of a more obscure carol there too? (In 2008, three new recordings of holiday standards were released and appear on the vinyl double album as well, though you have to look harder to find them on streaming.)
Release Year: 2007
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Album Of The Day: This Is Our Christmas Album by Switchfoot
Switchfoot is mostly known as a rock band, but this is definitely not their normal rock album. On this album celebrating Christmas and New Year's, the band for the most part is a lot more laid-back and chill. There are definitely guitars, but no guitar solos and the rest of the band gets to shine. They do let loose the rock on "Scrappy Little Christmas Tree", though, which is a fun punk rock song about a sad tree at the tree lot. Other original songs ponder the meaning of Christmas, celebrating the new year, and there's also some celebrating of southern California's style of celebrating Christmas with surfing, avocados, and beautiful harmonies. The band then also delivers some classic carols and Christmas standards in mostly a more acoustic, stripped-down style. There's two experiences of this album available: if you are listening on streaming, the originals and standards are mixed together, while on CD and vinyl the first half/side is the new songs, and the second side is the classic songs. It's definitely not my favorite Switchfoot album, but it's fun to celebrate the holidays with one of my favorite bands.
Release Year: 2022
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Album Of The Day: Hark! by House Of Heroes
House Of Heroes is a great rock/pop band—one of my favorite bands of all time. On this EP, Hark! The House Of Heroes Sing, they deliver 3 songs of Christmas cheer. It's a great version of "O Holy Night" with some sort of funky keyboard melody behind the chorus. And there's a great version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Joy To The World" which is an energetic take. But my favorite is the original song "Christmas Morning"—or I at least can't find any indication that it's a cover. It's a fun reflection of how we should retain that childlike wonder "like a kid on Christmas morning" throughout our lives. It's an instant classic and honestly, I think it should be played everywhere as it's a great original holiday track. (If this keeps you wanting more, three are four more Christmas songs also recorded by House of Heroes out there on the streaming services.)
Release Year: 2014
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Album Of The Day: Humble King by Vineyard Music
Most of Vineyard Music's releases are live recordings of modern rock/contemporary worship services at their churches. But for this special Christmas album, Vineyard church music teams around the world went into the studio and recorded new songs and arrangements of existing songs. Titled Humble King: Christmas Around The World, it mixes the normal Vineyard worship feel with a bit more orchestral and choral arrangements than you might expect. Vineyard songwriters and worship leaders Andy Park and Brenton Brown as well as newer Vineyard teams contribute original songs, plus unique arrangements of classic carols and hymns for Christmas are present. Though it is made by music teams around the world and you can hear some musical influences from New Zealand, India and South Africa on many tracks, it definitely is grounded in the English-speaking, very western musical style that is the Vineyard Music standard. This is another Christmas-time favorite that I return to every year as it has great music, a variety of musical styles, and is centered on Jesus Christ's birth as the reason for the Christmas season.
Release Year: 2002
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