Released 20 years ago tomorrow, this is the 5th album from Swedish rock/metal band Blindside. While not as beloved as their 2001 album Silence, I think this album is my second favorite album from this band. The guitars are loud and lead singer Christian sings, wails and screams excellently throughout. Interestingly, I've loved this album, but upon reading the reviews online, it seems like most didn't like it. The band were on a new label for this album and probably no longer had the budget they had on their two previous albums on a major label, and I suppose the production doesn't sound as clean and perfect, but I think that adds to the character of it. This album is a bit more experimental, with some more electronic elements mixed in with the band's metal sound. And maybe it was too pop/rock for the long-time metal fans, but I was never really that interested in their old '90s Tooth & Nail releases and really only got into them in their Atlantic albums which were a bit more modern rock than metal. The lyrics are a bit darker than their previous few albums, maybe, but I find on occasion I'm up for some dark, brooding thoughts with my screaming music. My favorite songs are "This Is A Heart Attack", "My Alibi", and "When I Remember". Maybe give this a listen and you'll find these Swedish rockers are better on it than you remember.

Release Year: 2005
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It was 1998. For a brief moment, the swing jazz music of many decades before came back into fashion. And if you wanted swing music made by Christians, The W's was the band for you. Released 27 years ago yesterday, this is their first album and includes 11 whimsical and fun songs. Their musicianship and songwriting is pretty good, though to be honest, I haven't listened to this enough over the years for the lyrics to be at all memorable. Well, the one exception to that was their big single, the very cheesy song "The Devil Is Bad". It, quite predictably, tells the story of Eve and the snake in the Garden of Eden, with the chorus exclaiming "You are the devil and you are bad!" A few other songs tell Biblical stories, but others like "Alarm Clock" and "King of Polyester" seem to be just fun swing grooves with lyrics about life and love. Is it the best swing album? No, probably not. But it was a kinda big deal among the Christian rock crowd back in the day. It was also kinda legendary because, until earlier this year, it wasn't on any streaming services. Now it's on there in a compilation of their whole discography, so the first 11 tracks is this album.

Release Year: 1998
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Released just last month, this album is the first full-length release from a new collective of worship leaders who want to make new music to be sung by church congregations. Unlike the music coming out of most mega-church worship teams today, these songs do not sound like a Coldplay song or any stadium pop anthem. Jeremy Casella, Rachel Wilhelm, Josh Miles and Karin Simmons take turns on the lead vocals and wrote these new songs, all new melodies and some original lyrics with some old hymn tests or translations of scripture. It's refreshing to hear some new music that isn't trying to chase the latest industry trends, but instead focuses on connecting congregations together in prayer and praise to God. I'm looking forward to listening to this album again soon.

Release Year: 2025
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Released today, this is the fifth album by Anchor & Braille, the solo pop/rock alias of Stephen Christian. He's most well known as the lead singer of alternative rock band Anberlin, and after Anberlin broke up about.a decade ago, Stephen moved to New Mexico. This album is his love letter to the state of New Mexico, with an intro/outro that sounds a bit like a western film and a wide variety of musical styles. Previous Anchor & Braille albums have had a different style on each album, and this one has moments of electronic pop like some previous albums, but it also has hard, driving rock that wouldn't be out of place on an Anberlin album for a few songs as well. It's a musical whirlwind through the rugged terrain of the southwest, and I'm enjoying it on my first listen. Stephen Christian has had a number of different projects and it seems like he's always writing something musically, so I'm not surprised he keeps recording and releasing new music. I, for one, will keep listening to whatever he releases.

Release Year: 2025
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