Released 40 years ago today, this is the first best-of compilation of songs from the first 9 years of Amy Grant's career in Christian pop. In those early years, she released 7 albums, and this collection added a few new songs but mostly highlighted the biggest hits from her first albums. These songs are pretty good, but this '80s pop/rock sound is definitely a bit dated. Religious ballads like "Thy Word" and "El Shaddai" were definitely popular among Christian music listeners at the time. Her song "Emmanuel" from her Christmas album is included here too. "Sing Your Praise To The Lord", written by Rich Mullins, has been a favorite song of mine for a very long time. But fans of Christian pop in the '80s are probably most familiar with songs like, "Stay For Awhile", "Everywhere I Go", "Angels" and more. The track listings and order on the LP, cassette and CD versions are all slightly different, with a few live tracks added to the CD version's release in 1990 that is what we have on streaming now. It ends with a medley of songs, a dance mega-mix, on the CD and cassette versions, and I remember my sisters dancing to this album as kids a lot. This collection is a fun look at the early years of Amy Grant's career and served as a jumping-off point to much greater things in the coming decades.

Release Year: 1986
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Released 42 years ago today, this is the third and final album released after Keith Green's death in a plane crash a few years earlier. Keith was a talented piano player and songwriter and had a few modestly successful hits in the '60s before becoming a Christian and, from then on, making very ministry-focused music for nearly a decade. Many of his albums he gave away for free to anyone who wanted one and took donations for his livelihood, and his concerts were often free. His style is a very '70s piano-based rock—something like Elton John or Billy Joel. Most well-known here is the closer, a cover of the traditional song "Create In Me A Clean Heart", and preceded by it is a four-minute instrumental track that leads well into it. A number of other songs retell Bible stories, and a few like the title track feature Green's controversial political and social views. All the recordings of Keith Green here were made in the years before his death, with the album put together by his wife Melody and friends, and it's all well-done studio tracks, or at least it sounds like it to me. Keith Green was a pioneer in the scene of "Jesus Music", rock music made in the '70s to spread the good news of Christianity, and this album shows his brilliance and challenges both Christians and non-Christians with his passionate singing about God.

Release Year: 1984
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Released 11 years ago today, this is the sixth EP from Jon Foreman, the lead singer of long-time rock band Switchfoot. In 2015, he released 4 EPs in The Wonderlands series, each of the 25 songs written about a certain time of day, to some extent. This EP has 6 songs from 5pm to 10pm and each song is co-produced with a different Producer. As the day closes, Jon reflects on his humanity and morbidity, but also on God's love and grace. Like most of his solo work, it's not as rock 'n' roll as a Switchfoot album, but it's by no means just an acoustic set or anything, as most songs have full band instrumentation, sometimes even unique instruments and strings. "Your Love Is Enough" is my favorite song here and "Siren's Song" is a beautiful love song to the ocean from this lifelong surfer. The rest of the songs are solid too. I'm really happy Jon keeps writing songs and releasing them for us, because they definitely make me think and bring me joy.

Release Year: 2015
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"All I know is that I must be perfect by Thursday." Released 27 years ago today, this is the first album from California-based pop/rock singer-songwriter Kendall Payne. Released at 19 years old on Capitol Records, this debut was a big opening statement from this songwriter. Both the music and the lyrics sound like someone who has had more experience in life. Though there is a bit of railing against the the vices of Southern California and a few songs about relationships with men, there's a lot of insightful moments too. In "Closer To Myself" and "Honest" she longs to know herself better, while songs like "On My Bones" and "Never Leave" point to a higher power for insight and consolation. "Modern Day Moses" draws comparisons between the Biblical character and people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mother Teresa and encourages us to "change the course of history" through bold action. The whole album is a woman grasping at the beauty, struggle, and poetry of life, and it's still a good listen these decades later. I need to check out some of her other, later independent albums more too.

Release Year: 1999
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