Wow! This is a blast from the past. Released 30 years ago yesterday, this is the major-label debut album by pop singer Jaci Velasquez. Though she was only 16 years old when this was released, she had already released three albums before this. This is mostly Christian pop music, though a few of the songs have a bit of a Latin pop flavor hinting at the singer's heritage. Almost none of these songs are written by Velasquez herself, but are instead written by some of the best songwriters working in Nashville's Christian pop scene at the time. I haven't listened to this album in at least 25 years and Jaci Velasquez was never really a musical favorite of mine, but my sisters definitely had this album and listened to it a lot in the late '90s. So I listened to it with them and remember all these songs pretty well, as it's a well-written ten songs of pop. OK, maybe I even listened to it once or twice when they weren't around too. Jaci would go on to sell over three million albums in the U.S., also release pop music in Spanish, and even have a few acting roles in movies throughout her career.

Release Year: 1996
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Released 8 years ago today, this is the second album by rapper Jackie Hill Perry. She delivers fast-moving verses and, on this album, there are musical interludes between songs that are classic hymns or Gospel music, slowing down the album and adding moments of contemplation for the listener. Songs like "Hymn" feature a bunch of guest rappers and definitely is all about preaching the Gospel. But other songs use Jackie Hill Perry's personal experiences to talk about where she can improve while also pointing to God as her Lord and Savior. I love the production style here from a slew of Producers including the guys running the Humble Beast label which released this album. The album mixes a variety of styles and brings a lot of musicality to that is not there when it's all Jackie rapping. It's fitting to have an album with such a musical title to have such dynamic swings in musical elements. I haven't liked her production on her new Reach Records releases as much, but I hope she continues to create hip-hop because the raps are excellent.

Release Year: 2018
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Released 5 years ago today, this is the first album by singer-songwriter Natalie Bergman. She performs a very unique combination of folk pop with soul and Gospel elements. Her falsetto vocals with very Gospel-centric lyrics and pop sensibilities is very unexpected but definitely worth a listen. It's not exactly what I would expect from Jack White's Third Man Records, though then again I would not expect the norm from that label either. Lyrically, you'd expect the music to be sung by a Gospel quartet or maybe some older white lady, but instead this is an attractive woman in her 30s. And musically, you expect it to be music about making love to a partner and the frivolities of life, but instead it's songs about a relationship with Jesus. It's just not what I would expect all around, but I think I like it. Check this out and you might like it too.

Release Year: 2021
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Released 27 years ago today, this is the first album by Chevelle, a hard rock/metal band by two brothers for almost 30 years now, though actually at this moment a third brother was playing bass too. This album really hits hard, and by that I mean that this three-piece creates a lot of noise and lets out a lot of anger on this album. Guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter Pete Loeffler passionately sings and sometimes screams poetic lyrics trying to understand the complexities of life and questioning the things he's been taught. The highlight for me is still the title track which opens the album with six minutes of excellent metal, including a two-minute intro. But it doesn't stop from there; throughout it's 42 minutes of grunge-y guitars with thundering bass and drums as well as Pete's dynamic vocals. Producer Steve Albini and Chevelle kept the instrumentation and the production sparse and it keeps the energy up and probably sounds more like their live show, which I think was a very good choice for this band's debut. The band has continued to make music, but I haven't listened to much of their music except for this album in the last 20 years, honestly, as I found their few albums after this less and less compelling to me personally.

Release Year: 1999
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