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Album Of The Day: ERACE by The Gotee Brothers
"Colors don't hate. People do!" Released 30 years ago today, this is the only album from Nashville-based group The Gotee Brothers. Comprised of Toby McKeehan aka. TobyMac (dc Talk), Joey Elwood and Todd Collins, they also founded the Gotee Records label a few years before. The album title stands for "Eliminating Racism And Creating Equality", and well, I'm not sure if one professional artist and two professional music producers who are all white men are the best people to solve racism, but I guess it's cool they tried. It's clear from this album that the group loves lots of styles of music as this is very eclectic in sound. The core sound is an early '90s hip-hop, but there's also clearly some samples or beds with many other influences like country, jazz and rock, as you might expect from Nashville residents and southerners. Lyrically, these are Christians who are trying to focus on loving people of all races and maybe bringing some hip-hop influences to the white masses. It's an interesting mix of poetry, hip-hop, and often sung choruses, kinda like dc Talk was in the early '90s but a bit more experimental. I've only recently acquired this album but had the track "New South" on some old sampler, and it's definitely not something I listen to often, but it's an interesting look at the more obscure mid-'90s Christian music. It seems like it's not currently on streaming, unfortunately, so you can listen to clips on YouTube or something or find a used CD like I did.
Release Year: 1996
Album Of The Day: [Untitled] EP by meWithoutYou
![Album Art of meWithoutYou's [untitled] EP - On a white background, the center fifth of the area is a circle of lines and colors. It's mostly black lines and bits of bright color in a swirling, circular mass. I'm trying to make out shapes or forms I know, but I'm not really making any out.](/sites/default/files/blog-media/meWithoutYou%20-%20Untitled%20EP.jpg)
Released 8 years ago today, this is the fourth EP from alternative rock band meWithoutYou. It was released just a month and a half before what would become their seventh and final studio album, also titled [untitled]. I'll admit, I loved the earlier meWithoutYou albums and EPs and did not really get into their later stuff much. Their earlier music seemed to have a bit more of nu-metal edge to them—a passionate, hard edge to the songs—while by this time it was mostly lead vocalist Aaron Weiss whispering nearly unintelligibly over pretty pedestrian rock instrumentation. Maybe I didn't give these albums their fair shake. I also thought, at least at the time, that releasing a 7-song EP of songs that were not on their album coming weeks later was a bit odd too. But maybe I should have come to expect oddness from this band. Aaron Weiss's poetry is certainly odd and the band's musicianship is more interesting than I remember on my previous listen or two, so I probably just never gave this EP a chance. I guess I need to give this band with a cult following another shake on their later music.
Release Year: 2018
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Album Of The Day: Faith by Jason Upton
"Father, make me just like you." Released 25 years ago this past Friday, this is the second album from modern worship artist Jason Upton. Mr. Upton is one of the most unique voices in Christian music in my opinion, and his albums are full of Holy Spirit-filled worship. More than many other artists, the violin is a big part of the music on this album, though there's definitely a good amount of keyboards, drums, bass and guitars as well. He and his band seem to have many spontaneous musical prayers and praise to God. In some parts, Upton's song is a cacophony of music that might grate on some listeners who like really polished music, but it seems to be to be heartfelt, passionate music to God. From the quieter songs like "Come Up Here" to the louder songs like "Freedom", this recording provides well over an hour of passionate worship to God. Jason Upton has gone on to record many more albums, most released independently, but this is the first one I heard and is still my favorite album of his.
Release Year: 2001
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Album Of The Day: Where The Past Meets Today by Sarah Kelly
Released 20 years ago today, this is the second major-label album from Christian power pop artist Sarah Kelly. Her vocals are certainly the standout here; she can really belt out a song and it works great with these heartfelt rock songs. The lyrics are from someone who has had a lot of life experiences and has found a lot of answers in a relationship with God, Sarah Kelly writes or co-writes 10 of 11 songs, so I expect they are personal songs to her. The musicians on this album seem to be really good, even legendary guitarist Slash recorded guitar solos on "Still Breathing" and "Out Of Reach". It's a good album that I really didn't catch at first; I only got a copy of it recently.
Release Year: 2006
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Album Of The Day: Make It Out Alive by The Arcadian Wild
Released today, this is the fourth album from the acoustic folk/bluegrass group The Arcadian Wild. They've got an excellent sound: a very simple, organic mix of fiddle, mandolin, acoustic guitar and bass, with no drums on most tracks. Bailey, Isaac and Lincoln switch off on lead vocals and create beautiful harmonies. Though it is borne of traditional folk and bluegrass, I would say their sound is still pretty modern in style and some of these songs really swing despite not having the drums of a modern pop/rock sound. Like the album cover shows, the lyrics seem to be fairly serene pictures of life and people. This was only released today so I've only listened to it a few times, but I like it just as much as their last album, I think, if not more. Looking forward to seeing them play live again this fall and giving this more listens.
Release Year: 2026
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Album Of The Day: Sarah Masen by Sarah Masen
Released 30 years ago back in June, this is the second album from the pop/rock singer-songwriter Sarah Masen. The music and her vocals have a playful, jazzy vibe, but the lyrics are Sarah Masen's attempts to put her Christian faith into her own words and into practice in this modern world. "All Fall Down" and "Break Hard The Wishbone" open up the album with very solid, catchy songs. Masen covers Victoria Williams midway through on "Love" and definitely brings a bit more pop flair to the song, And although some of this album is about religious ideas, actually it's maybe more about love, as many of the songs like "Kissing Tree" just seem to be about falling in love with another person and living in love. Sarah Masen is one of those artists I only recently started listening to though friends have been recommending her for years, but I'm really liking her music.
Release Year: 1996
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Album Of The Day: Shot Of Love by Bob Dylan
Released 45 years ago today, this is the twenty-first studio album from the legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. His third and last album of his "Christian" era, Dylan was still writing rock songs with his version of Christianity, referencing the Bible and Christian ideas, though it might not be preachy or no-nonsense enough for some Christians. Songs like the title track point to God's love (and love in general) as the only high Bob Dylan needs. But other songs like "Watered-Down Love" seem to say that God's love is too strong for us to handle or something, which is a bit odd. "Property Of Jesus" seems to tell the story of someone who humbly follows Jesus and is looked down upon for it. There's a bunch of fun rock jams with a bit of a Gospel flair here like "The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar", "Dead Man, Dead Man" and "Trouble". Some of the songs are love songs, it seems, like "Heart Of Mine" and "In The Summertime". And well, I'm not sure what to make of a song honoring comedian Lenny Bruce. The closing song, "Every Grain Of Sand", is beautiful poetry, and a nice close to Bob Dylan's period of making music with some Christian ideas. These albums were certainly not his best of his career, but a look at a major artist writing songs and struggling to incorporate Christian ideas into his work, and I find them very interesting for that reason.
Release Year: 1981
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Album Of The Day: Sticks & Stones by Wes King
Released 35 years ago sometime this year, this is the second studio album from Christian pop/rock artist Wes King. I only got into Christian music a few years later, so I wasn't really listening to Wes King at the time and so I'm pretty new to this album. Like most of the Christian pop/rock from that era, it sounds a bit dated and even more than some other artists of that time, the country influence definitely bleeds through a bit here with the production and Nashville recording of this album. Wes King writes nearly all the songs here, and it's pretty clear that the base he writes with is acoustic guitar, then more is added in the studio. The lyrics of these songs are personal but also are centered on religious themes, rooted in religious ideas and scripture. Wes has excellent vocals and it seems like he's a classic Christian artist worth checking out more. Also, I've seen posts online that Wes King may record a new album which could be interesting.
Release Year: 1991
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Album Of The Day: The Great Light by Rivers & Robots
Released 15 years ago this coming Wednesday, this is the first studio album from English worship band Rivers & Robots. Released independently, Jonathan Ogden and his band mix Bible verses and prayers with simple melodies of soft rock and keyboard-based electronica. The calming vocals with harmonies and the musical bed bring a quiet, contemplative vibe to most songs, but unlike many of today's recorded modern church music, it's not recorded live with an audience singing along. I guess I'm not sure if any churches sing these songs, but that's what the lyrical style almost sounds like. Rivers & Robots focuses a bit on the musical artistry than most church worship bands, I think, though the style could be considered a bit lo-fi these days. The band got a lot more notice with their more recent albums, but this album shows they had their sound and songwriting/production down right from the start. This album is a good listen, though I've not yet listened to it enough that they have gotten stuck in my head or anything.
Release Year: 2011
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Album Of The Day: Revolver by The Beatles
Released 60 years ago this past Wednesday, this is the seventh studio album from iconic pop/rock band The Beatles. The first album in their psychedelic period, the classic sound of the fab four is peppered with their love for the avant-garde, Eastern philosophy, and LSD, plus includes some Eastern music touches as well. I honestly have not listened to this album much, but I am familiar with some of the songs like "Taxman", "Eleanor Rigby", "Yellow Submarine" and "Good Day Sunshine". But there's a whole 10 more songs, and in all these you can hear bits of The Beatles traditional sound, but you also get a good amount of variety and experimentation. It is clear that many, many bands were inspired by the groundbreaking, intricate things they are doing on this album as well as their songwriting. It's a fun album and interesting to listen to. Though I've never been a huge fan of The Beatles and I probably need to listen to them more, they are very talented and deserve their role in being pioneers of modern rock music.
Release Year: 1966
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