Released on this day 5 years ago, this album is not one I listen to often, but I listen to it more than any other album Coldplay has released in the last 15 years. Coldplay released this by playing the songs live online from the country of Jordan during sunrise and sunset 5 years ago, which was a memorable way to debut the album. More than any other Coldplay album in the last 15 years, this album has a variety of sounds, not just the same energetic pop that they've been putting on their albums for the last 15 years before or since. There's a moment of Gospel music, some sounds of the Middle East, some beautiful instrumentals, and some lyrics talking about the world's issues today, not just feel-good pop anthems. It was refreshing to see the band coming back to making interesting music like they did on their earliest albums, and it's unfortunate their two albums since Everyday Life just seem they're going back to their formulaic stuff that does not connect with me as much. It's not that all their recent music is terrible, but this is their only recent album that I like listening through as an album.

Release Year: 2019
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In 1972, Larry Norman released Only Visiting This Planet, one of the most successful Christian rock albums of the '70s. On this day four years ago, Kevin Max (formerly of dc Talk) released a cover of the whole album in homage to his friend Larry Norman. Revisiting This Planet is lovingly recreated by some of Nashville's best musicians and Kevin's vocals bring the rock vibe to Norman's classic album. It's certainly interesting to bring modern production methods and quality to these sometimes dated lyrics, though in other moments the lyrics feel like they could have been written today. The album does include an original song, "God Part IV", in which Max comments on previous thoughts about God from John Lennon, U2 and Larry Norman.

Release Year: 2020
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Released on this day 32 years ago, this album made dc Talk a household name among Christian music fans. At this point, dc Talk was mostly Toby McKeehan rapping on the verses and Michael Tait and Kevin Max singing on the choruses. With Free At Last, this was definitely still the case, but the band experimented with sounds and repertoire. "Free At Last" veers into Gospel, while "Time Is..." gets a bit more rock edge. Covers of "Jesus Is Just Alright" and "Lean On Me" with new rapped verses are highlights as well as the original tunes. A number of the songs challenge mainstream cultural norms promoting abstinence and modest clothing, which was kinda weird to me both when I first heard this and still today. This album is definitely a time capsule of where Christian music was in the early '90s, for better and worse, and a lot of fun.

Release Year: 1992
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Ashley Cleveland is one of my favorite voices in music. She can really belt out a vocal and her deep alto is such a contrast to many other female artists. Ashley Cleveland's third album, Lesson of Love, is a rock album that mixes in a lot of Gospel influences and also includes a few hymns from other Christian traditions. But even though it's got a few hymns, it still is a rock album. Ashley's husband, Kenny Greenberg, does great guitar work throughout and songs like "He Is", "Revive Us Again", and "You Are There" keep the album energetic. I love all these songs and never tire of hearing Ashley's voice and her perspective on the world.

Release Year: 1995
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