3 favourite Christian albums?

GoldieLocks · January 18th, 2008, 12:45 PM

I listen to very little Christian music. Last year I went on a GREAT quest to find more inspirational music to enjoy while on the road. I only found 4 C.D.'s the entire year.
Here's 3 that I'm enjoying Now.

1) Russ Taff - Now More Than Ever

2) Randy Travis - Glory Train

3) Bart Millard's - Hymned No.1

Some cool stuff on all of them. The sound quality of Christian music has gotten much better. But it's still too safe & predictable for me. Anybody else found any great stuff recently? Please give me your 3 fav's...even if they go back a few years.

golfnut · January 18th, 2008, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldieLocks

I listen to very little Christian music. Last year I went on a GREAT quest to find more inspirational music to enjoy while on the road. I only found 4 C.D.'s the entire year.
Here's 3 that I'm enjoying Now.

1) Russ Taff - Now More Than Ever

2) Randy Travis - Glory Train

3) Bart Millard's - Hymned No.1

Some cool stuff on all of them. The sound quality of Christian music has gotten much better. But it's still too safe & predictable for me. Anybody else found any great stuff recently? Please give me your 3 fav's...even if they go back a few years.

My 3 favourites:

Steven Curtis Chapman - The Great Adventure
4 Him - The basics of Life
Mid South - Lessons of Life

All are a few years old.

Pesty · January 18th, 2008, 03:44 PM

Tree63 - Worship Vol 1
Tree63 - Sunday
David Crowder Band - Remedy

allen st. john · January 18th, 2008, 03:55 PM

Not to be a wise guy, but I think they'd all be Charlie Christian.

But half seriously, I did a search for Jesus on my Itunes library and came up with a bunch of great (if not all unquestioningly devout) songs

Steve Earle's Pilgrim
John Prine's "Jesus the Missing Years"
Greg Brown's "Jesus and Elvis"
Nirvana's "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam"
Gillian Welch's "By the Mark"
Springsteen's "Jesus was an Only Son"
RY Cooder "Jesus on the Mainline"
Velvet Underground "Jesus"

and gospel influenced songs (from Al Green to the Carter Family) too numerous to mention.

Check the Itunes store. They've got a "Rock Songs About Jesus" compilation about 50 deep, ranging from Johnny Cash to Skip James to Tom Waits to the Rolling Stones. They can't be blamed for including "Jesus take the Wheel."

As far as music that would be shelved under "Christian" I find that artists who are too fixated on one subject (be it religion or sex) don't hold my interest for long.

best
Allen

golfnut · January 18th, 2008, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allen st. john

As far as music that would be shelved under "Christian" I find that artists who are too fixated on one subject (be it religion or sex) don't hold my interest for long.

best
Allen

My music library consists of music that would be shelved under "Christian", "Country", "Blues", "Jazz", etc. You get the idea. Just because an artist chooses to fixate on one subject doesn't mean my collection has to.
The question from the OP was "Your favourite Christian albums".

Doug Ferguson · January 18th, 2008, 06:57 PM

These are some I keep coming back to. The first one is overtly "Christian", but don't let it's title throw you.

1. "Jesus Freak", dc Talk -- multi-themed & complex

2. "Dark Was the Night", Blind Willie Johnson -- old-time acoustic blues

3. "Orphans", Tom Waits

4. "It's For You", Michael Roe -- hard to find, but there's some good songs on this one.

Tele-Caster · January 20th, 2008, 04:26 AM

1. Angel Band -Emmylou Harris
2. Hymns and Meditations -Fernando Ortega
3. This spot could be filled with any other Fernando Ortega disc

Trimmed&Burnin · January 20th, 2008, 08:29 AM

Spontaneous Combustion: Glen Kaiser
Trimmed And Burnin: Kaiser/Mansfield
Souled Out and Sanctified: Danny Brooks

allen st. john · January 20th, 2008, 08:42 AM

Quote:

My music library consists of music that would be shelved under "Christian", "Country", "Blues", "Jazz", etc. You get the idea. Just because an artist chooses to fixate on one subject doesn't mean my collection has to.
The question from the OP was "Your favourite Christian albums".

I commend you for your eclectic tastes. My point was just that artists who focus on one subject, whatever it is, tend to have IMHO a view of the world that doesn't interest me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

And again, while I'm not a regular poster in this forum, Goldie Locks did say that he found Christian music "too safe and predictable." While they're not whole albums, these songs are available a la carte on Itunes, and are anything but predictable.

If anyone thinks this is a hijack, then I apologize. It started out as a wiseguy impulse, but I edited the post three times to add more info.

best
Allen

Trimmed&Burnin · January 20th, 2008, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trimmed&Burnin

Spontaneous Combustion: Glenn Kaiser
Trimmed And Burnin: Kaiser/Mansfield
Souled Out and Sanctified: Danny Brooks

My list is of Christian albums,,, although I prefer to call it Gospel. I offer no aplogies for loving Gospel Blues music or that they are in my top three. The "Christian" music that Goldielocks is calling safe and predictable is probably the stuff called "Adult Contemperary" christian music. I agree with him on that point.
I believe the question is what are your favorite top three christian albums,,, that leaves room to have a top three Raggae, Jazz, Americana, Polka, Himalayan nose whistling or whatever.
Concerning artists that focus on one subject and their world veiws,,,, There are those artists that write and sing about all kinds of things that they have no real knowledge of,,, the result is usually pathetic. Gospel Music is best served up by someone who knows and understands what they're singing about.
Allen, perhaps you could enlighten us as to Glenn Kaiser's world view??

emailhot · January 20th, 2008, 11:16 AM

my favorites are

Steven Curtis Chapman- Speechless
Mark Mallett- Let the Lord know (markmallett.com)
Jars of clay- redemption songs

GoldieLocks · January 20th, 2008, 02:23 PM

Thanks Trimmed. I'm gonna have to go find that:

Himalayan Nose Whistling album you recommended

Trimmed&Burnin · January 20th, 2008, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldieLocks

Thanks Trimmed. I'm gonna have to go find that:

Himalayan Nose Whistling album you recommended

Hey Rod,
I had never heard or heard of Nose Whistling untill I saw a Bella Fleck concert. He had this guy from either Nepal or possibly Mongolia performing the technique as part of the concert. It was really cool,,, I dont know if I could take a whole album of it but it was cool!!

rxtech · January 20th, 2008, 04:31 PM

How about:

Larry Norman's "Only visiting this planet" and "In another land". Also, Randy Stonehill's "Welcome to paradise". These are GREAT Christian albums for sure! In fact I just saw Randy Stonehill around a week ago, and man, he still does great!

giantslayer · January 20th, 2008, 05:03 PM

I'll give you three that I consider to be very well done musically and aren't typical vanilla mainstream fare.

1. All Together Separate - Ardent Worship. This one is a very good worship album IMHO. It also has a lot of good guitar playing. ATS was a very good band period - very talented and very musically creative (unlike a lot of other Christian bands). Unfortunately, they broke up a few years ago (on good terms), but you can get their stuff on iTunes. They have two other albums that aren't worship albums and, out of those two, the self-titled debut album is better IMO.

2. Jars of Clay - Furthermore. They're a unique band in that they exhibit an unhindered creativity. They not only make their own unique non-mainstream sound, but they change around the style, tone, and instrumentation to give each album its own unique sound. This album is kindof like a greatest hits album, but instead of slapping a bunch of old recordings and a couple new songs together, they re-recorded a bunch of their songs in a more laid back acoustic style on one disc and then put a live set on the second disc.

3. Warren Barfield (self-titled). This one has a more mainstream pop sound than the other two albums, but still isn't boring musically. The reason I put this one on was because you said you were looking for "more inspirational" music. This album is positive and uplifting overall, with lyrical themes that are surprisingly fresh and inspiring. I also saw Warren Barfield live and he did the best one-man acoustic show I've ever seen (this album's got full instrumentation, but I do think it would be cool if he made a live acoustic album someday).

James Knox · January 20th, 2008, 07:37 PM

"Palanquin"
Kevin Prosch

"Drowning With Land In Sight"
77's

"The Boat Ashore"
Michael Roe

romo · January 21st, 2008, 08:48 AM

David Crowder Band "A Collision"

U2 "The Joshua Tree"

Right now my third is Needtobreathe "The Heat"

OrovilleTim · January 21st, 2008, 12:47 PM

1. Waterdeep - Sink or Swim
2. Waterdeep with 100 Portraits - Enter the Worship Circle
3. Alan Jackson - Precious Memories

Trimmed&Burnin · January 21st, 2008, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrovilleTim

1. Waterdeep - Sink or Swim
2. Waterdeep with 100 Portraits - Enter the Worship Circle
3. Alan Jackson - Precious Memories

Yepper,,, I really like Waterdeep... good stuff!

Flat357 · January 21st, 2008, 06:35 PM

I like this one

eedwards · January 21st, 2008, 07:43 PM

How 'bout some classics?

Sunday's Child(1987) - Phil Keaggy - Not sure if it gets better than this.

The Way Home(1989) - Russ Taff - Solid Bluesy Gospel Rock

Thirst (1998) - Randy Stonehill - Hard to pick one album; I love all his stuff. Stonehill is my favorite living artist and doesn't make bad albums. or bad songs. ever. So many of his songs feel as if they are written just for me and thats why I like it so much.

BellyBoy · January 21st, 2008, 08:30 PM

1. Danny Brooks- Souled Out and Sanctified
2. Randy Stonehill- Welcome to Paradise
3. 2nd Chapter of Acts, Phil Keaggy and a Band Called David- How The West Was One

I would also add
Michael Omartian- White Horse awesome album!

Trimmed&Burnin · January 21st, 2008, 10:17 PM

I'll bet I would add the Johnny Mannion Bands album,,,,if'n they had one!! I heard rumors of some time in the studio,,, how but it there BellyBoy???

maestrovert · January 22nd, 2008, 07:29 AM

David Mullen: Revival
Russ Taff: The Way Home
Michael Card: The Beginning

Preacher · January 23rd, 2008, 03:56 PM

Russ Taff - Medals, an oldie but a goodie, he was more rock then than blues as he is now.

Casting Crowns - they have 2 CDs out, both great...

Phil Keagey - Crimson and Blue - if you like guitar you will love this...

Jeremy Camp - Restored... all great singles, and he can pick too!

Steven Curtis Chapman - The Great Adventure

Degarmo and Key - early rock, get the greatest hits album...

and if you like Pop/Rap/Hip Hop
Toby Mac - Diverse City, although "Momentum" is good too.

January 18th, 2008, 12:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
GoldieLocks Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Abbotsford B.C. Posts: 799	3 favourite Christian albums? I listen to very little Christian music. Last year I went on a GREAT quest to find more inspirational music to enjoy while on the road. I only found 4 C.D.'s the entire year. Here's 3 that I'm enjoying Now. 1) Russ Taff - Now More Than Ever 2) Randy Travis - Glory Train 3) Bart Millard's - Hymned No.1 Some cool stuff on all of them. The sound quality of Christian music has gotten much better. But it's still too safe & predictable for me. Anybody else found any great stuff recently? Please give me your 3 fav's...even if they go back a few years. __________________ "How little I know inspires me tremendously! I'm a huge fan of other people's playing." Bonnie Raitt

January 18th, 2008, 06:57 PM	#6 (permalink)
Doug Ferguson Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Indianapolis, IN Age: 55 Posts: 1,321	These are some I keep coming back to. The first one is overtly "Christian", but don't let it's title throw you. 1. "Jesus Freak", dc Talk -- multi-themed & complex 2. "Dark Was the Night", Blind Willie Johnson -- old-time acoustic blues 3. "Orphans", Tom Waits 4. "It's For You", Michael Roe -- hard to find, but there's some good songs on this one. __________________ If you get hung up on just guitar players, you've missed something.... Don't ever get to a point where you just gotta be a guitar player. You hear something, go try to get that note and sound as much like that as you can.-Buddy Guy

January 20th, 2008, 04:26 AM	#7 (permalink)
Tele-Caster TDPRI Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tahlequah, OK Age: 43 Posts: 83	Only three? 1. Angel Band -Emmylou Harris 2. Hymns and Meditations -Fernando Ortega 3. This spot could be filled with any other Fernando Ortega disc

January 20th, 2008, 08:29 AM	#8 (permalink)
Trimmed&Burnin Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bellingham Wa Age: 53 Posts: 807	Spontaneous Combustion: Glen Kaiser Trimmed And Burnin: Kaiser/Mansfield Souled Out and Sanctified: Danny Brooks __________________ Keep your lamp Trimmed And Burnin Shannon, Last edited by Trimmed&Burnin : January 20th, 2008 at 09:34 AM.

January 20th, 2008, 11:16 AM	#11 (permalink)
emailhot Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Leduc, Alberta, Canada Age: 35 Posts: 193 3 Photos	my favorites are Steven Curtis Chapman- Speechless Mark Mallett- Let the Lord know (markmallett.com) Jars of clay- redemption songs __________________ Ed Mailhot Modded Squier Vintage Mod now w/4-way and gfs pickups Aria Ad-28c W/b-band nady wireless Vox DA-15 &Crate Palomino V3212

January 18th, 2008, 03:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
Pesty Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Manitoba Canada Posts: 301	Tree63 - Worship Vol 1 Tree63 - Sunday David Crowder Band - Remedy

January 18th, 2008, 03:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
allen st. john Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 677	Not to be a wise guy, but I think they'd all be Charlie Christian. But half seriously, I did a search for Jesus on my Itunes library and came up with a bunch of great (if not all unquestioningly devout) songs Steve Earle's Pilgrim John Prine's "Jesus the Missing Years" Greg Brown's "Jesus and Elvis" Nirvana's "Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam" Gillian Welch's "By the Mark" Springsteen's "Jesus was an Only Son" RY Cooder "Jesus on the Mainline" Velvet Underground "Jesus" and gospel influenced songs (from Al Green to the Carter Family) too numerous to mention. Check the Itunes store. They've got a "Rock Songs About Jesus" compilation about 50 deep, ranging from Johnny Cash to Skip James to Tom Waits to the Rolling Stones. They can't be blamed for including "Jesus take the Wheel." As far as music that would be shelved under "Christian" I find that artists who are too fixated on one subject (be it religion or sex) don't hold my interest for long. best Allen

January 20th, 2008, 02:23 PM	#12 (permalink)
GoldieLocks Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Abbotsford B.C. Posts: 799	New FAvourite Album? Thanks Trimmed. I'm gonna have to go find that: Himalayan Nose Whistling album you recommended __________________ "How little I know inspires me tremendously! I'm a huge fan of other people's playing." Bonnie Raitt

January 20th, 2008, 04:31 PM	#14 (permalink)
rxtech Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: central california Posts: 121	Here's some more How about: Larry Norman's "Only visiting this planet" and "In another land". Also, Randy Stonehill's "Welcome to paradise". These are GREAT Christian albums for sure! In fact I just saw Randy Stonehill around a week ago, and man, he still does great!

January 20th, 2008, 05:03 PM	#15 (permalink)
giantslayer Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Age: 22 Posts: 235	I'll give you three that I consider to be very well done musically and aren't typical vanilla mainstream fare. 1. All Together Separate - Ardent Worship. This one is a very good worship album IMHO. It also has a lot of good guitar playing. ATS was a very good band period - very talented and very musically creative (unlike a lot of other Christian bands). Unfortunately, they broke up a few years ago (on good terms), but you can get their stuff on iTunes. They have two other albums that aren't worship albums and, out of those two, the self-titled debut album is better IMO. 2. Jars of Clay - Furthermore. They're a unique band in that they exhibit an unhindered creativity. They not only make their own unique non-mainstream sound, but they change around the style, tone, and instrumentation to give each album its own unique sound. This album is kindof like a greatest hits album, but instead of slapping a bunch of old recordings and a couple new songs together, they re-recorded a bunch of their songs in a more laid back acoustic style on one disc and then put a live set on the second disc. 3. Warren Barfield (self-titled). This one has a more mainstream pop sound than the other two albums, but still isn't boring musically. The reason I put this one on was because you said you were looking for "more inspirational" music. This album is positive and uplifting overall, with lyrical themes that are surprisingly fresh and inspiring. I also saw Warren Barfield live and he did the best one-man acoustic show I've ever seen (this album's got full instrumentation, but I do think it would be cool if he made a live acoustic album someday).

January 20th, 2008, 07:37 PM	#16 (permalink)
James Knox TDPRI Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 62	"Palanquin" Kevin Prosch "Drowning With Land In Sight" 77's "The Boat Ashore" Michael Roe

January 21st, 2008, 08:48 AM	#17 (permalink)
romo Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Toledo, Ohio Posts: 161	David Crowder Band "A Collision" U2 "The Joshua Tree" Right now my third is Needtobreathe "The Heat"

January 21st, 2008, 12:47 PM	#18 (permalink)
OrovilleTim Tele-Holic Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Lake Oroville, CA Age: 37 Posts: 554 19 Photos	1. Waterdeep - Sink or Swim 2. Waterdeep with 100 Portraits - Enter the Worship Circle 3. Alan Jackson - Precious Memories __________________ Fender Special Edition Koa Tele / Fender Deluxe Series Powerhouse Strat Fender 65 Twin Reverb / Fender Blues Junior / Marshall DSL 50 & 1960AV Acoustic: Taylor K14CE / Fender Acoustasonic DSP Junior

January 21st, 2008, 06:35 PM	#20 (permalink)
Flat357 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Cheshire Age: 40 Posts: 2,623	I like this one

January 21st, 2008, 07:43 PM	#21 (permalink)
eedwards TDPRI Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Alabaster, AL Age: 38 Posts: 54	How 'bout some classics? Sunday's Child(1987) - Phil Keaggy - Not sure if it gets better than this. The Way Home(1989) - Russ Taff - Solid Bluesy Gospel Rock Thirst (1998) - Randy Stonehill - Hard to pick one album; I love all his stuff. Stonehill is my favorite living artist and doesn't make bad albums. or bad songs. ever. So many of his songs feel as if they are written just for me and thats why I like it so much.

January 21st, 2008, 08:30 PM	#22 (permalink)
BellyBoy Tele-Holic Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Chula Vista, Ca Age: 48 Posts: 508	1. Danny Brooks- Souled Out and Sanctified 2. Randy Stonehill- Welcome to Paradise 3. 2nd Chapter of Acts, Phil Keaggy and a Band Called David- How The West Was One I would also add Michael Omartian- White Horse awesome album! __________________ http://www.johnnymannion.com http://www.myspace.com/johnnymannionband

January 21st, 2008, 10:17 PM	#23 (permalink)
Trimmed&Burnin Tele-Holic Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bellingham Wa Age: 53 Posts: 807	I'll bet I would add the Johnny Mannion Bands album,,,,if'n they had one!! I heard rumors of some time in the studio,,, how but it there BellyBoy??? __________________ Keep your lamp Trimmed And Burnin Shannon,

January 22nd, 2008, 07:29 AM	#24 (permalink)
maestrovert Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Branch Mi. Posts: 5,867	David Mullen: Revival Russ Taff: The Way Home Michael Card: The Beginning __________________ Sing the Song Bro' Play on Drummer www.godonthe.net

January 23rd, 2008, 03:56 PM	#25 (permalink)
Preacher Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Oklahoma Age: 40 Posts: 243	Russ Taff - Medals, an oldie but a goodie, he was more rock then than blues as he is now. Casting Crowns - they have 2 CDs out, both great... Phil Keagey - Crimson and Blue - if you like guitar you will love this... Jeremy Camp - Restored... all great singles, and he can pick too! Steven Curtis Chapman - The Great Adventure Degarmo and Key - early rock, get the greatest hits album... and if you like Pop/Rap/Hip Hop Toby Mac - Diverse City, although "Momentum" is good too. __________________ So many guitars... so little time.