Joel Heng Hartse, a frequent music critic for Christianity Today, muses about coming of age in the heyday of Christian pop music:
Really, my concept of “Christian music,” which begins in about 1980 and ends in 2000 (around the time I got bored with it), is nothing but a snapshot. It ignores decades of gospel, country, blues, and folk music, not to mention centuries of classical and early music. These are musical traditions in which it was unusual notto sing about God. The conventional line about Christianity and (rock) music being a contradiction in terms is about as inaccurate as a positive review of a Creed album. It’s music without God that is, historically, an anomaly.
Perhaps the Christian pop I grew up with was simply reparation for a weird gap in time when, for some reason, music wasn’t being made for the glory of God. And those of us who came of age in this Golden Era of Christian rock, were, despite the cheesiness we often mock about the culture we grew up with, forever shaped by it. Whatever the reason, we were born in the thick of a Christian rock explosion, and from the time we first heard albums like dc Talk’s Free At Last, Poor Old Lu’s Sin, PFR’s Goldie’s Last Day, and The Newsboys’ Not Ashamed, our fate was sealed: these were the kind of records that were going to define us.
There are generally two reactions to Christian pop music (or as it used to be called, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)). The hater dismiss it in toto while the fans feel an obligation to apologize for liking it. Both attitudes are understandable. Like all pop art driven by consumer taste, most of it is indeed dreck. However, there is also much that is worthy of championing. I dug through my CD (and cassette tape) collection and found 80 examples of awesome Christian pop. This isn’t necessarily a list of the best the genre has ever produced (though I think most all of them should make the cut) but it does show there are many gems to be found
(Note: The first 10 are my favorites, the rest are in no particular order.)
1. I Can Only Imagine — Mercy Me (live version)
2. Show Me Your Glory — Third Day
3. Why — Nicole Nordeman
4. I Still Believe — Jeremy Camp
5. The Finish Line — Steve Taylor
6. Breaking My Fall — Jeremy Camp
7. Savior — Michael English
8. In Your Presence — Jeremy Camp
9. More Than a Friend — Jeremy Riddle
10. Best Thing — Big Tent Revival
11. Let Your First Thought Be Love — Whiteheart
12. One Day at a Time — Jeremy Camp
13. Stay — Jeremy Camp
14. Take My Life — Jeremy Camp
15. Understand — Jeremy Camp
16. Walk By Faith — Jeremy Camp
17. The Man Comes Around — Johnny Cash
18. Don’t Stop Dancing — Creed
19. Lullaby — Creed
20. Don’t Let the Fire Die — Steven Curtis Chapman
21. Atmosphere — DC Talk
22. Jesus Freak — DC Talk
23. Strong Medicine — Bryan Duncan
24. Holding Out Hope To You — Michael English
25. In Christ Alone — Michael English
26. Love Moves in Mysterious Ways — Michael English
27. There’s Not A Crown Without a Cross — Michael English
28. It Wasn’t His Child — Skip Ewing
29. Revolution — Kirk Franklin
30. Go Rest High On That Mountain — Vince Gill
31. El Shaddai — Amy Grant
32. Father’s Eyes — Amy Grant
33. Streets Of Las Vegas — Benny Hester
34. Flood — Jars of Clay
35. Liquid — Jars of Clay
36. No One Loves Me Like You — Jars of Clay
37. Trainwreck — Mat Kearney
38. A Little More — Jennifer Knapp
39. Undo Me — Jennifer Knapp
40. Gravity — Shawn McDonald
41. The Day The Earth Stood Still — Bryan McKnight
42. When The Chariot Comes — Bryan McKnight
43. Here Am I — Mercy Me
44. Control — MuteMath
45. Peculiar People — MuteMath
46. John Woo — Newsboys
47. Love Liberty Disco — Newsboys
48. Shine — Newsboys
49. Burnin’ — Nicole Nordeman
50. Fool For You — Nicole Nordeman
51. I Am — Nicole Nordeman
52. Mercies New — Nicole Nordeman
53. To Know You — Nicole Nordeman
54. Tremble — Nicole Nordeman
55. Wide Eyed — Nicole Nordeman
56. Adonai — O.C. Supertones
57. Magazine — Pedro the Lion
58. Friends — Michael W. Smith
59. The Moshing Floor — Steve Taylor
60. Meant to Live — Switchfoot
61. This is Your Life — Switchfoot
62. Harder To Believe Than Not To — Fleming and John’s cover of Steve Taylor’s song
63. I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good — Steve Taylor
64. Agnus Dei — Third Day
65. King of Glory — Third Day
66. I Don’t Know — Third Day
67. It’s a Shame — Third Day
68. Nothing Compares — Third Day
69. When the Rain Comes — Third Day
70. Burn For You — TobyMac
71. Getaway Car — TobyMac
72. J Train — TobyMac (w/ Kirk Franklin)
73. Long Black Train — Josh Turner
74. 40 — U2
75. Gloria — U2
76. It’s Alright (Send Me) — Winans Phase2
77. Fly — Paul Wright
78. Your Love Never Changes — Paul Wright
79. Sweetly Broken — Jeremy Riddle
80. Gotta Serve Somebody — Bob Dylan
May 13th, 2011 | 10:31 am
Interesting list. Where is Margaret Becker, Carolyn Arends, and Rich Mullins? Great songwriters.
May 13th, 2011 | 10:35 am
What? No Larry Norman?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TliWDSLrYb8
A flawed man, for sure, but a very good songwriter.
May 13th, 2011 | 10:46 am
No Van Morrison? How sad your life must be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyBM0dFRwoQ
May 13th, 2011 | 10:49 am
Wow, it’s like Phil Keaggy never existed….
May 13th, 2011 | 10:51 am
I think you’ve successfully shown that your musical tastes have no boundaries.
May 13th, 2011 | 11:13 am
[...] A Brief Defense of Christian Pop Music with 80 Awesome ExamplesFirst Things (blog)There are generally two reactions to Christian pop music (or as it used to be called, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)). The hater dismiss it in toto while the fans feel an obligation to apologize for liking it. Both attitudes are understandable. … [...]
May 13th, 2011 | 11:19 am
I think it ate my last post, so please feel free not to approve this one in case of duplication.
This is making me gnash my teeth by what is missing.
No Petra, no Rich Mullins, No Keith Green? Carman? Creed, but no Stryper or P.O.D. for crossovers? No Alison Krauss? (yes, she started as in ccm, opening for Margaret Becker.) No Mylon Lefevre, No Rez or Daniel Amos Band? No Rick Cua? Mute Math, but not their CCM prior release Earthsuit? Bob Carlisle in Allies, before butterfly kisses? Charlie Peacock?White Heart is great, but Freedom…man, that was an album, as was Tales of Wonder.
*gets depressed*
May 13th, 2011 | 11:21 am
Keaggy’s “What a Day” album was terrific. So were Paul Clarke’s “Good to Be Home” and “Hand to the Plow” albums. Also, don’t forget 2nd Chapter of Acts.
May 13th, 2011 | 11:29 am
I bemoan the lack of Rich Mullins, Carolyn Arends, and PfR. And of course you can never have enough U2! But your top ten choices are all really solid. As is your apparent affinity for Jars of Clay, which remains, as it has always been, one of the greatest bands in any genre.
May 13th, 2011 | 11:40 am
No Rich Mullins? You can’t be serious. Forget about “Awesome God,” which is not a particularly good song. Go listen to darn near everything else he recorded (as well as the CD made after his death) and revise your list accordingly!
May 13th, 2011 | 11:45 am
Really? No Matt Maher or U2?
And what’s with the crush on Jeremy Camp?
May 13th, 2011 | 12:07 pm
Thank you Pentamom!
“How the West Was One,” the double CD recorded live by Keaggy and the Second Chapter of Acts, was a turning point for me.
Thanks for putting “40″ and “Gloria” on the list; my intro to U2 was “Under a Blood-Red Sky,” and for a long time I thought they were essentially a Christian group. (Maybe they are.)
No Rich Mullins? Keith Green? Maybe that just shows my age, so how about Iona? King’s X? The Violet Burning? The Choir (Derri and Steve are THE best Christian songwriters, IMHO).
Glad to see Steve Taylor shows up often on the list.
Where’s Russ Taff? And Julie Miller? And Julie Miller, again?
May 13th, 2011 | 12:10 pm
P.S. Dear Mr. Carter: You had to have known that a list like this was immediately going to provoke anguished outcries. :)
May 13th, 2011 | 12:20 pm
Still thinking out loud about Phil Keaggy: On that live recording, there was a guitar solo that runs somewhere over ten minutes or so. That has to be a turning point in Christian history comparable to the 95 Theses or Vatican II or something similar.
And remember the first time you heard the guitar solo on “Time,” from the recording “Love Broke Through”? Yowzer.
And that reminds me: “Love Broke Through” should be on this list, either the version by Keith Green or the one by Phil Keaggy.
And that reminds me: If you’ve never heard The Violet Burning, start with “The Song of the Harlot” on their CD “Strength.” Allow some time for weeping afterwards.
May 13th, 2011 | 12:53 pm
Art Where is Margaret Becker, Carolyn Arends, and Rich Mullins?
Gregory Alms What? No Larry Norman?
Robert Ayers No Van Morrison?
pentamom Wow, it’s like Phil Keaggy never existed….
I thought the reaction would be from the young whipper-snappers asking, “Who is Steve Taylor, Bryan Duncan, White Heart, etc.?” Instead you nostalgic old geezers make me feel young. ; )
Katie Really? No Matt Maher or U2?
I’m not sure who Matt Maher is (though I’ll check him out). And U2 has two songs on the list.
And what’s with the crush on Jeremy Camp?
Camp is simpley the greatest Christian singer of his generation, rivaled only by Mac Powell of Third Day.
Craig Payne P.S. Dear Mr. Carter: You had to have known that a list like this was immediately going to provoke anguished outcries. :)
That’s the primary reason for making such list. The secondary reason is because I tend to find some good recommendations in the comments.
May 13th, 2011 | 1:05 pm
Glad to see you have Jars of Clay, but you’re missing their greatest song, “World’s Apart”.
Of all Christian pop produced in the last 20 years, they consistently probe the furthest into the nature of our relationship to Christ and his cross. Plus, their music weaves in and out of various genres/forms, making them aesthetically pleasing as well.
Other artists/groups to consider: Sufjan Stevens, John Foreman, Hillsong United.
May 13th, 2011 | 1:10 pm
Dear Robert Ayers: Combining two interests: Phil Keaggy does a really good cover of Van Morrison’s “When Will I Ever Learn to Live in God” on one of his CDs (I think it’s “Crimson and Blue”).
May 13th, 2011 | 1:22 pm
I met Michael English nearly twenty years ago, shortly before his moral troubles came to light. But I will always thank him for recording (though he didn’t write it) “Mary, Did You Know?” because listening to the words he sang was, as far as I can tell, what spurred the first inklings of the thought processes which have led to my reception this year (after a decade-long flirtation) into the Orthodox Church.
May 13th, 2011 | 1:22 pm
Also:
Joe: I’m not sure who Matt Maher is (though I’ll check him out). And U2 has two songs on the list.
I just recently heard of Matt Maher, who is Catholic, apparently. I was flipping through radio channels on my way to the bank, and was, I’m ashamed to admit, somewhat flabbergasted to hear the Orthodox Paschal troparion (the first part of it anyway). So I waited for the song ID, and it turned out to be Maher’s “Christ Is Risen” It was not bad, musically, but I’m a traditionalist: I prefer Bakhmetev.
May 13th, 2011 | 1:28 pm
Who is Steve Taylor, Bryan Duncan, White Heart, etc.?
May 13th, 2011 | 2:24 pm
I have not paid much attention to Christian pop in the past decade, but I was quite enthusiastic about it during the 90s. Great names from that period, few of which are on Joe’s list, are Daniel Amos (try Motorcycle), Adam Again (try Dig), The 77s (try Eighty Eight), The Choir (try Circle Slide), Mark Heard (try Second Hand), and Steve Taylor. (I am happy to see Taylor’s “I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good” on Joe’s list.) Rich Mullins is also quite good, as other have said.
I also vote for Van Morrison and Sufjan Stevens.
Am I the first to congratulate Joe for putting a Bob Dylan song on his list?
May 13th, 2011 | 2:29 pm
These are my recommendations:
“Love Lead Me On” – the Afters (these guys are like the Oasis of Christian rock)
“Seize the Day” – Carolyn Arends
“When You Gonna Wake Up?” – Bob Dylan (classic)
“London” – Brandon Heath (beautiful contemporary ballad of love and longing; see also OneRepublic)
“Total Surrender” – Brent Bourgeois (slightly dated, but still awesome)
“What Wondrous Love” – Fernando Ortega (relentlessly haunting)
“You Found Me” – the Fray (also one of the finest music videos ever)
“Tea and Sympathy” – Jars of Clay (though really, the entire “Much Afraid” album needs to be experienced together)
“Collide” – Jars of Clay (for its originality and experimentalism, “If I Left the Zoo” has often been called the “Sergeant Peppers’” of Christian Rock)
“Love Song for a Savior” – Jars of Clay (from their timeless, and still best, first album)
“Redemption” – Kristene Mueller (from Bethel School of Ministry)
“Hosea” – Luke Wood (from the International House of Prayer)
“The Man Comes Around” – Johnny Cash (made just before he died, this is one of the most biblical, and terrifying, visions of the Apocalypse ever set to music)
“Here in this Moment” – MercyMe
“Cry for Love” – Michael W. Smith (music by Brent Bourgeois)
“Lost the Plot” (arguably the Newsboys’ best, most challenging song)
PfR – anything (they have a song entitled “Anything,” but really, anything!)
“Sometimes by Step” – Rich Mullins
“Here in America” – Rich Mullins (quite simply one of the best songs ever written about America)
“When the Children Cry” – Seventh Day Slumber (much better than the WhiteSnake original)
“Welcome Home” – Shaun Groves
“Walk On” – U2 (though, really, the entire album, “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”)
May 13th, 2011 | 2:41 pm
“Sometimes by Step”–Rich Mullins: agree.
May 13th, 2011 | 2:46 pm
While I haven’t listened to much Christian pop, I appreciate this primer and will look all of these up. Though it didn’t make this list, Newsboys’ “He Reigns” is one of my favorite songs.
Both songs by U2 here are overt worhsip songs, but could their more recent stuff still be considered Christian, even if it’s more thematic than worshipful? Like “Until the End of the World,” about Judas Iscariot confessing the betrayal of Christ?
May 13th, 2011 | 2:56 pm
Dear cnb: Thanks for reminding me: Mark Heard, and mea culpa that I needed reminding. I think I’m going to go dig out that greatest hits CD right now.
Come to think about it, there’s is a wonderful CD, “Strong Hand of Love,” which is made up entirely of Mark Heard songs done by other artists. Sort of an “alternative” greatest hits. Find it if you can; well worth the effort.
May 13th, 2011 | 3:02 pm
“Love Crucified Arose” by Michael Card. And now this thread is really taking up too much of my afternoon; gotta go.
May 13th, 2011 | 3:29 pm
No PFR other than the one mention?
No Out of the Grey?
Not nearly enough Switchfoot or Jon Foreman.
May 13th, 2011 | 3:33 pm
Wait, I thought Joe was the FT writer most opposed to torture? About half of these songs could be classified as “enhanced interrogation techniques”.
May 13th, 2011 | 3:34 pm
I’d say Phil Keaggy is the most talented pure musician to come out of the Christian music scene. Are you just not a guitar fan or something, Joe? My favorite albums are Blue and Phil Keaggy. And his instrumental albums are even better, though I suppose they don’t really go in the Christian Pop genre.
I’m really impressed to see a Pedro the Lion song on there, though I think “Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives” and “The Bells” are better songs than “Magazine.” But on the other hand “Magazine” is off the album Control, which is probably the darkest concept album ever produced by a Christian artist, and certainly one of the very best.
Jars of Clay’s Much Afraid album was the sound of my teenage spiritual angst. It was a comfort in dark times.
I’d really like to see a Top 25 Christian Pop Albums list next. :)
May 13th, 2011 | 3:44 pm
This young whippersnapper knows his roots! “Love Broke Through” Might be the best Christian pop song ever written.
I also agree with the others that Larry Norman belongs on there somewhere. In Another Land was another defining album for me growing up, thanks to my parents. Larry Norman and Keith Greene were the way my Dad came to Christ.
May 13th, 2011 | 3:55 pm
“I’d say Phil Keaggy is the most talented pure musician to come out of the Christian music scene. ”
That’s what weirds me out about the omission. Not everyone has to agree on that point, or be a huge Keaggy fan, or like a bunch of his songs, but to omit him totally is just odd given his place in early Christian pop and his incredible musicianship and songwriting quality. It’s like imagining 80′s pop without Steve Winwood. (Not that Steve Winwood was “incredible,” but he was just an essential part of what it was.)
May 13th, 2011 | 4:16 pm
Nothing by the Call?
May 13th, 2011 | 4:26 pm
Also, buy my book.
http://bit.ly/biS9Gv
May 13th, 2011 | 4:31 pm
No Rich Mullins? Srsly? ;-) This young whippersnapper wants her old-school Christian folk-rock favorite acknowledged! “Hard to Get” still gets me every time I hear it.
May 13th, 2011 | 5:19 pm
No Larry Norman, Phil Keaggy, Randy Matthews, Love Song or Randy Stonehill? If God is my father and you are my brother then why can’t we bother to put together a real list?
May 13th, 2011 | 5:34 pm
oh my goodness… no stonehill! no randy mathews, or matthew ward. to call creed or U2 christian bands are pushing the boundaries a bit.(like both bands but…) quite a few on the list i do agree with, but so many more in the comments i agree you missed.
May 13th, 2011 | 5:52 pm
Joe,
Besides the consensus, let me throw some additional names: Wes King, Out of the Gray, Cindy Morgan.
May 13th, 2011 | 6:11 pm
Rich Mullins – Anything from “The World As Best As I Remember It, Vol. 1″ or the first half of “A Liturgy, A Legacy, and A Ragamuffin Band”
Charlie Peacock – Amost everything he’s done, though my favorite is “Down In The Lowlands” (Russ Taff’s version of that song was pretty awesome, too)
Andrew Peterson – “Nothing To Say” (though his latest album, “Counting Stars”, is excellent, start-to-finish)
Sara Groves – “Conversations” (though she seems to get better with every album–check out her latest, “Fireflies and Songs”)
Chris Rice – “Naive” (haunting, intelligent song that still gets played(!) on CCM radio), other songs
Chagall Guevara – anything from their only, self-titled album
First Call – “Evidence of Love”
Prayer Chain – “Humb”
Adam Again – “Perfecta” (album)
77′s – “Drowning With Land In Sight” (album)
Amy Grant – “Lead Me On” (album)
The Choir – “Circle Slide” (album)
Sixpence None The Richer – self-titled album, others
Burlap to Cashmere – “Anybody Out There”
Eli – “Things I Prayed For”
Iona – “Beachy Head”, “Treasure”
Jill Phillips – “Steel Bars”
Lost Dogs – “No Ship Coming In”
Sarah Masen – Lots of good stuff, but “Fragrance of Pink” is my favorite
There has been so much excellent music that has been created by Christians over the last 30+ years, yet so much of it has never found all the people that would enjoy/appreciate it.
May 13th, 2011 | 6:29 pm
Definitely have to include Mark Heard and The Call. I would also propose Vigilantes of Love (“Jugular” and “Killing Floor” CDs [ "Floor" produced by Peter Buck of REM and Mark Heard] are my favorites; the songs “America” and “Drunk on the Tears” are great.
For Mark Heard fans, the last CD he produced was by two Wheaton students Jason Harrod and Brian Funck entitled “Dreams of the Color Blind.” It’s really different from anything else I have, but I’m drawn back to it again and again.
Since we’re proposing bands such as Creed and U2, I’d like to add Bruce Cockburn. I don’t know where he stands now in his faith, but he was pretty explicit about his faith when I was listening to him regularly. He’s a great guitarist.
May 13th, 2011 | 6:57 pm
Ahem, I hope ya’ll won’t mind a little bragging here – because I do think Larry Norman belongs on this list as well as Randy Stonehill – but I have the privilege of hearing a song Randy Stonehill sang in public only once. He wrote it for and sang it at the wedding of Larry Norman and Pam Ahlquist.
Someone said Larry Norman was a flawed individual – and like the rest of us, he certainly was. And so are Amy Grant, Vince Gill and Michael English — all who have had rather public moral failings. So I don’t think that could have been Joe’s reason for keeping them off the list. But then I’d hardly call Larry’s music “pop”.
Kamilla
May 13th, 2011 | 8:15 pm
Great topic. Let me add…
Superchick
Rebecca St. James
May 13th, 2011 | 9:03 pm
Oh, and Fireflight, too.
May 13th, 2011 | 9:29 pm
What about The Waiting’s Hands in the Air? That has got to be on the list.
May 13th, 2011 | 9:53 pm
Hi again. First time I ever heard The Call I was driving south somewhere and “I Don’t Wanna” came on the radio–first time I had heard them, first song. When I arrived wherever I was going, I bought “Into the Woods,” “Red Moon,” and their greatest hits. They should have been huge. Michael Been, R.I.P.
Somewhere earlier mentioned “Top Christian Pop/Rock Albums.” Here’s a few: Russ Taff, “The Way Home.” Amy Grant, “Lead Me On.” The Call, “Into the Woods.” Steve Taylor, “I Predict 1990.” The Jars of Clay album with “Flood” on it. The Violet Burning, “Strength.” Julie Miller, “Meet Julie Miller.” Phil Keaggy, “Love Broke Through” or “Emerging.” Michael W. Smith, “The Michael W. Smith Project.” King’s X, “Faith Hope Love.” The Choir, “Live at Cornerstone.” Undercover, “Branded.”
Too many others in my mind to list.
May 13th, 2011 | 10:27 pm
“Doubting Thomas” by Nickel Creek
http://youtu.be/3AIrPiT8_vI
May 13th, 2011 | 10:39 pm
Yes, Randy Stonehill’s another glaring oversight.
May 13th, 2011 | 10:41 pm
Well, at least he passed up Dion DiMucci’s classic “I Put Away My Idols.”
May 14th, 2011 | 11:50 am
What started as a noble sentiment is killed by what appears to be a very limited personal collection. “This isn’t necessarily a list of the best the genre has ever produced (though I think most all of them should make the cut) …” Um, no.
If First Things wants to let someone attempt to reclaim the dignity of the much-maligned-by–elites-CCM, they need to make sure their choice of postulators furthers that aim, and doesn’t shore up existing prejudices. I mean, 7 songs by Jeremy Camp, 7 by Nicole Nordeman, 4 by Michael English, and 6 by Third Day? None by Keith Green, Michael Omartian, the Imperials or Russ Taff, Leslie Phillips, Rich Mullins, Julie Miller, Tonio K., Al Green, Dion or Dona Summer?
And topping things off, to toss in Vince Gill… for crying out loud. Where is Mark Joseph when you need him?
May 14th, 2011 | 2:03 pm
But there is a Dion DiMucci song I love: “Center of My Life.” One of my favorite songs ever, in fact.
I love my children, I love my wife,
But You are the center of my life.
May 15th, 2011 | 10:22 pm
So I started looking through this list (and the comments) for music that might make good “car driving music” (what to listen to when various family members have different preferences?)….going straight from #29 to #30 just about broke my ears….
/shaking head, hoping the pieces fall out eventually….
May 16th, 2011 | 9:11 am
Has anyone yet mentioned “He’s Alive” by Don Francisco?
May 16th, 2011 | 3:21 pm
OK, not really “Christian Pop” but got to throw in U2′s “Yaweh” and perhaps my favorite of all time, Dylan’s “Pressing On” off “Saved.” Even more off the beaten track check out Tom Waits’ “Down There By the Train” or “Come On Up To the House” … not sure if he’s sincere or in parody mode but at any rate these two are better lyrically than 99.9% of the stuff you hear on “Christian Radio.” More traditional CCM: Shaun Groves; Need To Breathe; Derek Webb.
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