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 not to 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
