Christian albums that are still good, actually

Modern Relics is a newsletter that examines the artefacts found at the crossroads of religion and popular culture.

If you are new here, welcome! I’m doing something a bit different in this post. I talk a lot of shit about the Contemporary Christian Music industry as a whole but I actually do listen to quite a lot of CCM, so I thought I’d share some albums that do, in my opinion, hold up.

For a more typical kind of post, check out Tuesday’s edition.

A few ground rules: The albums must be from at least 10 years ago, they must be explicitly religious (in this case, Christian) and they have to be ones I haven’t talked about in this newsletter before. Sorry, to The Beautiful Letdown by Switchfoot but you’ve already had your moment in the sun!

If I Left The Zoo — Jars of Clay (1999)

I remember listening to this one in my friend’s car back when I was young, and thinking Jars of Clay were one of my favourite bands. I never actually owned this album because by the time I got old enough to buy it with my own money, I thought it was a bit soft (I was a Relient K pop punk–loving teen). A little while ago I revisited this album though, and I was really blown away by how good it is. Although I actually think that even though it’s catchy, its lead single “Unforgetful You” isn’t necessarily its strongest track.

Besides opening with a song which I’m pretty sure is about being sad to leave during the rapture, lyrically this album is pretty standard evangelical “I would be a worm, if it weren’t for the grace of God” fare. But the jangly music and Dan Haseltine’s sweet vocals give the whole thing a sincerity you can’t credit to similar albums made by worse artists. The whole thing has a… 90s circus grunge vibe? With silly soundbites mixed with tender moments and really nice musical hooks.

Maybe it’s pure nostalgia, but for me this album has no skips.

Thankful — Mary Mary (2000)

When I did the callout for suggestions last week, Peri asked, “Does Mary Mary - Shackles count?” YES.

I didn’t even think to include this album at first because it was such a mainstream hit, but even though it was released by Columbia Records rather than a Christian label, it’s definitely a Christian album and deserves to be on this list.

Obviously the lead single, “Shackles (Praise You)” is the standout track, but going back and listening to the whole album, every song is an excellent example of contemporary gospel and R&B. As you’d expect from the album title, the major themes of this album are thankfulness and joy to God.

It’s got an R&B version of What A Friend We Have In Jesus, it’s got the African spiritual “Wade in the Water”, it’s got a song featuring Destiny's Child. I loved listening back to this album, and a bunch of these tracks are going into my normal rotation.

A Collision Or (3 + 4 = 7) — David Crowder*Band (2005)

I hesitated to put this on here, because I added this album to my liked songs playlist and gradually removed nearly every track one by one as they came up on shuffle. But I think taken as a whole, in order and on its own terms, A Collision is still a good example of innovation in the Christian/worship music genre.

Thematically it’s an album about death and the apocalypse, which is weird for a worship album, and it’s reflected in the composition of the music itself too. The end of “Our Happy Home” features a changing time signature that takes one beat away per bar, until there’s just one, and then, none. And maybe it’s a little heavy-handed, but multiple songs cut off mid-chord.

Some things, like the quirky alternate parenthetical titles and mini tracks between the main songs are clearly, directly referencing Sufjan Stevens’ Michigan, which came out two years earlier, and there’s a cover of “O God, Where Are You Now?” from that album. Still, A Collision manages to do something unique, and this album and its sister EP, B Collision were also a gateway to country and bluegrass music for me, so I owe it that much. Other releases from David Crowder Band are also strong and thematically interesting, but nothing compares to A Collision.

Red Balloon — Sandra McCracken (2008)

I’ve always loved Sandra McCracken’s music, but she’s so prolific I missed this album when it was first released. Red Balloon has moments similar to Sandra’s Psalms-and-hymns-inspired albums, The Builder And The Architect (2006) and In Feast or Fallow (2010) which are also excellent.

Biblical references are found here too, but thematically, Red Balloon is about how familial love — mothers, sisters, children and spouses — is a reflection of a much greater divine love.

It’s a surprisingly sad (or maybe pained?) album for a theme like that, and it deals with grief and worry as much as with joy, but family love isn’t always easy. For me, the moral of the album is summed up by “Storehouse”, written about Sandra looking after her son: When you think you’ve given all the love you’ve got, somehow there’s always more.

Looking back, it’s a bittersweet album, because Sandra McCracken would divorce her husband Derek Webb several years after Red Balloon’s release. In fact, the last track references CS Lewis’ book The Great Divorce, and she asks herself, “Would you fall to pieces in the high countries?” (ie: in paradise?)

Odd Soul — MuteMath (2011)

Apologies to MuteMath, who once sued Warner Brothers over being classified as a Christian band, but this is absolutely a Christian album, uh, kinda. Anyway, I first discovered MuteMath when they appeared as a bonus track on the WOW Hits 2005 Christian music compilation (think Now That’s What I Call Music!, but Christian). Six years later, they released Odd Soul, an album about growing up in a Christian household and all the anxieties and ethical conflicts that brings, so I’m counting it here.

This is MuteMath’s grungiest, least electronic release, which was not the sound I was looking for when it first came out. Now though it might be my favourite album MuteMath has ever recorded.

The album would be completely impossible without white, American, evangelicalism, but it’s forthrightly critical of that culture (maybe it doesn’t belong on this list after all?) Themes of alienation, unmet expectations, cognitive dissonance are all there. Lastly, it’s capped off with the hopeful, deliberately naive “In No Time”, playing the part of someone still committed to the evangelical message speaking to a person leaving for good reason, trying to convince them to return.

A truly incredible album given its message in its time, but mostly the music just fucking rules.

Don’t forget the Modern Relics playlist!

Thanks for reading! I’m going to put all these songs on the Modern Relics Spotify Playlist, which has (almost) every song I’ve mentioned in the history of this newsletter.

Also just to say, this is not an exhaustive list, and it’s highly personal to me! Do you have other albums from these artists you think are better overall? Or other suggestions of religious music from 10+ years ago that still holds up — maybe not necessarily Christian? Let me know in the comments of this post, and/or post about it in the Modern Relics Discord.

If you enjoyed this post let me know because I have many other suggestions and this could be a semi-regular thing!