1997—What a year! I know I probably say that about every year in my favorite decade of music, but I think by the time you hit the end of this article you’ll agree that these 25 Christian albums turning 25 in 2022 are of the highest quality. In fact, I think a case can be made that it is THE best year, though 1995 probably has a thing or two to say about that distinction. 1995: 25 Christian Albums 25 Years Later.
Anyway, this list is pretty diverse with punk, hip-hop, singer/songwriter, rock, alt rock, pop, hard rock and even indie releases included. Suffice to say, it was a great year with over 20 of these albums making my beloved (and most read post): 100 Greatest Christian Albums of the 90s list.
Hope you enjoy the trip down memory lane!
— Josh Balogh
Spotify Playlist at the end to listen along…
Honorable Mentions:
Dime Store Prophets – Fantastic Distraction
Hokus Pick – Snappy
Audio Adrenaline – Some Kind of Zombie
Avalon – A Maze of Grace
Amy Grant – Behind the Eyes
OK, on to the Top 25 countdown…
25. Tourniquet – Crawl to China
Heavy for my taste but certainly well-crafted.
24. Ghoti Hook – Bananaman
Witty. Clever punk rock.
23. Considering Lily – Self Titled
Another band I discovered from a sampler, “Cup” and “Beautiful You” are smart pop gems.
22. Zilch – Platinum
Surf-rock from the Dctalk backing band.
21. Chris Rice – Deep Enough to Dream
Thinking man’s singer/songwriter. Great debut.
20. MercyMe – Traces of Rain
A personal favorite, this early indie-release will always hold a special place in my heart.
19. Miss Angie – 100 Million Eyeballs
“I lift my eyes uuuuup, I lift my eyes uhhh-uuup.” Grungy pop-rock from a terrific female fronted band. “Trampoline” “Satisfied” and “Lift My Eyes Up” are my favorite tracks.
18. Living Sacrifice – Reborn
Metal core/hardcore punk leaning, Reborn is widely considered their best offering by fans of the band.
17. Stavesacre – Absolutes
Bigger fans of Christian rock would more highly esteem this album, but it’s just not my style. Well done to be sure.
16. Grammatrain – Flying
A little more polished sheen may have turned of fans of their more raw debut, but Flying is a solid alt/rock album in its own right. Plus, Pete Stewart’s voice is still awesome either way.
15. Delirious – King of Fools
Should this album be higher? Maybe. There are certainly some fantastic songs present, my favorites of which are “Deeper” “Sanctify” “King or Cripple” and “What a Friend I’ve Found.”
14. Whiteheart – Redemption
A more roots-rock direction for the now trio, this would be their swan song. Fans of their more rock direction would decry too many ballads.
13. The Waiting – Self Titled
Following up the terrific Blue Belly Sky album was always gonna be tough but self-titled is up to the task. Fantastic and poetic lyrics matched with catchy pop-rock melody’s. 4.5 star album if you ask me. “Hands in the Air” is worth the price of the album alone.
12. Reality Check – Self Titled
Some say a Dctalk clone, I say…maybe? Either way, I wish they’d made more than one album. Hip-hop infused rock with harmonic vocals and hooks aplenty. Discovered these guys on a 1.99 sampler. “Masquerade” and “Plastic” still rock.
11. Switchfoot – Legend of Chin
High nostalgia nostalgia factor here. I still love the raw and playful garage band sound of their debut. “Chem 6A” is so fun.
10. Third Day – Conspiracy #5
After a Hootie & the Blowish type debut, the Atlanta boys went Pearl Jam rock for offering number two. It divided fans, but I’ve heard may Third Day fans call this their best. I’ve always been partial to “Alien” and “This Song Was Meant for You” from this one.
9. Five Iron Frenzy – Our Newest Album Ever!
Their overall best in my opinion. Equal parts silly and serious, they straddled the line extremely well. “Superpowers” “Suckerpunch” and their best song ever “Every New Day” are all present along with fan favorites “Handbook for the Sellout” and “Blue Comb.”
8. O.C. Supertones – Supertones Strike Back
Iconic for the decade if you ask me. They never topped Strike Back if you ask me. Wish I still owned the Orange let my pride fall down t-shirt from this era.
7. Seven Day Jesus – Self Titled
Many fans (and maybe even the band?) preferred the less polished debut The Hunger which is truly terrific. I love them both but heard this pop/rock gem first so it’s my personal favorite. “Butterfly” is such a jam.
6. Dryve – Thrifty Mr Kickstar
Speaking of quality roots rock—here it is done extremely well. If you missed this one back in the day remedy that immediately. “Whirley Wheel” and “Nervous” are the absolute cream, but they are all great. Top notch album!
5. Caedmon’s Call – Self Titled
I love this album. I still remember the smell of the liner notes and it always makes me think of fall. It’s a travesty that it’s unavailable to stream. Still. The end.
4. Smalltown Poets – Self Titled
Heard several tracks from this album in the summer of 97 at a youth camp. Loved them immediately, haven’t stopped loving this terrific debut since.
3. All Star United – Self Titled
About as perfectly done pop/rock as can be managed. Ten 5 star songs make for a 5 star album. “Tenderness” “Smash Hit” La La Land” and “Beautiful Thing” are all so very good. I revisit this album several times a year.
2. Sixpence None the Richer – Self Titled
A masterpiece of melancholy beauty. 5 stars, 5 Stars, 5 Stars! Would be number one if not for…
1. Jars of Clay – Much Afraid
Aside from the #2 album I can’t think of another brilliant master stroke capturing the tension of doubt and certainty. Fear and trust. Growing up. This album is a journey, and one worth taking regularly. “Frail” is sonic beauty. In fact, “Overjoyed” Fade to Grey” “Tea & Sympathy” “Crazy Times” and “Frail” make up one of, if not THE strongest five song opening of any album in the decade. So good.
Okay that’s it! Do you agree/disagree? Did I miss anything important? What would your list look like? Join the conversation in the comments!
25 Song Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ZF5ZAniJIuA9pQhIue93J?si=JGfowT6GRYapjOkn7IAK5w
Other 90s related posts you may enjoy: 100 Greatest Christian Songs of the 90s Full List, Top 25 Greatest Christian Bands of the 1990s
Bonus Album: PFR – Late Great PFR
It’s a greatest hits album and I have a rule against that sort of thing, but I think few hits albums actually capture the “hits” of a band as well as this one did. Besides, three fantastic new songs included here too so it’s absolutely worth a mention.
1. Sixpence None the Richer
2. Some Kind of Zombie
3. Late Great PFR
4. Much Afraid
5. Supertones Strike Back
Special shout out to All Star United song “LaLa Land” for being amazing lyrically and for how hilariously it is that they were invited to perform it on TBN, which is the embodiment of the type of Christianity they were lambasting.
Wait a minute! I just remembered that Point of Grace released “Life, Love, and Other Mysteries” in 1997, which was an insanely big hit that was played at every church ad nauseum (especially Keep the Candle Burning). I wasn’t a big fan personally, but surely it deserves a spot on the list.
Also, Michael W Smith released “Live the Life,” which I still consider his best album of his career. I would place that at #2 or #3 on my list.
Both excellent albums but POG album came out in 1996 and MWS is 1998. He’s likely to make next years 25 year post!
Whoops yeah my memory is getting fuzzy.
I believe the list is probably accurate😏. Though personally the mid 90’s up to 2000 were the most difficult times for me, musically speaking. The trend I saw in CCM with only a few exceptions was, bands and artists changing their styles for the sake of the ongoing trend in the secular world. For instance it is very difficult for me to listen to conspiracy #5 though there are some songs I really like on it they tend to not be the songs that gain the most attention.
To be clear this not so much a critique for this list but music during that time period. I could simply say that it seemed music really lost it’s forward momentum during this time period, I always felt like rock-and-roll and metal specifically just lost steam and backtracked attempting to remain relevant. This may seem like a harsh judgement especially for those who love this era of music. During this era however my judgements were far more intense. Honestly from ’94-2000 there was hardly anything new that I could listen to. My radio was turned off for almost that entire era, this was especially true for CCM not just because of the style change, but also there seemed to be a lack of originality. Ok Tourniquet never swayed😏😏🤣.
Hopefully this doesn’t set anyone off, but any reply is welcome.
This article though is very well done and quite thorough. I enjoyed it. Good job!
The last five years in “CCM” is the most difficult for me, musically speaking. 🙂 Maybe ten. The homogenization, the millions (maybe it just seems that way) of horrible worship albums, the almost complete lack of rock and roll (nope, all that screaming isn’t rock-and-roll). I gave up listening to the radio five years ago, and all my music discovery these days is of bands/albums I missed when they originally came out 10-20 years ago.
That said, Conspiracy #5 is Third Day’s best album, and IMO it’s not even close. Their first one and Time were good, everything after that was mediocre (see “homogenization” above). (I enjoyed their last album, but maybe just because it was different.)
Love seeing All Star United on here; that’s such a great album and band. Ian Eskelin and Steve Taylor are lyrical treasures.
Yeah rock is in a bit of a rough patch…though I would say the independent scene still has a few good ones that stand out.
Strange Her
Glowing Moses
Off Road Minivan (not indie)
Levvy
Charming to the Last
Medical Morning
Colony House (not indie)
Rusty Shipp
The Classic Crime
Gable Price & Friends
Kings Kaleidoscope
Levvy and Glowing Moses have really impressed me. We need more stuff like that. The Christian music scene these days feels like it’s mostly dying. So much new music across so many genres was releasing in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Now if I walk into a Christian bookstore, most of the music is terrible worship music and a shocking amount of CDs that were big hits from 20-30 years ago (old Lecrae, DC Talk, Newsboys, Steven Curtis Chapman, etc).
With all that said, I really appreciate this website for helping promote small Christian artists I wouldn’t hear of otherwise, like Attalus, Levvy, and Amy Savin.
Oh, man, I love Amy Savin’s Unveiled. Wish she would do another one.
I’m impressed you still have a Christian bookstore to walk into. 🙂 I’m in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, and I don’t have one within a half-hour of me.
I judge the dearth of good music from here. For a couple of weeks, the highlight was some bad Kutless remakes of songs from a twenty-year old album. Thank heaven for Chagall Guevara (absolutely deserving of those five stars).
Yes to Glowing Moses, ORMV, Colony House, Rusty Shipp, Gable Price, and some of Classic Crime (learned about Glowing Moses and Rusty Shipp here). I never could get into Kings Kaleidoscope musically and I’m also not a fan of their lyrical decisions.
I’ll check out Strange Her, Charming to the Last, and Medical Morning. Thanks very much!
You know Christian rock has collapsed when the only two still somewhat commercially viable guitar-driven bands (Skillet, Switchfoot) have been around since the mid-90’s. I know the 90’s aren’t coming but, but I’m still holding out hope we see a rock revival with this new generation.
I think for me the Best 1997 Album was without a doubt Corridors by John Elefante
check it out right now……Outstanding Album