My All-Time Favorite Albums

Okay, so I feel like putting together a list of my all-time favorite albums. It will not be any particular order, because I wouldn’t dare to rank them or say what is my #1 favorite album, because that would say a lot in itself about me, about that album, and about what that album means to me. And I just don’t want to do that, and I don’t know what would take that number 1 spot anyway. So here goes:

(I will number them for organization’s sake. I’ll go crazy if they’re just listed nonnumerical)

1. Hillsong United – United We Stand
I think this is where Hillsong United peaked. This is my favorite of all Hillsong United albums because the songs are still being played in churches and youth groups even after several albums more. The songs just don’t get old. The energy is there. The passion is there. “The time has come” (with the introduction), “From the inside out”, “came to my rescue”, “None but Jesus”, “Fire Fall Down”, “The Stand”, and “Hallelujah”. Come on…that’s just epic to have all those songs on the same album! Basically, the album is structured just like how I would lead worship or do a concert. This album is a powerful worship experience.

2. David Crowder Band – Church Music
Okay, this album blew me away! It has to be listened from start to finish with no skipping either! Each song flows into the next in a way I didn’t think possible. The lyrics are not too impressive. They’re simple and catchy. They’re honest, and the message is clear. The melodies are unlike anything I would ever come up with. They’re original, above it all. But it’s the musical creativity that won me over with this one. I can listen to this album over and over.

3. David Crowder Band – A Collision
Okay…now this Crowder album is EPIC. I wouldn’t say it’s more epic than “Church Music”, but it paved the way for it. I admit, when I first heard this album, I did not know what I had in front of me. I didn’t know of its genius until a few listens…not saying that I didn’t like it the first time around, but it really hit me after a few listens that WOW this CD is amazing. It’s divided into a few categories, crossing genres and showing how versatile the band is. I can listen to this CD straight through and leave it on repeat. If I can do that, it’s an automatic favorite.

4. Switchfoot – Beautiful Letdown
I will brag that I bought this CD BEFORE people really knew about it. It was BEFORE they got famous. It was BEFORE people caught on with “Dare you to move”. I first heard about Switchfoot from the movie “A Walk to Remember”. I bought this CD when I was still working at Kmart. I found it there, not even knowing they had released a new album. I was loving all the songs. It was a kind of music I’d never really heard before. It was rock music, but the messages were about hope and perseverance. Soon after, “Meant to Live” exploded on the radio, followed by “Dare you to move”. Then people starting catching on to Switchfoot. I still say that this is the best Switchfoot album ever to date, even if their newers ones are pretty good too. This one is just jam packed with great songs.

5. Delirious – Cutting Edge
This album right here defined for me what worship music is. It’s a 2-disc CD too, can’t go wrong there, unless the songs are crappy. I would have to say that old school Delirious is probably the biggest influence on me when it comes to worship music. There are no Chris Tomlin albums on this list, simply because none of his albums do for me what Cutting Edge did. I still really like Tomlin songs, but none of his albums are strong enough as albums, rather only I tend to only like a handful of songs from each album. With that said, I don’t really like every single song on Cutting Edge either, but I still like all as a whole. It should be noted that the songs on this album are featured on some of their other albums too. I’m not really sure if this is the original album or what not, and I don’t really care. I like this compilation. What I love most about these songs is that they have a live feel to them. They sound like they’re being played live in worship. I don’t know if it’s a live recording or not, but I like that better for worship songs (sometimes) than songs that layered like crazy with tracks and additional instruments in the studio.

6. U2 – The Joshua Tree
I don’t have this album nor have I ever owned it. I haven’t even listened to the whole album before, but I know that this album represents ‘greatness’. That’s because it has songs like “Where The Streets Have No Name”, “With or Without You”, and “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. Yeah…it’s an oldie, but they’re still such good songs! The Edge’s guitar playing is an influence for so many worship guitarists. The lyrics are deep. This one is an automatic classic.

7. Jars of Clay – Who We Are Instead
I didn’t expect to put this one here on this list, but this is one of the most captivating albums to ever enter into my ears and into my heart. It’s different from all of Jars’ earlier stuff. I think this is where my appreciation and fascination with blue grass and roots music came from. It isn’t the type of stuff I would jam in my car or blast when friends are over. I really love a lot of their earlier work too, but this one stands out from the rest, even though all of their albums are so different from the other. I don’t even know what more to say. I just love this album.

8. Relient K – Two Left Turns Don’t Make a Right
I haven’t listened to this album in a LONG time, but I loved it. It was the most original and silly songs I’ve ever heard. But they weren’t silly in a childish way…they were just different and humorous at the same time. It’s great writing. I think this is their best album. Everything good they do after this will always be ‘after this’ one.

9. Jars of Clay – Furthermore
This isn’t really an album, because it’s mostly songs from their other albums. It’s a 2-disc album; one being an acoustic studio CD, and the other is a live CD from one of their concerts. I’ve always wanted to see Jars of Clay live too, so this live CD really makes up for it. I love the songs though. They’re well written and powerful. The guitars are amazing too. Check out “Worlds Apart” on the live CD. One of my all time favorite songs.

10. Goo Goo Dolls – Dizzy Up That Girl
Goo Goo Dolls rocks! haha…They have a TON of great songs on different albums, but this particular album is what brought them into stardom. They just put out hits. I love Johnny Rzeznik’s voice. I love his alternate tunings on guitar. I haven’t listened to any of their songs for a while now…but I’ll try to get back to it soon enough! It’s worth it.

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