Top 10 Christian CD's that will rock your socks.

I have a feeling blogs were born for top 10 lists just to get discussions started. This top 10 is about the Christian CD's that are amazing and have helped progress the Christian music scene. They "rock my socks" so to speak. Like all top tens I am ranking them on artistic merits, not whether I have listened to the CD in the last 5 years. Now clearly I don't listen to absolutely every Christian artist, so really you are learning more about me than about the music. But hey, it's fun!

I am rating them based on their musical presentation(can we sing along?), spirituality of the CD (powerful message?) and creativity of the music(not just the same 3 chords). Here is what I came to.

#1 Matt Maher - "Welcome to Life"
High Scores in: Music, Spirituality and Creativity.

I can hear someone saying "Big surprise, the Catholic picked the Catholic." Well, it's not my fault he's Catholic, but I sure am glad he is. I can't say enough about this CD. The depth of the lyrics are ridiculous. The versatility of each song makes each one a candidate to be sung at Church. The variety and creativity of the songs rivals the Beatles, and that's not an overstatement. This album reminds me of "Revolver" without Ringo singing a track. "Welcome to Life" starts the musical journey and takes you all the way to the cross with "Lead Me Home." It is a masterpiece.

>#2 David Crowder Band - "Illuminate"
High Scores in: Music, Creativity and Spirituality

When I started listening to Christian music I always had the same question, "Is this CD going to be all lyrics/boring music or creative music but lacking lyrics?" This album was a revelation to me. Right away this felt like the CD I had always been looking for. It sounded like an alternative album. I could sing to it like a pop album, and it certainly had lyrical depth. History might only remember it for "O Praise Him" but I know it to have been a milestone in Praise and Worship and Christian music as a whole.

#3 David Crowder Band - "A Collision"
High Scores in: Creativity, Spirituality, Music

If "Illuminate" opened my eyes, "A Collision" blew my mind. This album is also a journey, but like no journey a Christian CD had taken me on before. It has pop hooks, country, old Christian hymns and guitar riffs to fall in love with. For me, part of the spirituality of the album was to open myself to the variety of music it presented. "You Are My Joy" combines music and energy in such a way I haven't seen replicated. It is certainly a journey worth listening to all the way through.

#4 Jars of Clay - Self Titled
High Scores in: Spirituality, Music

The first Christian CD I bought and still one of the best. Before, I didn't know any Christian music outside of Church. This album taught me the power of Christian lyrics set to music I could identify with. "Flood" made secular radio, but to me this CD is epitimized by "Worlds Apart." To me this is a conversion moment caught on record and is one of my favorite songs for its emotion and honesty.

#5 DC Talk - "Jesus Freak"
High Scores in: Music, Spirituality

10 years ago this might have been #1. But it still stands the test of time for its variety and quality. "Jesus Freak" was the alternative album by DC Talk, but really only a handful of songs were truly rock. The rest of the songs were really pop songs that had killer lyrics. Songs like "What if I Stumble" and "In the Light" are songs that each Christian can relate to. Most of all, these were high quality songs and performers. In fact, if I could have one band get back together and cut an album it would be DC Talk. One of my top 5 concerts too.

#6 Chris Tomlin - "Arriving"
High Scores in: Spirituality, Music

Check out this song list: "Indescribable," "Holy is the Lord," "How Great is Our God," and "Your Grace is Enough." These are the first 4 tracks on this disc. Check out praise and worship binders across the country and most of them will have all 4. Now, Tomlin didn't write all these songs, but that's ok. He brought them to a wider audience, and for that I am thankful.

#7 Matt Maher - "Overflow"
High Scores in" Spirituality, Music

Maybe in a couple of years I will replace this with "Empty and Beautiful." But for now "Overflow" has its place on my list. When I first listened to this disc I wasn't thrilled. But over time the depth of its lyrics and the power of the melodies dug in. One of those CD's that "feels like home" when I listen to it. "Ressurection Day" could be the best Easter song. Ever.

#8 Third Day - "Offerings"
High Scores in: Spirituality

Praise and Worship music has a special place in my heart, as it does in the hearts of Christians all over. This was a landmark album in the sense that a major Christian Rock group took the time to cut an all worship album. Sure, they had been playing these songs for while, but putting these songs on an album showed the trend Christian music was moving towards. This album is more than a trend, it is qualtiy P&W rock up and down the song list. The first song "King of Glory" is all you need to hear to know the quality of the disc.

#9 Casting Crowns - "Lifesong"
High Scores in: Spirituality

By the time Casting Crowns hit the scene Christian Music and Praise and Worship had exploded. Everyone was making P&W albums, but it was starting to sound a little tired. Casting Crowns brought a simple, fresh view to the music scene. The songs sing of situations we can all relate to. The title track "Lifesong" simply sings of us each singing our praises to God through our lives.

#10 Relient K - "Two Lefts Don't Make a Right, But Three Do"
High Scores in: Creativity

This is my "say what?" choice. The lyrics aren't overly Christian, although the song "Getting Into You" is a great song of prayer. This CD is fun, creative and totally catchy. I find myself singing it hours after I listen to it. Great innocent fun and worthy of a mention.

There is my list. My regrets to influential artists like Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W Smith and Mercy Me. Please comment and let me know how you agree/disagree!

Ka-Ching!

Mark this blog up as "more creative/weird music I like." Last week I was introduced to the music of Mika, who has great popularity in Europe but hasn't caught on with Americans. Lots of things to be impressed with. Most of all his vocal range is amazing. Add on that he writes his own songs and its hard not to be a fan. He can be compared to a pop combination of Freddie Mercury and the Beatles but often with a dance groove.

This is the video for Mika's song "Grace Kelly." It is about how many artists change who they are for record companies. The video itself is nonsense, really. But the vocal range will impress you and the tune will be stuck in your head. Enjoy!

Man Utd vs Chelsea

Most Americans don't realize the sheer depth of soccer the world has to offer. So let me catch you up on a situation that I can't imagine ever happening again. (note: as an Arsenal fan this pains me to blog about)

First, the English Premier league. The standings read Man Utd and Chelsea tied at 81 points with 2 games to go. Last week they faced off with Chelsea pulling off a great victory scoring a PK in the waning minutes to even the standings. Both have lower table opponents remaining. It should be noted there is no playoff, this is a winner take all regular season. Prediction: both teams should win out, so Man Utd will be crowned champions on goal differential for the 9th time in 13 seasons.

Now to the big one: The UEFA Champions League. This is what drew me to European soccer. They take the top 2-4 teams from all the European leagues and play a tournament. You take all these styles of football and clash them together and greatness happens. In the 50+ year history there has never been an all English final...until May 21st when Man Utd and Chelsea face off. Man Utd is in their third final having last won the cup in '99. Chelsea is in their first final but has been on the doorstep the last few years. I encourage you to watch it at 1:30pm on Wed May 21st on ESPN, you will see a sporting event like no other.

Players to watch:
Man Utd: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)He is creative, he is explosive, and he knows how to finish and set up the assist. He makes other players better. He could be world footballer of the year. I hate his guts.

Chelsea: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)He will do anything to get the ball in the net. He is strong, always in position and can finish when even given a half a chance. And if he doesn't score, well you can bet he is on the ground getting the PK call. He always rises to the occasion. I hate his guts.

Prediction: Pain. Seriously, as an Arsenal fan I just wish the stadium would blow up on gameday (game is being played in Moscow) This would be like the Yankees and Cubs playing in the world series for a Cards fan. It makes me sick. I think it will come down to 1 moment of brilliance where a superstar makes his pressence known. So I will choose Chelsea and will predict 2-1 victory with goals from Essien and the game winner from Drogba.

And because I can't stand Arsenal being out of it, here is a Nike ad that makes me proud to be a Gunner. One of these years Arsenal will mature together and we will win trophies for years to come.

5 against 1.

One of my passions and favorite topics to nerd out on is music. Mostly I am intrigued by music history and how one style of music has blended into another. If you want to know sometime how Country, Elvis and Grunge are related I would be glad to tell you. But that is not what this blog is all about.

See, I myself have had my own musical evolution. In Jr. High if a song didn't have a distorted guitar then it wasn't worth the CD it was recorded on (or tape in my case). The reason was grunge had turned me on to an entire universe of music I had never known. Growing up my parents listened to classic rock, but all my friends listened to pop. Shoot, what 10-12 year old doesn't listen to pop?

Eventually my cousin John desperately tried to get me to listen to rock and grunge. He got it. He saw the energy and effort put into the music. It wasn't about popularity, it was about a message. I listened along trying to understand the lyrics. But CD's alone weren't doing the trick.

Then Pearl Jam broke the doors wide open. I already enjoyed songs like Alive and Jeremy (still my two favorite songs). But it was a live performance on MTV that changed my musical taste forever. Seeing the energy and just sheer joy of playing the music is probably the reason I picked up a guitar.

The two youtube clips are from the same performance: MTV's '93 VMA's. The first is the song Animal from the at the time forthcoming "VS" album. Then, unknown to anyone but the band, Neil Young joined them for Rocking in the Free World. That's rock and roll baby.

Mario Superstar, that is what you are.

Game: Super Mario Galaxy
Score: 10
Scale: 10 Everyone will enjoy this 1 Don't even Rent it

I should note that I didn't purchase Zelda: Twilight Princess when I got my Wii. So when I started playing Super Mario Galaxy I was blown away. Previous to that I had only played Wii Sports, Wii Play, Trauma Center, Wario Ware, Mario Party 8. Super Mario Galaxy was the first game that exploited the shortcomings of the Nintendo Gamecube. It is the best game I have played since Super Mario 64, hands down.

This game is imaginitive. The main attraction of this game is that it is played in "galaxies" and therefore the gravity changes on each level. Many levels are just a bunch of little planets grouped together. Some are entire worlds. Each level had a moment where I would stop and say: Wow, did that just happen? Seriously, I was in awe of some of the things Mario was required to do.

But a perfect 10? Absolutely. It is easy enough to beat, but very challenging to finish the entire game. There are 120 known stars in the game. You can finish "the plot" at 60. I'm pretty sure any gamer could get to this point. (In fact, I'm pretty sure my 10-year-old self could do it). Getting 120 Stars is a different story. I got to 95 without looking up any cheats, but the last 15 would have me pulling my hair out, which we all know I can't afford to do.

The only criticism I could come up with was that the individual galaxies were relatively small compared to 64 and Sunshine. But that was it. The play control was phenominal and not gimmicky (it wasn't overly motion based to fit the wiimote) But it was easily better than any Gamecube game, that is a fact.

I now turn my attention to Super Smash Bros Brawl. And Mario Kart Wii is due out in a couple of months. And something about a Star Wars game this year too. Add on the Zelda title I still need to get to and I am set for the rest of this year it seems!

I've got Baseball Fever....

....and the only prescription is more Cowbell! If that video was made available by NBC it would so be on this blog. Instead you get my picks and insights for the upcoming season.

For the Cardinals I expect an exciting, well played season of baseball. I like that we have a youth movement on our hands and I look forward to Wainwright, Rasmus and Ankiel establishing themselves as the next generation of Cardinals greats (clearly Wainwright is well on his way). But I think injuries will keep us well short of the playoffs. You can't take Carpenter and Mulder out of a rotation and expect a team to excel. Plus I feel Pujols elbow problem will land him on the DL at least once, if not off/on all season. Therefore my optimistic prediction for the Redbirds is a third place finish, although I will accept a fourth place standing as well. It will be fun, but not always a victory.

As for the rest of the league here are my playoff predictions:
NL
Philadelphia, Milwakee, Arizona and San Diego as my suprise wild card.
AL
Boston, Detroit, Seattle and Cleveland as my non-Yankee wild card.

World Series:
Detroit over Arizona.

The NL is hard to pick, but I really like the pitching staff of Arizona regardless of Randy Johnson. I think that team can put it together for a full season and grow as a team.

In the AL it was a tough choice between Detroit and Boston. Both teams look fantastic this season. But I put Detroit because I like their pitching more and because it would be great for the game. It was about 5 years ago Detroit lost almost 120 games. If they can turn it around and win there is hope for the Washingtons, Pittsburghs, Kansas Citys and Tampa Bays of the world. I want to see it happen.

Also, the Cubs will choke and it will be glorious. Play Ball!

Sheet of Futility

I love the first weekend of March Madness. If I could, I would watch 4 days of basketball. Usually I catch about 2 games a day, but with Holy Week and Easter this year I doubt I will get that many. But it's still one of the best sports weekends of the year.

For the first time ever I filled out two brackets (for an office pool). So I have my #1 bracket to share with you, or my Sheet of Integrity. I am really good at picking Final 4 teams, and not so great at picking the winner. Here it goes:

My Final 4 are North Carolina, Kansas, Texas and UCLA with North Carolina beating UCLA. Not very exciting, but I went with some solid picks. I can't show you my whole bracket, but some of my upset picks are Villanova in the sweet 16 and both Pitt and Purdue in the Great 8.

"Good Luck, to ME!"