Top 12 Christian Albums of 2001
It's worth mentioning that this album was independently released in 1999. However, it was only widely distributed beginning March 2001. We also suspect that most critics did not fairly consider Conversations for their 1999 best-of lists because it was an independent release at the time.
posted 1/01/2001
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The end of November not only marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, it's also the unofficial end of the year for music releases (no coincidence there!). That means it's also time for us to release our Top 12 picks for the best Christian albums of 2001.
With so many incredible music releases to choose from this year, we asked a couple of editors from our sister publications to contribute to our selection process. Then, using sophisticated methodology ("Bubble gum, bubble gum, in a dish … "), we created an official list that reflects the overlap between our picks. The result is a best-of list we feel truly represents the cream of the crop. Also, click on any of the editors' names to view each of our individual lists, which feature a few more albums that didn't make the final cut. As always, you can click on any album image in the lists to listen to sound clips and buy the album at Musicforce.com.
Our music panel included the following contributors:
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Andy Argyrakis, freelance music critic for the music channel.
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Russ Breimeier, music critic and co-director for the music channel.
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Camerin Courtney, associate editor for Today's Christian Woman magazine, as well as the singles and music channels.
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Michael Herman, co-director for the music channel.
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Mark Moring, managing editor for Campus Life magazine.
And now, without further ado, here are our winners:
#12
Katy Hudson
Katy Hudson
Red Hill
Camerin: " … writes her own songs … vulnerably lays her fears, longings, weaknesses, and growing pains before listeners … "
Russ: " … rife with the musical maturity and intelligence of a twentysomething. She's just 17 years old!"
#11
Stereotype Be
Kevin Max
Forefront
Camerin: "Kevin Max's voice has long been one of my favorites … with his cool moody, U2/Sting-ish sound … "
Mike: " … nuanced performance and production … expect something different, and Stereotype Be will take you a step further than that."
#10
Big Surprise
The Elms
Sparrow
Russ: " … perfectly balance beautiful melodies and simple rock and roll, with a bit of creative imagination thrown in."
Mike: "Big Surprise is stimulating and fun, giving a double dose of ear-candy in both the music and the lyrics. "
Andy: " … The Elms have matured tenfold, developing a knack for clever songwriting and a British-inspired rock backbeat. "
#9
The Way I Am
Jennifer Knapp
Gotee
Camerin: "That this singer/songwriter/guitar player creates songs that are simultaneously mind stretching and entertaining proves her genius."
Mark: " … a good mix of rock and folk … but it's Knapp's knack with a pen that makes her music soar. "
#8
Come Together
Third Day
Essential
Mark: "The best rock band in Christian music keeps getting better."
Camerin:"Third Day is a great rock band—period. "
Mike: "There's enough variety on Come Together to not only bring [fans], but also to draw in a new group of listeners who haven't discovered Third Day yet."
#7
In the Company of Angels
Caedmon's Call
Essential
Russ: "Caedmon's Call rightly understands that we can express worship to the Lord with the poetic language of the old hymns and today's contemporary music … and still fall short in fully articulating God's majesty and glory."
Mike: "The group has a knack of not only producing great sounding tunes, but they consistently speak the truth of God's Word clearly with incredible artistic integrity."
Mark: " … it's fitting that Caedmon's Call would do a worship album, and this one's better than most."
Camerin: "During a year full of worship releases, Caedmon's Call's latest offering rises to the top."
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