I've been so sporadic with my posts, I'm inventing a title for this Friday edition. We have Wednesday Wisdom, Thursday Thoughts, and now Friday Fun. They are all one and the same really...just a matter of when I get around to writing.
The subject of this week's blog stems from a Twitter thread I saw a few weeks back. @drleahpayne asked "Looking for very weird, very obscure Christian rock bands...any ideas?" It currently has received 249 replies which is great as many of them name bands I'd never heard of.
But inspired by Dr. Payne, I'll take the next few weeks to highlight a few of my favorite long-forgotten and obscure CCM bands.
They are characteristically 90's CCM in so many ways. Stylistically similar to dc Talk, they even had relational connections with Michael Tait of that band.
After their debut independent album, they put out two records on the Star Song label. It was their second that briefly put them on the CCM map.
I recall they had a single that received Christian-pop airplay, "Know You Better". That song was a bit of an anomaly as far as their sound was concerned. Though they certainly had things in common with dc Talk, they had a unique "funkiness" and "edge" that made them distinct.
You can find a Jesus Freak Hideout Review that gives it 4 out of 5 stars. I may need to relisten to it in its entirety again, but I'd be hard pressed to give it anything less than 4.5 or 5 stars. It was on regular rotation in my late high school and college years at the turn of the millennium.
The band faded from existence shortly after reaching their peak with this album. They made quite the impression, at least on this CCM connoisseur.
Personally, I really loved the entire album, start to finish. But it is the first three songs that really draw you in, plunging you headfirst into their up-tempo, in-your-face rap/rock energy. "The Way I Am", "Plastic", and "Masquerade" set the tone for the 10 song set that never really lags but never exhausts your ears either.
