The Ghosts of Music Journals Past

[plvarona]

Might as well put up my 2003 and 2004 Journals here as well.  It would look a bit conspicuous if I tacked these onto the original topic, years after the last post.

Phil's 2003 Music Journal

Top 10:
1. Switchfoot: The Beautiful Letdown (A)
2. Steven Delopoulos: Me Died Blue (A)
3. Sleeping at Last: Ghosts (A)
4. Sufjan Stevens: Michigan (A-)
5. Shaun Groves: Twilight (A-)
6. Jill Paquette: self-titled (A-)
7. Jars of Clay: Who We Are Instead (A-)
8. Derek Webb: She Must and Shall Go Free (A-)
9. Anberlin: Blueprints For The BlackMarket (A-)
10. Robert Randolph & The Family Band: Unclassified (B+)

Honorable Mention:
11. Andrew Peterson: Love and Thunder (B+)
12. downhere: So Much For Substitutes (B+)
13. Silers Bald: Real Life (B+)
14. David Crowder Band: Illuminate (B )
15. Seven Places: Lonely For The Last Time (B )
16. Strange Celebrity: Remedy (B )
17. Bleach: Astronomy (B )
18. Los Lonely Boys: self-titled (B )
19. Josh Groban: Closer (B )

Mildly Recommended:
Salvador: Con Poder (B-)
Caedmon's Call: Back Home (B-)
John Reuben: Professional Rapper (B-)
Plumb: Beautiful Lumps of Coal (C+)

Nah:
Glassbyrd: Open Wide This Window (C-)
Paul Colman Trio: One (C-)
Telecast: The Beauty of Simplicity (D+)
Tait: Lose This Life (D+)
Nate Sallie: Inside Out (D+)
FFH: Ready to Fly (D)

Greatest Hits, Live CDs, etc:
Jars of Clay: Furthermore: ... (B+)
Jennifer Knapp: The Collection (B+)
Nichole Nordeman: Live at the Door (B )
Rebecca St. James: Wait For Me (B )

This was an interesting year.  There were a lot of albums released in 2003 that I really liked, yet at the same time I got my hands on a lot of not-so-good albums.  Some of these were free giveaways from a local Christian radio station.  Others were CDs I decided to chance due to coupons/shopping sprees.

[plvarona]

Phil's 2004 Music Journal

Top 10:
1. Caedmon's Call: Share The Well (A)
2. Cool Hand Luke: The Fires of Life (A)
3. Relient K: mmhmm (A-)
4. Derek Webb: I See Things Upside Down (A-)
5. Bethany Dillon: self-titled (A-)
6. Sara Groves: The Other Side of Something (B+)
7. Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans (B+)
8. Something Like Silas: Divine Invitation (B+)
9. Rachael Lampa: self-titled (B )
10. Andy Gullahorn: Room to Breathe (B )

Honorable Mention:
11. U2: How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (B )
12. Fernando Ortega: self-titled (B )
13. Skillet: Collide (re-release) (B )
14. Various Artists: In The Name of Love - A Tribute to U2 (B )
15. Shawn McDonald: Simply Nothing (B )
16. Bebo Norman: Try (B )
17. Seven Places: Hear Us Say Jesus (B )
18. Third Day: Wire (B )

Mildly Recommended:
Ginny Owens: Beautiful (B-)
Ingram Hill: June's Picture Show (B-)
Smalltown Poets: It's Later Than It's Ever Been (C+)

Nah:
Jeremy Camp: Restored (C )
Sarah Kelly: Take Me Away (C )

EP's, Live CDs, Greatest Hits CDs, Christmas CDs, etc.
Andrew Peterson: Behold The Lamb of God (A)
Aaron Sprinkle: Lackluster (B+)
Derek Webb: The House Show (B+)
PFR: The Bookhouse Recordings (B+)
Mute Math: Reset EP (B+)
Kevin Max: Between The Fence and the Universe EP (B+)
Caedmon's Call: Chronicles (B )

[murlough23]

I'm an idiot. I realized last night that I forgot about Over the Rhine's Good Dog Bad Dog. I added the appropriate versions to my 1996 and 2000 journals.

NP: "All I Ever Get for Christmas Is Blue", Over the Rhine

[murlough23]

This is interesting. I went through my lists for every year and noted, for my Top 20 (or Top 10 for the earliest years when I didn't have as much on my list) what percent was CCM, what percent was mainstream, and what percent kind of crossed over between both worlds. This is a very loose definition, and sometimes it changes for the same artist between different years (i.e. Jars of Clay's first and second albums I'd consider "crossover", their subsequent albums I would not - it has more to do with were the appeal was than the actual lyrical content), but I thought it would work as a rough gauge for how my tastes have shifted over the years. Mainstream music has actually beat out CCM so far this year, and also in 2002. There are past years where I just plain haven't listened to as much mainstream stuff at all, and what is there was added retroactively, but I think it's interesting to see how my list has skewed back and forth in more recent years.

I'll note the acts that I consider "crossover" in each case, just in case someone finds those debatable. I do consider any artist who specifically expresses Christian beliefs through their music, but has found success (or at least a few successful singles) with a mainstream audience, to be "crossover", so that includes Over the Rhine, Sufjan Stevens, U2, Iona, etc.

2006
CCM: 35%
Mainstream: 45%
Crossover: 20% (Mute Math, Sleeping at Last, The Elms, Iona)

2005
CCM: 35%
Mainstream: 25%
Crossover: 40% (Sufjan Stevens, Eisley, Mae, Anberlin, Switchfoot, Thrice, Over the Rhine, Kevin Max)

2004
CCM: 50%
Mainstream: 25%
Crossover: 25% (Blindside, Relient K, He Is Legend, U2, Sufjan Stevens)

2003
CCM: 25%
Mainstream: 15%
Crossover: 60% (Sufjan Stevens, Switchfoot, Steven Delopoulos, Sleeping at Last, Evanescence, The Juliana Theory, Skillet, Anberlin, Relient K, Big Dismal, Dakona, Over the Rhine)

2002
CCM: 25%
Mainstream: 65%
Crossover: 10% (Sixpence None the Richer, Lifehouse)

2001
CCM: 65%
Mainstream: 15%
Crossover: 20% (Over the Rhine, P.O.D., Corrinne May, Delirious?)

2000
CCM: 50%
Mainstream: 25%
Crossover: 25% (Iona, The Juliana Theory, Switchfoot, Lifehouse, Evanescence)

1999
CCM: 75%
Mainstream: 15%
Crossover: 10% (Iona, Creed)

1998
CCM: 90%
Mainstream: 10%
Crossover: 0%

1997
CCM: 75%
Mainstream: 5%
Crossover: 20% (Jars of Clay, U2, Iona, Sixpence None the Richer)

1996
CCM: 85%
Mainstream: 10%
Crossover: 5% (Over the Rhine)

1995
CCM: 60%
Mainstream: 10%
Crossover: 30% (dc Talk, Iona, Jars of Clay)

1994
CCM: 90%
Mainstream: 10%
Crossover: 0%

1993
CCM: 80%
Mainstream: 0%
Crossover: 20% (Iona, U2)

[schilleriana]

I'm locking this ghost of a thread temporarily due to it being the target of spam.

[murlough23]

Thanks for the unlock, schil.

[schilleriana]

no problem!

[danny316]

I might give this a shot later, if anybody cares what I think. I'm using a spreadsheet these days to make listmaking even more easy and fun. I have an autosort by year feature and most of the 90s doesn't look too embarrassing. Of course, my 50s-80s years are pretty spotty, but that's another story.

[murlough23]

Of course, my 50s-80s years are pretty spotty, but that's another story.

That's because you were still pooping your diapers in the late 80's.