The Best in Christian Music
Dove Awards Collection
Brentwood Music
CD-50001, CD: $15.98
C-50001, Cassette: $10.98
Best of the Dove Awards -- 1995
Review by Bill Hobbs
The Gospel Music Association's collection of the ten "song of the year" nominees from the 27th Annual Dove Awards is a nice addition to your record collection, sort of a quick tour through Christian radio circa 1995. With several of the genre's biggest recordings of late, including 4Him's "For Future Generations," the Newsboys' "Shine," and Point of Grace's "The Great Divide," the Best in Christian Music collection is solid, if spectacularly misnamed.
The songs and artists not included in the collection say something about the Dove Awards, the GMA, and the state of contemporary Christian music. Simply put: it lacks variety. For example, it's hard to imagine that the GMA believes the best ten songs in Christian music today don't include any black gospel. Similarly, the album contains no evidence of the genre's thriving roots rock scene, while fans of contemporary Christian music's growing country division will notice a distinct lack of twang.
That said, the Best in Christian Music is a good cross section of the pop wing of the industry. a handful of tracks stand out, rising above the others with either a mix of inventive music, impassioned performance, or smart song writing:
- Gary Chapman's "Man After Your Own Heart," culled from the multi-artist My Utmost for His Highest project, is a slice of pure inspiration, worth repeated listening.
- The Newsboys' "Shine," from the album of the same name, wins big with its original Europop sound and smartly hip lyrics that sideswipe a variety of cultural touchstones and phrases.
- Aaron Jeoffrey's "He Is" starts like many Christian songs today, with a majestic string section. It segues into regal piano tones as the father-son duo begins to sing. It's a writing tour de force that has the pair intone descriptions of the Lord drawn from each book of the Bible.
- dc Talk's "Jesus Freak" follows "He Is" and rounds out the album with a bracing jolt of grungy rock and rap delivered with the kind of passion and panache most bands only aspire too. This is sunroof-open, windows-down, crank-up-the-subwoofer music.
Perhaps next year, the GMA will release a Dove song-of-the-year nominees collection that has more songs like "Jesus Freak," and others mentioned.
Bill Hobbs is a reviewer for Christian music publications. He lives in Nashville, TN.
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