The latest part of the ongoing series chronicling, in no particular order, the greatest 1001 recordings made by Christian artists

694. MYCHILDREN MYBRIDE - KING OF THE HOPELESS, 2010. From the album 'Lost Boy', Solid State.
When I want to get up and dance around like a giddy idiot I tend to reach for this fist-pumping anthem. It all builds beautifully until two minutes in when we get a beatdown of epic proportions followed by lead singer Matthew Hasting bellowing "Even though we feel dead inside we can say AT LEAST WE TRIED". Recorded in Atlanta, Georgia with Matt Goldman (Underoath, The Chariot) this captures the metalcore team from Madison, Alabama at their very best.
Greg Sammons

695. ARLO GUTHRIE - WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?, 1979. From the album 'Outlasting The Blues', Warner Bros.
Two years before Bob Dylan shocked the world by announcing his conversion to Christianity, one of his most famous protégés - and the son of his mentor - went through his own spiritual transformation. Arlo Guthrie, perhaps the quintessential East Coast hippie, became a committed Catholic Christian. "Which Side Are You On?" is a fine folk-sounding number which described the trek of Moses in the wilderness and then of Jesus' journey to the cross as exemplary examples of people living out their beliefs. It concludes with the memorable lines, "Some men work for little things/And some men work for more/Some men work for anything/And some don't work at all/But me, myself, I'm satisfied/To sing for God's own Son/And ask you what I ask myself/Which side are you on?"
Tony Cummings

696. WORLD WIDE MESSAGE TRIBE - RE:REVIVAL, 1995. From the album 'We Don't Get What We Deserve', Movation.
There was no way that editing fragments of a testimony by historic church figure Duncan Campbell, speaking in his lilting but rather odd highland accent about the Hebridean Revival, and putting it to a dance groove was ever going to work. But thanks to studio maestro Zarc Porter work it does. The Manchester musicianaries were really on their game in the mid-'90s.
Tony Cummings

697. PETRA - JUDAS KISS, 1982. From the album 'More Power To Ya', StarSong.
During a period when the evangelical church, fuelled by the tirades of uninformed TV preachers, made a monumental cultural and theological blunder by denouncing all manner of albums for their hidden "Satanic" messages (everyone from the Beatles and Led Zepelin through to, ludicrously, Stryper and Amy Grant were denounced by those modern day Pharisees) Petra cleverly made their perspective on the debacle eminently clear. On the start of "Judas Kiss" there's a short, backward message. Anyone who bothered to record it and play it the right way 'round would hear the pointed question, "What are you looking for the Devil for, when you ought to be looking for the Lord?" As it turned out, the backward-masked intro was only the start of what some consider the veteran Christian rockers' finest ever track. They had finally, in 1981, brought lead singer Greg X Volz into the Petra fold. His abrasive tones, similar to Boston's Bradley Delp, were a perfect fit with Bob Hartman's guitar lines while the production, from Jonathan David Brown, took the band up to the arena-rock levels of REO Speedwagon, Styx, et al. But it's Bob Hartman's lyrics which are truly unforgettable. First he asks the question, "I wonder what it's like for you when a lamb has gone astray/I wonder what it's like for you when your children disobey." Then he answers it with heart-stopping precision - "It must be like another thorn stuck in your brow/It must be like another close friend's broken vow/It must be like another nail right through your wrist/It must be just like, just like Judas' kiss."
Tony Cummings

Lies Damned Lies

698. LIES DAMNED LIES - LAMENTATIONS, 1996. From the album 'Lamentations', Sticky Music.
They may have saddled themselves with a lousy band name but there's no doubting that the Scottish trio Lies Damned Lies made some of the most thought provoking art rock of the '90s. One critic described their music as "moody, spacious and complex" which on occasions resembled some of Sting's denser works. Whatever their influences, Steve Butler, Charles Irvine and Dot Reid's occasional recordings released on their own Sticky Music company were of the highest standard and the 'Lamentations' album is probably their best. As the sleeve note succinctly points out, "the lament is the song without which our claims to happiness turn to lies" and certainly the heart cries of the prophet Jeremiah take on a whole new resonance in the trio's billowing soundscapes.
Tony Cummings

699. EDITH & SHERMAN COLLINS - I CAN'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANY MORE, 1938. From the various artists album 'Prayers From Hell: White Gospel & Sinner's Blues 1927-1940, Trikont.
It was the 'O Brother Where Art Thou' movie soundtrack which opened millions of ears to the eerie, haunting music of the pre-war rural south. So if the Coen brothers ever decide to return to the film adventures of Dapper Dan and his ex-convict buddies, this plaintive opus from yesteryear is a natural for the next soundtrack. Edith and Sherman harmonise every bit as well as the more illustrious Carter Family and, even more impressively, you believe Edith when she intones, "Angels taking me to Heaven's open door/I can't feel at home in this world any more."
Tony Cummings

700. ROCK'N'ROLL WORSHIP CIRCUS - GIFT OF COOL, 2003. From the album 'A Beautiful Glow', INO.
Their independent releases were much praised by Cross Rhythms but it was their record label debut album 'A Beautiful Glow' that promised to catapult the band from Longview, Washington into the CCM big time. That never quite happened, despite enthusiastic support from Delirious?, and soon after this album's release the band began winding down. What they brought to modern worship and Christian rock were knowing touches of retro (everyone from the Beatles to Floyd) while in Gabriel Wilson they had a passionate frontman. On "The Gift Of Cool" the songsmith reflects on the excitement of a full-on revival. "I remember the day when the love of God came to town/He took all the silent and broken hearts and fixed them up and gave them a sound/He had almost every kind of kid from every kind of social background/Taking all the "cool" they had in praising God as he spun them around." Let's pray for another one.
Tony Cummings

701. HOI POLLOI - THE OTHER NAME, 1992. From the album 'Hoi Polloi', Reunion.
This band of alternative garage rockers from New Zealand should have made it big in the US but somehow a blend of a record company that weren't good at selling rock music and conservative Christian radio meant they never quite conquered the US Christian music scene that their barnstorming performance at the 1990 Cornerstone Festival suggested they might. Fronted by Jenny Gullen they did deliver some powerful songs on their debut album which had True Tunes comparing them to Lone Justice and CCM magazine the Pretenders. The powerful "The Other Name" pinpointed the pain caused by marital infidelity.
Tony Cummings

702. WHOSOEVER SOUTH - GOIN' HOME, 2013. From the album 'Goin' Home', Pitbull Productions.
Fusing three musical forms - old spirituals, hip-hop and bluegrass - into a coherent whole would be a stretch for anyone. But the trio from Southern Georgia, with sterling assistance from top producer Asaf Fulks, delivered something deliciously fresh and spiritually uplifting. This cut is an evocation of the hereafter with a hambone beat and lyrics which make any believer long for Heaven. Trying to describe Rowdy, Sarah and Mike's sound has been tying critics in knots. "Country crunk" was one effort. Whatever it's labelled, one thing is certain - a more uplifting rap variant is impossible to imagine.
Tony Cummings

Dryve

703. DRYVE - RAIN, 1997. From the album 'Thrifty Mr Kickstart', SaraBellum.
Dryve were a San Diego-based band which artfully mixed Hammond B3 organ with abrasive guitars on folk rock songs with a sound which resembled the Counting Crows and Gin Blossoms. The six minutes plus "Rain" begins simply enough before building into an overwhelming wall of sound in an extended instrumental jam. It's a praise song of passionate sincerity. "When I wake, you're there/When I run, you run for me/When I call, you listen," sings Cory Verner who clearly believes every word.
Tony Cummings

704. SOUL STIRRERS - CRYING ON THE MOUNTAIN, 1976. From the various artists album 'Holy Spirit: Spirituals, Soul & Gospel Funk From Shreveport's Jewel Records', Demon Music.
It's seldom acknowledged that the Soul Stirrers continued to make fine recordings long after Sam Cooke left them for fame and fortune. This mid-'70s version of the group, recorded by Jewel Records, showed they were still a magnificent blend of voices and on this pleading doo-wop ballad made music that zeroed straight to the soul.
Tony Cummings

705. VIGILANTES OF LOVE - VET, 1994. From the album 'Welcome To Struggleville', Capricorn.
Forget R.E.M. and the B52s, for me Athens, Georgia's greatest band were the Vigilantes. Fronted by one of the music world's most underrated songsmiths, Bill Mallonee, their blend of country rock jangle, wistful folk, Americana and college rock in a steamy mix that, thanks to Mr Mallonee's songwriting craft, is never derivative. This gem tells the tale of a Vietnam veteran who Mallonee used to care for in a mental hospital. It has a memorable melody that one reviewer suggested sounded like a lost TV theme. All I know is "Vet" is a poignant, compassionate and brilliant example of finely crafted folk rock.
Tony Cummings

706. CHAGALL GUEVARA - VIOLENT BLUE, 1991. From the album 'Chagall Guevara', MCA.
Now widely regarded as a cult classic amongst the Christian rock cognoscente, this is the only album by the short-lived band. Fronted by CCM star Steve Taylor it should have opened doors into the mainstream for Steve and his cohorts (Lynn Nichols, Dave Perkins, Wade Jaynes and Mike Mead) but with little or no promotion sunk without trace. What the general public missed were a dazzling musical mish mash which took in elements of Bowie, the Doors and the Clash and songs which sizzled with telling, if sometimes oblique, lyrics pinpointing many of society's ills all sung in Steve's unmistakeable tones. My favourite is this incisive denouncement of the hippie dream: "We were headed for somewhere," Steve sings, "but that was before you traded in your peace sign for a finger." He continues, "Don't you recall when the perfume of belief was all we needed." Ignoring youth culture's excuses the prophet/singer concludes with the observation, "I don't believe it's the way you were raised/Or the cards you were dealt/Or a poor self-image/I think you loved yourself too much."
Tony Cummings

707. MARTIN SMITH - BACK TO THE START (GOD'S GREAT DANCE FLOOR), 2013. From the album 'God's Great Dance Floor: Step 01', Gloworks.
On this, his first full album since Delirious? stopped gigging/recording, Martin has delivered a classic up there with the very best d:boy songs. The theme, returning once more to the loving arms of our Saviour, reminds me of Matt Redman's classic "Heart Of Worship" ("Back to the start where you found me/I give you my heart again/Take everything, I'm all I can bring/I'm coming home again") while the production, starting with a nagging piano figure and growing into a wall-of-sound crescendo as Martin exultantly roars, "All of Heaven shouts 'Let the future begin'/I feel alive, I come alive/I am alive in God's great dance floor," is, quite simple, one of the greatest moments in Christian music history.
Tony Cummings