Disclaimer: Alright, 1st things 1st… Know that my purpose in life is nothing but the Gospel. Glorifying Jesus and making His life, death and resurrection known through an eternal, loving relationship with Him through what He did on the Cross. All songs, bands and music comes through this filter. I do appreciate art and the musical gifts God has given to people but unless it’s pointing to the Gospel either on purpose or not on purpose it’s probably not going to catch my eye. 2nd… Know that I loved and adored music (preferably rock) before I ever met Jesus and still predominantly listen to Rock music. Not all bands, musicians and albums reflect Jesus based on the River’s radio airplay but some way or another they point me and others back to the Gospel message which includes how messed up we are because of the sin we inherited and what a Savior we have for that sin. Thanks you Jesus for revealing that through many rock cd’s this year. 
There are probably many other artists, bands, and albums who speak on Jesus and Rock more then the below list but they didn’t catch my ear and God didn’t use them in comparison to the below albums. With that being said….
9. “The Fray” by The Fray
The Fray is musically everything you want in people who love and know Jesus but have a voice in the mainstream market. Having songs played in commercials, hit tv show “Grey’s Anatomy” and all over the top 40 mainstream radio stations they are able to sing about girls, the world and God in a pop-catchy way that the world embraces with a biblical background. I still wish they didn’t sing about relationships and girls so much.
8. “Until the Whole World Hears” by Casting Crowns If you know anything about me and my musical preferences you would think that this album was a “just messing with you” pick. Well, blame my wife (her favorite band so I’m forced to listen to them) or Jesus for this being my 8th best album of the year. Casting Crowns always has Christ-centered lyrics amongst their “at times” cliché, stereotypical Christian radio style type of sound. I took Jessica to see them live for her Birthday and their heart and passion for Jesus and teenagers blew me away. When I listened to the album and heard such lyrical gems as “Knowing You” and “Blessed Redeemer” (anytime you redo an old hymn you get bonus points with me) I couldn’t but help to fall in love with this cd and album.
7. “Hello Hurricane” by Switchfoot
I appreciated Switchfoot before they got big with their “ The Beautiful Letdown” album and liked them even more when they got bigger on the radio. Saying that, I hated their last couple albums and was pleasantly surprised by this album. Lyrics were on point speaking on humanity and had great catchy tunes to compliment their return to deep lyrics which would serve as an analogy for how messed up we are as humans and how much we need a Savior in this life.
6. “Never Better” by P.O.S. (expletive lyrics)
Let’s start with the obvious… I HATE RAP! Coming from Youngstown, OH. where most friends listened to rap I was turned off by the repetitive beats and lyrics about how many girls they can lay and things they can buy. I would still keep up with it as friends listened to this genre and teenagers blasted it out of their cars. With that being said, P.O.S. is not the stereotypical rap artist. He actually raps about the exact opposite of what every rapper mc’s about. He actually raps about the stupidity of today’s rap lyrics and prophetically speaks on the shallow world in which they mostly rap about. Mixed with original, rock driven beats I couldn’t but help to put this album on repeat on my itunes as I’d reflect on the deceit that comes from today’s rappers. If I actually liked rap instead of rock this album might be #1. Amazing how God in His sovereignty can use someone that doesn’t know Him in a personal relationship and that swears so stinkin’ much to show the shallow world we live in and hope for something better then what it offers.
5. “Church Music” by David Crowder Band
Be forewarned that I’m going to be biased to Crowder anytime he releases an album. God has used his lyrics and albums many times to worship Himself and I was extremely excited for this album before I even heard it. 1st time I ran through it I thought “Great lyrics but I could go without the electronica vibe that is becoming ever so popular today”. After listening to this album repeatedly I am saying “Great lyrics AND great music.” The more I listened to it the more it seem to mesh and I appreciate Crowder’s continual musical development to the future generation as they get into electronica more and more. Lyrics beyond all make the album as the band turns dance music into worship/church music.
4. “In Shallow Seas We Sail” by Emery
Emery is my favorite band / live act to see and I still regularly listen to their albums “the question” and “the weak’s end”. With that being said and after hearing their ep/preview of this album I was thinking that this was going to be my for sure #1 album of the year. ½ the cd met expectations and it still beat their last cd musically (the last one was great lyrically but kinda sucked musically). With standouts songs like “the poor and the prevalent”, “butcher’s mouth, “the smile, the face”, and “dear death 1 & 2” this easily made a top 5 of the year but didn’t beat out the other top albums that I played repeatedly over the year. Still a great album and excited to see where Emery will be going in the future with their sound as they got more back to their roots.
3. “Over the Grave” by Sojourn Music
I’m a sucker for old Christ-centered hymns redone to meet current musical standards and this album completely blew my mind. I lived in Louisville, where this church and worship band meet and heard many great things about their past albums. I was still in awe of the talent and gifts that these artists have in making Gospel centered hymns into modern folksy worship. To know that a church’s worship band plays these songs regularly makes me hope and pray for every church to go deep inside and to see what Jesus can do within to see what they can do with great, theological hymns instead of playing the latest worship songs played on Christian radio.
Impressed by their last album ‘Messengers” I was excited for this album to come out and it fulfilled more then my expectations. Not only did this band seem to grow and mature musically but their lyrics continued to raise questions on the fall of humanity and the hope that is out there for a Savior. I appreciate any band who consists of Christians who is more popular in the mainstream then in the Christian sub-culture and ABR has not only stayed lyrically faithful to their biblical undertones in lyrics but has continued to make music that surpasses any other hardcore band out there. Oh ya, and they put on a kick butt live show and have one of the best drummers in the music scene.
1. “With Roots Above and Branches Below” by The Devil Wears Prada
I have to admit, I was shocked to see this to be my top album of the year. I’ve always liked TDWP but never thought they’d be one of my favorite artists. They just seemed to be more of a copycat hardcore band then anything else. This album not only changed that but made me worship Jesus as I took in their lyrics about the consequences of our sin, world and selfishness and the hope that we have in Jesus. They may never mention Jesus like many of these mainstream hardcore bands do who travel with bands who openly disagree with their faith but this album is as strong in their faith and testimony in Jesus as any other Christian band. They raise up questions in which point to a Savior and do so in such a way through their well placed screams, singing, drums, guitar, synthesizer and keyboards. Emotionally, this album connects on such a level where it is hard to ignore who they are pointing to in their lyrics and for that this cd is by far the best of 2009.
