It is time for Hey Are You Listening? This is
a podcast exploring the past, the present, and
maybe even the future of Christian music. My
name is Joel and I'm here with my good friend
Brandon and we connected over a mutual love of
some particular artist but also have different
tastes and have experienced this world at different
times and so we get to expose each other to some
things from time to time. It's a fun journey
for us and we also get to invite some friends
along for the ride. And today we have a friend
with us who is here. You may know him. From his
work as a pastor at Deer Park Baptist, from his
years teaching high school and middle school,
his time as an adjunct at Charleston Southern
University or his days playing in the band's
No Mir Star or Archimedes Death Ray, please welcome
my good friend, Andrew Blaylock. Andrew, what's
up? And that was a wild introduction. It's good
to be here. I wanted to do you justice. I felt
like it was important. Oh man, it's good to have
you on. We've been talking about this for a while
and so that's a good time. Tell us, Andrew, a
little bit about yourself and kind of how you
found your way into the world of music and Christian
music. Yeah, so growing up my dad was a pastor
and my mom was a music major in college and so
sort of the perfect storm to get into Christian
music and I remember as a kid listening to You
know all the CCM classics, but when I was a really
small kid I would only fall asleep if we played
this tape of George Beverly Shay singing the
old rugged cross. Love it. That's probably where
it started I remember, you know Probably my first
concert was the news boys, you know, seeing third
day and jars of clay and cadence call before
they were big time, you know, different festivals
and DC talk. I mean, all these guys, um, I grew
up with that. Um, by the time we got to middle
school, we were sort of branching out musically
away from the maybe audio adrenaline is kind
of like the transitional kind of for us and then
getting into like ska, super tones, 500 Frenzy,
the insiders and then into punk bands like MXPX
and Slick Shoes and then into like more heavy
hardcore kind of stuff. So I was lucky to grow
up in a time when there was a ton of really cool
cutting edge Christian music. So that's kind
of my backstory with that. Yeah, I always feel
that way too that I feel like the moment in history
that I got the chance to like grow up in and
be at like a formative stage of my life was just
the probably everybody maybe feels this way,
but I felt like it was like the sweet spot. Like
there's no other time I would have wanted to
grow up in because I just loved everything that
was out there. It was kind of fun. Yeah, we have
similar histories. I just never went like as
heavy as you um yeah and all of that stuff but
but that's a lot i'm gonna confess there's a
little bit of jealousy or a lot of jealousy around
hearing this because like i'll look like i feel
like audio adrenaline and all like they retired
before like i could even drive and i remember
even the bands i grew up with i was so excited
to be like man i can't wait till i have money
to where i can like travel and go see them play
and all of them just like retire. So I'm just
like hearing this just throwing around me like,
yeah, we saw them before they were big. And I'm
like, I didn't even see him when they were big.
It is kind of a bummer for you, Brandon, that
you jumped in at a point when they were kind
of nailing the coffin lid onto Christian music.
And you're like, can we open this back up again?
The good news is is that I feel like we're going
through a moment maybe of some rebirth Which
is cool and one of the fun fun things to kind
of deal with on this podcast So well, I've got
for you guys a game today Just to kind of draw
us in to where we are and to test your knowledge
of this whole thing And so we're gonna play a
brand new game. It's called youth group time
machine And so in youth group time machine, I'm
going to give you a year and the two of you get
to tell me what albums that you think we're playing
in youth groups that year. And so does that make
sense? Cool. Yeah. All right. So you've got you'll
have a year and you kind of give me what you
think was hot that year and got played a lot.
And so the year that I'm going to give you is
2003. 2003. So in 2003, what was playing in on
Wednesday nights at youth group? What was what
was hot? Super tones, the super tones. That's
it. Yeah, super tones. That one that's terrible.
That's terrible. I shouldn't say that. I don't
strike back came out like Late 90s, probably
I don't even yeah, but then I feel like chase
the Sun was a little while after that Yeah, it's
a half good record. I Honestly gave up after
strike back, although I love that album That
was kind of there. That's kind of the end point
for me. Yeah, I don't senior in 2003 you think
I would know Yeah, you would I don't actually
know if they were playing super towns or not.
That's great. That's a good question. I'm gonna
throw out a audio adrenaline worldwide audio
adrenaline worldwide Yeah, as you guys talk about
this I'm gonna be doing a little bit of research
on my own because I Don't have all this figured
out But we're gonna find out The Newsboys might
have still had Peter Ferler singing at that point,
right? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. That would have
been a disco record. Oh, love the Canadian disco.
So listen to that one. Worldwide did come out
in 2003. Um, let's see news boy honestly, I was
just trying to think of an album that came out
2003 Love liberty disco was 1999 guys way way
off That can't be true. Oh three was like was
it like adoration or devotion? I think that was
like the worship. Um period of dews boys. Oh
three was uh Greatest hits Add no adoration came
out in 2003. Yeah, that's when the whole worship
thing started to happen Was right then so that's
interesting they rode that train for 20 years
Holy cow, that's wild Yeah, what else a pretty
pivotal record came out in 2003 The Beautiful
Letdown? Zeo's self -titled. No, that's 90 or
2000. It was The Beautiful Letdown by SwitchFit.
It came out in 2003. Were youth groups listening
to it though? I would hope so. I wasn't in a
youth group in 2003. Although I was, I guess
earlier in the year, I was volunteering with
my student ministry. So I would hope, why would
they not? Was 11 I wasn't hanging out teenagers.
It was a huge album Huge album. So yeah, I think
I think probably that one was up there Yeah,
I don't think they were playing Zayo Any other
any other thoughts or ideas I Got nothing I'm
trying to think of stuff I think John Rubin released
the professional rapper in 2003. Youth groups
in Ohio were listening to that. John Rubin, the
professional rapper. That came out in 2003. You're
like tuned in, man. That's cool. there's that
random file of all the album release dates that
I memorize that like my mom was like why is Brendan
spending hours on Wikipedia and this is why there
you go I'm really bad at differentiating years
in the past I'm just glad you said 2003 because
I was like if you call it 1997 i'm gonna be like
Did newsboys do something? I'm sure they did
i'm sure they did so there'd be plenty to go
off of All right. Well, that's a pretty good
jump back into the past uh looking in 2003 Let's
let's move on a little bit from there and just
talk about what we've been listening to um Lately,
so what have you what have you guys been listening
to? So for me, I've been listening to the new,
I don't even know how you say his name, Paul
Meaney or Meaney. The guy from Mute Math dropped
a new solo album that reminds me a lot of Mute
Math stuff. I'm really digging that album so
far. Yeah, I actually was gonna say the same
thing Andrew. Well, you texted me when it was
dropping but I also had seen I think I'd already
watched like Like one of the clips from like
the opening song on that record forever face
And I'm like, this is good stuff It's a lot of
fun. Have you ever listened to mute math? Mm
-hmm, man. Well, the funny thing is you're a
huge 21 pilots fan. Uh -huh And like Paul Meany
almost basically was a member of Twenty One Pilots
for like a while. Do you know the history there?
Not really. I just happen to see something about
it online this week. There's like there was Twenty
One Pilots slash Mute Math like releases that
came out almost. And I think he produced like
a lot of their really recent stuff and the guy
who's the lead singer of Mute Math. And some
people consider that yeah, he was like a member
of the band. Yeah that he was actually in 21
pilots and so You should check it out. You'd
probably dig it. Um, but palminia He just dropped
in your album called forever phase and i Andrew
you mentioned to me you were like, this is actually
a pretty christian record um, yeah, and I was
reading through the lyrics and I was like, whoa,
this is like it's it's more like More like facing
towards his faith than any mute math stuff ever
was which is interesting. Yeah So that's kind
of fun. What about you Brandon? What are you
been listening to? So I do this thing that whenever
an album like is in its anniversary year I think
it's cool to like rediscover or sometimes it's
just accidentally I start listening and I realize
that yeah, but like stuff that's like 2020 2010
like 1995 or whatever and um John Rubin's last
release was in 2020. And it was funny because
it was right before COVID hit. So I remember
being like, this is going to be an incredible
year. And then COVID hit. And I was like, well,
at least we got one more John Rubin album before
everything just went down. But I really enjoyed
it. And I feel like it's maybe the best album
he... put out um so i feel like it's it's cool
when someone's like 20 years into their like
career and they're still putting out stuff which
i know for you guys you probably have artists
the same way where you're like it's like how
is this person still like putting out stuff that's
like you know quality and all so um it's a it's
a really good um really good album so that's
cool i noticed the other day andrew did you see
this um five iron frenzy like teasing new music
or new record? I did see that. I feel like they
break the internet every time they drop into
the album. They broke Kickstarter like literally.
They set their record for like the biggest Kickstarter
ever when they first came back. That's been blown
out of the water since then. But yeah, who knows
what that'll end up looking like, but it's pretty
fun. All right, so one of the things that we
like to do when we have a guest on is to let
our guests bring one of their favorite records
to us for us to spend some time with. So, Andrew,
what album have you brought to us today to talk
about? So I picked something that's not super
representative of what I listen to frequently,
but it's an album that when I was a kid I talked
about, you know, like Playing those tapes at
night like I would always go to sleep listening
to music and this is one of those albums that
as I grew up would find its way in my tape deck
on a frequent basis and that's a Stephen Curtis
Chapman's the great adventure. I probably haven't
listened to this in 30 years until we Revisited
it. I think that was true for me, too When I
texted you and said, all right, Andrew, like
what albums would you possibly want to talk about?
The first one on your list was The Great Adventure
by Steven Curtis Chapman. And I was at first,
I thought it was a total joke because this is
not representative of you at all. At least what
I know of you. But we're getting to discover
a whole new part of Andrew that I didn't even
know existed in talking through this. And so
like you, I don't think I've listened to this
album probably in about 30 years. Who knows?
But. So, but yeah, I was kind of like, this is
fun, um, getting to dig into something because
this record is a pretty, like it's, it's a staple
in the world of Christian music, of CCM. Um,
and so, um, Brandon for you, like when I texted
you and said, here's what we're covering, like
what, what What do you know about Stephen Curtis
Chapman or this album in particular? Uh, so Stephen
Curtis Chapman that was the first concert I ever
went to really was he was headlining winter jam
Oh, so you heard the great adventure live. Yeah.
Yeah, I definitely I don't know if any of these
songs are still But um, but yeah, he's he's one
of those artists. There's a trend on here. Um
I don't know if you guys have picked up on that.
There's so many artists that Joel mentions and
I know them from all of their later work Yeah,
so like star flyer. I'm like, yeah 2005 on and
Joel like Brandon. Well, that's that's not star
We love all fire and I think with Stephen Kersh
Chapman like it's It like it was surprising to
me like I knew he'd been around for a while,
but like it was surprising scrolling down the
like You know albums so I could like listen to
it and just seeing like how long he had been
around and like also just like you talked about
like I want to say it was ranked like Number
30 or something. This one made a list of like
the top christian albums of all time. Yeah, and
um, and I feel like it's interesting and honestly
andrew like I think I think these types of reviews
are really cool because it's like it's cool when
you get to dive into it as well instead of just
being like here's why every track is amazing
instead it's like yeah we're all going in the
time capsule like itself so you get to reach
in and be like why is there a screwdriver in
here like that's funny well let's I've got a
little bio from it that I pulled from online
so I'll read through this and then we can talk
to maybe any other opening thoughts we have but
So The Great Adventure is the fifth album released
by Christian singer Stephen Curtis Chapman. The
fifth blew me away a little bit because I'm like,
I don't know if I know really much Stephen Curtis
Chapman before this, but the album was released
on June 19th, 1992 by Sparrow Records. It went
gold in just under one year. It was listed at
number 33 in the 2001 book, CCM Presents the
100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music. It brought
Chapman several Gospel Music Association Awards,
the 24th Annual Dove Awards in 93, including
Song of the Year, um pop contemporary recorded
song of the year and short firm short form music
video of the year um for the title song all those
um and the pop contemporary album of the year
and the album also won the 1993 grammy award
for best pop contemporary gospel album um the
album also features guest appearances by artists
like toby mack bb winans and ricky skaggs So
this is a heavy hitter in the world of CCM And
so we're gonna get into it and we're gonna be
real and honest as much as we can be While still
deeply loving Steven Curtis Chapman So it's gonna
be fun conversation. You guys have any other
opening thoughts before we kind of hit track
by track on this one? Yeah, we need to do a breakdown
one day on Stephen Curtis Chapman's hair He's
had everything and it's amazing and he's still
rocking cool hair and Yeah, I just I respect
the guy and I respect his hair Yeah, I I agree
with that actually he was really able to pull
off a mullet pretty well at one point in that
time But can can we just like go ahead and say
that like Stephen Curtis Chapman really is one
of the coolest guys I still follow him. I follow
him on social media and The dude just he'll sit
there with an acoustic guitar and like jam out
one of his songs and like his whole Heart and
passion is in that thing I think he's doing a
tour now for his Speechless record as like an
anniversary. It's like his first like really
big full -blown, full -band tour in like a while,
which is pretty cool. He's still going and he
obviously has kids that are deeply involved in
the music scene too, which is kind of a fun thing.
Like when I think of Steven, like I said, he
was at Winter Jam and I remember, I think it
was like him and like Jeremy Camp were like the
two headliners that year. And I remember leaving
being like, I think Steven Chris Chapman was
like my favorite performer. Yeah. And I mean,
I'm like, I'm like 13 or 14. And so to me, like
that says something when like as a teenager,
it's like you're walking away being like, yeah,
Jeremy Camp was cool, but he's no Steven Chris
Chapman. And like at Winter Jam, I shared this
thing a few weeks ago that like, I just remember
him being like, hey, everyone. So my son, him
and his friends, they play music. So I'm gonna
like leave the stage for 10 minutes and they're
just gonna play and I'm just like I don't know
of another Artist they could just midway through
their set be like hey everyone Another my son's
gonna come play and you're gonna listen to it
It's just you're like this guy who's gonna say
no to Steven Chris Chapman, right? Yeah, what
a cool. What a cool Opportunity for them. Yeah,
that's awesome. All right. Well, let's get kind
of into this track by track a little bit And
so I had forgotten, Andrew, you mentioned in
this to me, the first track prologue. I had forgotten
that that thing existed. What did you guys think
about that one? Man, it took me by surprise when
I pressed play and I heard this like orchestral
overture start. There was somewhere between like
the Prometheus soundtrack and the Pocahontas
soundtrack. I was like, what is happening right
now? This is the coolest way to start an album
of all time. And like the way it just seamlessly
like transitions into the first real song, it
was just, it's crazy. So it definitely like,
my excitement shot through the roof as soon as
it counted that. This is like really good music.
I know as I was listening back through it. I
was like, this is super epic. Like this is like
movie soundtrack Kind of stuff. And so I thought
that was cool. The interesting thing is I don't
really think Stephen had anything to do with
this But he gets to playing the French horn He
didn't write it, but he gets the credit for it
because it's on his record. So I yeah, I thought
this was awesome Brandon. What do you think?
I liked it. I love whenever stuff like Opens
up with like a prologue or something like that
I think it adds and I mean I I'd know it's repetitive
but I feel like an opening to an album is like
Super important. So I feel like it's like a really
cool and like y 'all were saying it surprises
you like I'm you I'm expecting just like Do you
hear him singing like acoustic guitar or something?
So when you're hit with that, you're like, this
is pretty cool. It kind of reminded me a little
bit of an opening track to a certain house of
heroes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways. All right.
So track number two, we can just be honest. The
Great Adventure. This is the heavy hitter on
the album. This this is the song that won all
the awards. This is the centerpiece, the iconic
song, I feel like, of this record. Tell me, talk
to me about The Great Adventure, guys. You want
to go first? No, I want you to go first. I wrote
down, it felt like a song I'd hear at VBS. I'm
sorry. It's catchy, like it's catchy, but the
whole time I just, I was like... thinking about
like when you're at VBS and you have like the
The guy that's trying to climb the mountain and
he's singing with like the rock climber and he's
like Jesus is there and Yeah, this I feel like
the opener It lifted my my hopes too high. So
then with this song I was like, oh man, I can't
go back to that prologue for a second Where'd
y 'all think? Oh man, Brandon, you're not ready
to saddle up your horses. You're not there. That's
such a bummer. Yeah, no, I mean obviously I've
probably heard this song a thousand times in
my life and it's super iconic. Ironically, Jeff
Moore of Jeff Moore in the Distance co -wrote
this. With with Stephen and so just the opening
guitar It's one of the I think the first things
that I learned how to play on the guitar that
little like kind of palm muted opening parts
I I think it's it's great With you a little bit
The only thing like holding this back for me
is it's just pretty superficial, right? I mean,
there's no real depth to this song at all um
in any way and so it does just kind of feel like
um I I get what you're saying I could see us
settling up our horses at VBS but um but it's
it's a classic it's so good well my memory of
this song was totally unreliable because in my
head it was almost like an acoustic just like
bare stripped down really this is the great adventure.
And I don't know if that's from seeing it perform
live differently or what, but I, my memory was
just absolutely unreliable. And like hearing
the, the overdrive guitar and all that stuff,
like that, it caught me off guard a little bit.
Um, but like the production value is so astronomically
high. I mean, it, it's situated in its time.
Like it sounds like 1992 distinctly. Yeah, but
you could just like feel like there's a lot of
arrangement a lot of You know carefully layered
stuff going on on this song Yeah, it's definitely
up there I think for him just in classic songs.
I was actually going to look to see on his it's
interestingly It's it's in the top five steven
gratis chabin songs, but it's not the it's not
the number one Um, which maybe I would have thought
is where it is diving or something. Um Yeah,
dive is dive is definitely up there. So Um, yeah,
I think it's great. Um, I love it. So track three
Takes us to where we belong. What do you guys
think about this one? so for me the thing that
like most stood out was the bass and kind of
the bass on the whole album was a little bit
interesting like it was some kind of five or
six string bass it got really low and has a really
interesting kind of almost grungy sound like
it reminded me of this is a weird random Christian
Emo album Branson's Branson's Letterbox album
it sounded like the bass on that for me and so
All I could picture during this song was just
like a dude in like a bowling shirt and a hat,
you know, a weird hat playing the bass on this.
I don't know why. That's just the mental image
that came up. That's that's hilarious. I like
that. I feel like it had a little more depth.
So I feel like it like I'll be honest, like after
hearing the great adventure, I was like. Oh man,
like I'm I I don't I don't know how I feel about
like looking at the the rest um But I felt like
I don't know why I I shouldn't attack that song.
I don't hate the song. I need to make it very
clear that you're not Judge anyone who likes
that song nor do I hate that song Stephen, we
love your song. Please come on the podcast. I
I've never met Stephen, but I feel like if Stephen
told me he was disappointed, it would really
hurt me. But yeah, I liked it and I liked that
it had a little more depth. And I think honestly,
I think where we belong is a little more aligned
with maybe if I was to have an expectation, it
lines up a little bit more with what I'm expecting.
I made a note about the bass line. To andrew
and this one. I thought it was really um, really
interesting the bowling shirt makes makes a lot
of sense Um, yeah, I liked I really um, I didn't
super remember this but as I was reading back
through I was caught with like um, I mean it
it's hard to write a song that kind of captures
like um the story of god from the beginning to
the end a little bit and I actually thought that
he he did that really well, um in the song from
Finding ourselves in the garden after the fall
and and then what comes I thought it I thought
it was cool Musically and everything it it wasn't
my favorite song on the record But but I appreciated
where he was going with the lyrics. I thought
that was cool one thing I was curious about is
like So I feel like for someone like me Like
listening at this like if I'm being completely
honest a lot of albums from like the 90s and
all that you can come across is like kind of
cheesy or like oh like I've seen that done all
these times but like like I guess a little context
like in the moment was this stuff kind of a like
I don't know if like it hadn't been done before
or it's kind of like man Steve is Stephen like
this is cool like this is different like for
for the time like would y 'all say it was or
from so I was six on this I mean it felt like
to me listening back to it. This would be Like
fairly cutting edge for CCM at that time. I Don't
know if you have a different thought yeah, no,
I think that's true. I think I think that You
had before this record you had your Michael W
Smith's and yeah, yeah Which is more of like
almost late 80s like really early 90s like pop.
Yeah Kind of synthesizers and all this kind of
stuff and Stephen Curtis Chapman was was the
guy to say now We're gonna pick up a guitar.
Okay. Yeah, and we're gonna kind of ground all
of this and and route it again and so it's kind
of bringing like Americana and roots Just kind
of back into the into the forefront of the world
of Christian music and nobody was really doing
that at the time Okay, so it was Listening back
to this record There are almost some Springsteen
vibes and some Toto vibes that I was picking
up on that I didn't really expect. His voice
is different than any of that, but the music
kind of hits on some of that, which caught me
off guard a little bit. Yeah, that's cool. I
think that's a fair assessment. I would say probably
lyrically, Maybe this records pretty kind of
par for the course But I do think musically that
he was doing something that nobody else was okay
at this point. Yeah. Yeah So track four go there
with you I Liked this one This was kind of it
felt like the the epitome is of kind of like
a 90s ballad Love song you've got those like
those kind of 90s keys with like a lot of layer
on them kind of there and then you've got this
the really kind of epic like lead guitar kind
of thing going on and so I this was this one's
kind of a highlight for me I feel like you have
to kind of put yourself back in that world and
in that time to like really enjoy it May well,
maybe not but just it just feels very of the
time but like a really good version of Like a
90s ballad back then. So I thought this one was
cool What about you Brandon? Yeah, I liked it
too. I felt like it was simple And I expected
it I think to stay like really slow. So I enjoyed
when it got like a little more like behind it
yeah, I enjoyed it and Like yeah, I I think that's
why I asked those like a question like that is
because I feel like sometimes you You can't fully
appreciate it. Like if you don't understand right,
you know what it's like. Yeah. Yeah, that's good
Yeah for me like when they're like when it kind
of drops and like all the orchestral sounds come
in I got I feel like it was it really like filled
up the space and it was definitely probably in
my top two or three songs on the record. Just
like it felt kind of almost like the world weights
Jeremy Enoch record just in a very different
style. I just enjoy all the fullness of the whether
it's synth or strings or whatever that really
kind of blows it up. It's the first time I've
ever heard a comparison between Steven Chris
Chapman and Jeremy Enoch. But I'm here for it.
The World Waits is one of my favorite albums
of all time. So good. So incredible. Yeah, that's
great. The next one is That's Paradise. Andrew,
how do you feel about Paradise? You know, this
one wasn't my favorite one on the record, like
the way it starts off. Almost felt like it was
like a demo track on a keyboard Just press play
and then start singing over it. I don't know
That's really the only thing I wrote down about
this one. Oh the guitar solo was pretty crazy
Mm -hmm. I did I did note that it got pretty
wild with toward the end with the guitar Yeah,
actually, I like the guitar tones on this song.
I thought they were yeah, they were cool. I had
a lot of respect for that I also appreciate a
good 90s like Story song it felt very like Yeah,
it felt very of the times like it kind of reminded
me of like a brian adams kind of song Like I
listened to him a lot back in the 90s for whatever
reason and so this one kind of pulled me into
that world But I also at the same time was like
this song is really long and it doesn't need
to be But it's still I I I like it I think I
think it's fun. I felt like it was just pretty
cheesy that's how i put i i felt like i put it
kind of that same category i guess is like the
great adventure that i just felt like um i i
don't know i think just as like a lyric person
like sometimes it's like you can have it can
sound good or whatever but like it's like the
story or like where's it going um so yeah i feel
like for me it kind of dipped back into like
the cheesy category 90 CCM is going to be a bit
of a struggle for you as a lyricist. I'm learning
that. That's like, I'll go back and I'll be like,
man, audio adrenaline is awesome. Then every
so often I'll catch one of those songs and I'll
be like, hey, there's some misses. Everyone's
got some misses. We're a band. We're a band with
guitars in our hand crossing the land. Okay,
that song, it's all we do. I love it. All right.
All right. Track number six is don't let the
fire die Where'd you guys stand on this one?
So my note that I have for this is it reminds
me of a song off the latest Dashboard confessional
album If you haven't listened to the most recent
dashboard record, it's actually really good which
one is the most recent dashboard I don't even
know the name of it now, but I remember seeing
him live and I picked up a copy of it and he's
like, he's mature and he's talking about adult
things now. And he has a song about his family
called Me and Mine. And it's very similar sounding
to this one. So I really, I enjoyed this song.
I thought it was, it was a cool like, sort of
a rest it from some of the other sounds on the
album. It gets a little more personal, intimate,
quiet. Mm -hmm. Yeah Brandon what about you?
Yeah, I was the same way I liked I feel like
it was a little more like personal so I Enjoyed
having that little bit of a shift I I think honestly
for me. This is kind of where the album takes
a shift and I feel like the second half is like
a little bit stronger which knowing what's coming
up You guys might strongly disagree with that
take but I think that was where I started seeing
this shift where like even in my notes I felt
like it was like a couple of words but then after
that I started getting a little more in depth
with like the stuff so I felt like it was almost
like This track itself had a shift like for the
album a little bit differently. I don't know
I don't know what it was for me Because I like
to get the guitar work and the way it works in
the melody I can hear it in my head right now,
but like at this point I felt like it kind of
felt like more of the same and I was at the point
where I did kind of feel like I wanted something
different and so I got news for you buddy The
ironic thing is I got that very quickly something
different and then maybe maybe I was wishing
Um, so with that let's move to track seven got
to be true Um, i've i've just gotta hear brandon's
thoughts on this one before anybody else because
something special and very near and dear to his
heart happens on this song So I was telling Joel
earlier. I was like, I don't want to spoil My
thoughts on like this record or whatever, but
I was like I don't think there was a song on
this album that I started off having one feeling
and it shifted so dramatically than this and
I'm gonna be honest the first two lines of this
song so like the first I don't know like 10 seconds
I was like oh my gosh but then the rest of the
song I love this track even before Toby gets
on I'm like you know what this is weird and different
but maybe it's just because it's Stephen that
it's like I'll allow it. And then when Toby shows
up, I'm like, I'm not even expecting that. What
a nice surprise. Toby decided to show up. Question.
Is the first time that you knew that was going
to happen when he said. now my homeboy Toby wants
to talk to you is that the moment where you were
like oh my goodness I like how in Christian music
it's like yeah there's only one homeboy Toby
and that's Toby I think what's cool too is that
in my mind I was like Toby's probably gonna bring
his friends which that's cool if you bring his
friends but he's always bringing his friends
so when it was just him showing up I was like
Cool. We get to hang out with just Stephen and
Toby. Like it's not a group of us. It's just,
it's just a trio of us. So I I'm probably in
the minority in that, but I, I feel like this
song like was a highlight of the album. This
is really early Toby too. How does early got
to be true Toby compared to the Toby Mac of today?
he was trying hard he finally found it did you
get like when they sampled new thing at the beginning
is that familiar to you as dc talk i from me
to dc talk starts with jesus freak so yeah that
was i was like Did I change the record? What's
happening here? I completely forgot this song
existed. I started hearing, God is doing a new
thing. And I'm like, he is definitely. Cause
I don't know what's happening right now. So Brandon,
I'd like to challenge you a little bit on your
thoughts on DC Talk. And maybe posit that you
should give some earlier DC Talk. um a little
bit of an opportunity in your life specifically
not not necessarily anything and definitely not
the self -titled album that came before it yeah
um but the album between new thing and jesus
freak free at last is a phenomenal record um
from start to finish in fact i um i know we're
not talking about dc talk here yeah but i remember
rolling stone rated free at last like i like
stratosphere high they were like this is the
most groundbreaking thing we've ever heard nobody's
ever mixed rap and rock together before uh -huh
like this this is super cool and then I remember
Rolling Stones review of Jesus Freak and they
were like why did this really awesome band just
sound like Nirvana now and they're like all the
creativity is gone that they had before no I
think Jesus Freak's a great record but you should
give Free at Last a shot Well, yeah, I know love
is a verb Jesus just all right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,
there's some good stuff back there All right,
Andrew the odds Steven Curtis Chapman has ever
performed this live I bet if there's video of
that How much would he pay to eliminate? I bet
that there's money for the podcast I bet there
was a Steven Curtis Chapman DC talk tour at some
point and they probably did it every night We
need to find out. We need to get your research
department on that. I'll get my guys right on
it. All I can say is G -O -T -T -O -B -T -R -U.
I will say this. It's definitely not the highlight
of the record for me too. It's pretty cringy.
You were talking about earlier Steph brain cringy
this one like hit really cringy for me, but I
at least appreciate the fact that I that Stephen
knows that it's cringing and He's like willing
to admit it that the whole song is just basically
like yeah, this is not for me, but but yeah,
the ending would have been better like I guess
like as a secret track like You know like way
after the end somewhere or maybe on a separate
album that no one ever heard You can't put toby
mac on the secret track though. It's just that's
true. It doesn't work that way I can confirm
on youtube. There is a live version of this and
It is exactly what you would expect I can't wait
to watch it when this is over. So Um, but how
about that key change at the end guys? I feel
like I should have saved my comment about there's
a shift in like this album It definitely woke
me up a little bit when that song came on. Yep.
Yep. I needed that. All right track eight walk
with the wise thoughts So I Don't know. How do
you come out of what we just got into into something
else? But I feel like they do a pretty good job.
Like this is where I get toto vibes on this song.
Yeah bongos and congos and it sounds like either
a 12 string guitar or something that's capable
really high It's a good job of reestablishing
hey we're back to like real music now yeah yeah
i can feel that i thought that um i like the
guitar a ton on this one i thought it was kind
of cool the chorus is catchy it's good um the
lyrics are i mean interesting just about i guess
putting yourself around people that are wise
that can help you grow um there's there really
wasn't anything like explicitly christian about
this song which is interesting other than like
hanging out with wise people um so but um but
yeah i liked it i think it i think it fits with
the album i think it's like for me it's a little
bit of of a stronger track and i think maybe
it's just because i don't know like like i said
i felt like the second half just sounds a little
bit like different than the first half so i think
i appreciated that you know maybe It maybe it's
nice it didn't go as far as the previous song
But it was nice that it was a little bit of not
just okay. We're getting repetitive here. Yeah
Yeah, I hear that Our next track is Maria Joel,
what are your thoughts on Maria? Yeah, um, I
thought this one was interesting. I like I like
that. There's like a variety of instruments at
play On this one when it started out. It kind
of gave me a jars of clay vibe, which is interesting
because this is pre jars of clay Right. So it's
kind of before any of that but but yeah, I it
reminded me like a like frail like off the First
I don't know. Anyways, just kind of like a chill
Thing I thought this was different for the record.
Yeah in a good way but I also think that it probably
could have gone somewhere that it didn't really
end up going. Yeah. I don't know. So for me,
it felt like that he wrote this for a movie that
was like the Christian answer to lethal weapon
two. And there's a really sad story about a woman
named Maria. And it was heartfelt, but maybe
like a little bit of a like, it felt like it
didn't quite fit. with the rest of the record
to me. Yeah, I get that. I, for me, I, I think
I appreciated that it doesn't resolve just in
the sense of I feel like I'm so used to like
in Christian music there's always this like there's
a problem, we set up a problem in the first verse
but then they start reading the Bible in the
second verse and then by the ending chorus like
their whole life has changed. and like I think
for me it was refreshing that like towards the
end of it you don't get that like oh this person
has came in there it's it's still this like it
ends with like a like who who's going to do this
who's going to help um so I think like lyrically
I appreciated that it wasn't just this like nice
little story like wrapped up yeah yeah that's
cool Alright track number ten still called today.
I'm really really interested to hear y 'all's
thoughts on this one. I Think I was starting
to get a little fatigued maybe CCM vibes by the
time this Rolled around and so like I find myself
like checking back in about halfway through and
be like, oh I missed the start of this So yeah,
my thoughts are not super well organized Only
thing I wrote down was Duke Silver's saxophone
I Feel like this is something that like I live
by it so there's bonus points of just of like
oh cool I agree with that message of this song
But I'm not familiar with bb whinen's I don't
even know if I'm pronouncing it right. He's related
to C .C. Wyman. Okay, I was going to ask the
question. Okay. It's C .C. Wyman's brother. But
I liked his appearance. I felt like it was cool,
like getting something like a little bit different,
like in there. So I felt like it added and because,
yeah, that's where like I started. Thinking like
I ever wrote in my notes that like I've really
enjoyed this second half a lot more than the
first half. Yeah Guys, I love this song. I don't
know what's wrong with especially Andrew You
need to go back and listen I Thought this one
is really cool and different in in some really
cool ways I felt like this could have been like
the single for the record in like the secular
market Mm -hmm that that it was like strong enough
to stand out there on its own and it had a message
that would have done done Well, like like as
fast like don't wait As long as it's still called
today. Just like do it. I Yeah, I thought this
was great BB one ends was a super great addition
on this one. So for me this this track like is
is right up there with a great adventure and
One of my one of my two favorite songs on the
album. So Yeah, all right, and we come to the
finale with hearts cry Andrew, how'd you feel
about hearts crying? I thought it was like the
one that like felt the least tied to 1992 like
it was like I felt like it was sort of time more
timeless than the rest of the album. I like to
kind of strip down guitar, piano, synth and string
sound. And the lyrics are powerful. The lyric,
the cross should have been mine, that really
stuck in my heart listening to it. But his love
broke through time and heard my heart's cry.
And there's other good lyrics in there too, but
that one really caught my attention going through
it. Yeah, I I really like this one a lot. I think
it's hard not to like this is This is one of
those songs that when it came on I'm like, oh
I I remember this one which I struggled to with
a lot of the songs on this record But this one
stood out and I'm like I could sing along with
it still for whatever reason it's a beautiful
song and it does have like a an earnestness It
feels a lot more grounded and real than like
a lot of the other tracks on the record And I
like I really believe it when he sings it And
the bridge is great. The melody is gorgeous And
so yeah, yeah, this is this is definitely one
of my top top tracks of the record We were talking
about this on like a previous review and I made
a mention about how like sometimes we focus so
much on the beginning of an album and sometimes
we're just we almost expect an album to I don't
know for that to be where like the songs that
maybe aren't the best or you know whatever yeah
um but I felt like it was a great ending like
by the end of it I wasn't like wanting to just
like skip and be done with it like yeah I was
wanting to hear it out and like let the album
um so I felt like it was It's always nice having
that on the album when you're not ready, but
all right. Are we done yet? Yeah Yeah, that's
a really strong closer. If I could add one thing
to make it a little better. I would right at
the end drop in a G o t So it ended perfectly
Andrew for you. This is your favorite track on
the record. Brandon, what would you say is maybe
your favorite one? Man, I don't know. I might
struggle. I might be I might go with got to be
true just because that's the one that stood out.
So you got to be you, man. Yeah. Yeah, I think
that I think that or even Yeah, like still still
called today. Like maybe that's the that's who
I'd go with. Yeah Yeah, I it's hard for me. The
great adventure is the great adventure, but I
think still called today is the one that I would
Probably go with I'll throw the great adventure
up there and then I'll bring in hearts. Cry.
It's like a solid Right up there with them. I
don't know those. I feel like those are all great
songs So you guys have any number two? Any closing
thoughts on the record as a whole for you guys
So, yeah, I was surprised by the sound a little
bit I remembered some of the songs, but I remember
them a little differently but Respect for Steven
Curtis Chapman as an artist is still like super
high like Just the way his whole career and body
of work. It's not that I listen to him a ton
But he's a really excellent musician composer
And he's a real guy like so many of the people
get sort of chewed up and spit out in that industry
and I can only imagine how difficult it is to
sustain an authentic faith through decades of
the inauthenticity of the CCN world. So you've
definitely got my respect. I think for me, like,
um, it gives me an appreciation, um, for like
his whole career for me to be like, Oh, that's,
that's cool that I know the stuff that I've listened
to today that I think is like really good or
whatever. So like, for me, like not, not listening
to a lot of like, that like era or whatever it's
easy for me to think oh this this is cheesy or
whatever but like to me it's cool to go back
and get like a history lesson on like oh this
is what music was this is this is why he was
popular yeah um but also just seeing this like
this like evolution of an artist like to me it's
cool to see like i mean like you know we we keep
making fun of the toby mack track but i think
it's so cool to see how like You see those two
guys and then you fast forward What third like
30 years and like there's still two of the most
like I would say recognizable like people in
the industry but also just to see that like Yeah,
like they kept on changing and that they've and
so to me. It's just like I'm the same way I walk
away with an appreciation for Stephen Yeah, he
doesn't show off on this album, but he's one
of the best guitar players in Christian music.
He's an incredible guitar player. He's an album,
a couple of albums from now, is probably my favorite
Steven Curtis Chapman album. It's called Signs
of Life and it's a record that's, man, he just,
he plays the guitar on that thing and I feel
like it's... I think I read somewhere him say
that he typically would write albums focused
on melodies and then kind of add music underneath
it. But on Signs of Life, he started with the
music and kind of built on top of there. And
so I loved I loved that record a lot. And but
I feel like that helps me as I listen to this
realize because I feel like a lot of times we
can listen to a CCM record like this and say,
well, how much did Stephen actually have to do
with with this this album and this these songs?
But he's a super talented guy. And like we said,
I think just a real earnest and genuine, genuine
guy. And so like you guys are saying, I'm I'm
thankful for his impact in the world and in the
industry and I'm thankful that he's still out
there doing it. I think that's really awesome.
So what would you guys rate The Great Adventure
by Stephen Curtis Chapman? Where would you fall?
So I think it probably is somewhere between maybe
like a 3 .6, 3 .7 for me. It's got some really
good highlights, but it doesn't have the consistency
all the way through to be like a four for me.
Yeah. I hear that. So I'm pretty close to you,
Andrew, in it. Brandon and I have talked before
about sometimes it's hard to objectively look
at a record and not take nostalgia out of it.
All those different kinds of things, but I think
it's OK to let nostalgia like speak into where
an album falls for us. And so I feel like I'm
somewhere right around in the same spot, like
probably a three point five for me and just realizing
like the importance and the impact of of this
record on the industry as a whole. I don't it's
weird to say, but I don't think you would have
a band like Jars of Clay without having Steven
Curtis Chapman in a moment like this. And so,
you know. yeah it's just a really important record
yeah i i think legacy wise like i give it like
a four four point five i think for me personal
wise it's closer to like a two but i i think
that's like i think that's the problem is not
having like the nostalgia um But like like yeah,
cuz I feel like that's the struggle as I try
to think of what is um like Am I adding this
to my playlist afterwards or whatever? but like
honestly going back like I Always have this fear
that I'm like, oh is there gonna be anything
on this album? Or is there gonna be what but
like I like I might not be adding to my playlist
but like I really did enjoy like going back and
I feel like honestly like it really makes me
like in the coming week like to start going through
Steven Chris Chapman's like um like his library
because honestly like I love the guy but I can
maybe tell you a handful of songs so I feel like
like this album wise I might not be like putting
like on repeat but I'm really excited to go back
and kind of like listen to more like to see like
what What was the evolution like how did this
change from his first release or like, you know
his later releases? So like I I feel like when
you give a low grade, it's like you hated an
album But it's like I like I love getting to
listen to this and I and I really hate it What'd
you say? But like I like I honestly I love when
people bring stuff like this like it's like in
college I tell people that like The my favorite
classes if I went back I think I made C's in
all of them like I wasn't good in the classes,
right? but I learned so much from them and um
so like albums like this like I love getting
to go back and be like, you know, yeah, like
I want to in the future I want to learn more
about like why was this groundbreaking instead
of something that I listened to 30 years later
and I go Oh, this sounds like something that
I would hear like in a church growing up, you
know, whatever like understanding why like it
might be cheesy now but like in the proper context
this actually was really good yeah yeah i do
think that it's go ahead have you guys have you
guys heard this band called whipset it's like
a a modern sort of reliant k throwback style
band but they covered steven carter's chapman's
dive And you can stream it on Apple Music and
Spotify. And it's just kind of an interesting
mashup of worlds. Abandoned 2025, covering Steven
Carter's Chapman in the vein of her lion cake.
That's cool. I will have to check that out for
sure. Yeah. Well, I'm thankful for you guys digging
into this album Andrew. Thanks for bringing it
to us so that we it was so fun going back and
listening to it and Trying to figure out was
this what I remember to being or or not and in
a lot of ways It was and in a lot of ways it
wasn't so I really enjoy doing that All right.
Let's dig into what is the lyric of the week?
So the lyric of the week this week is there's
a hole the size of a cruel word in a wounded
heart somewhere That's learning to hide the pain
There's a thorn stuck in the conscience of someone
who spoke a word in anger and they can't wash
away the stain I'm sorry such a hard word to
say I actually thought he had some good some
good writing in places in this and so I thought
that was cool Well, Andrew, thanks again for
joining us today, man. It's been a good time
Where can people find you in the world or do
you want people to find you in the world? So
if you go to like the downtown market at night,
I'll be hiding in a dark corner somewhere. You
can Come find me there. No, I'm not like super
you can follow me on Instagram. I think I'm X
let Mookie dance X which is Throwback to the
old school days of straight -edge hardcore long
story with that one So that's awesome. Yeah,
you can find Andrew there and you can find us
of course at on Twitter or X at hey, are you
pod? Facebook. Hey, are you listening and we'd
love to have you jump on there We'd also be super
grateful if you could give the podcast a rating
and even a review Thanks to all of you who listen
every week. We are thankful that you are on this
journey with us and we're looking forward to
the days ahead as we continue to dig into this
world of Christian music.