Well, hey friends, are you listening? Welcome
to our podcast that is looking at the past, present,
and future of Christian music. My name is Joel.
I'm here with my good friend Brandon. And we
connected over a mutual love of some different
artists, but also have some pretty different
tastes. And so we get to experience new stuff
from each other while sometimes having some friends
along for the way. Brandon, how you doing today?
I'm doing good. It's a nice rainy Halloween week
day here in Charleston, South Carolina. I feel
like weather, like moisture wise, I'm not a big
fan. Temperature wise, big fan of what's going
on right now. Yeah, there's been some cool days
which have been pretty, pretty fun and pretty
nice. Um, not as afraid to spend some time outdoors,
which is cool. So the mosquitoes aren't out as
much. Yeah, that's true. That helps and uh gets
us ready and geared up for friday Friday night
the big event. Um trick -or -treating you're
gonna be hitting the streets No, I I so the job
I used to have I was never off on halloween night
Yeah, I love handing out candy. I i've become
an old man in my 30s But like, I just enjoy handing
out candy. And I think it's like, I'm naturally
a person who enjoys giving gifts more than receiving
gifts. So there's a mini Christmas morning where
someone hands me something and I go, oh cool,
a corduroy shirt. All right, well here, Jordan,
open that. I actually really miss those days
myself of just being able to like, my wife Emily
and I used to set up in the driveway and have
hot chocolate. um just get to have a lot of conversations
with our neighbors and then um when did did you
just have hot chocolate for yourself or you were
handing out now we're handing it out giving it
away um just to entice people to sit around and
talk to us um but then kids enter the picture
and then you gotta you gotta roam the neighborhood
and stay staying still so it's a little bit of
a different um different ball game at that point
well with that um today's gonna be a little bit
of a different kind of episode for us and We
might have some spooky treats along the way but
also today we're just gonna deal with a topic
and you found somewhere online a list of some
of the Greatest Christian artists of all time.
What have you got going on? Yeah, it's a it's
a website called ranker. Okay, our a NK er It's
a website where people can just go and they can
talk put in any topic and people just aren't
ranking them. And so the list will be looking
up in a little bit. It has almost 200 ,000 votes
on it. So we'll see what the result of 200 ,000
inputs of what are the very best Christian bands
and artists. What that looks like. I do not think
that I have let my opinion be known on this.
Maybe we should have voted ahead of time before
we know who knows. That's interesting. All right.
So we're looking forward to digging into that,
but before we get into it, let's talk about what's
in the news. So what is in the news in the world
of Christian music today? I feel like it's been
a little bit of a. Light season coming out of
what we've been talking about with the devil
wards and everything. There's not as much happening
But I did notice that there is one pretty big
and important record coming out Maybe something
that's never happened before Mm -hmm. And that
is that a certain artist has a Christmas album
Coming out for the very first time. Who do you
think might be releasing a Christmas album for
the first time? Mm -hmm Is it a newer or older
artist? That's an older artist. Striper? How
did you guess that? Is that them? It is. Maybe
you saw it somewhere. Striper has a Christmas
album coming out called The Greatest Gift of
All and so I'm just... i'm intrigued every time
striper puts an album out i'm like let's listen
to this and see what's going on um and they've
actually put out a couple of like decent records
i don't like sit and listen to striper but i'll
always check it out whenever they put something
out just because i'm intrigued how these guys
keep going um so a christmas album sounds kind
of fun i can just imagine some some really nice
melodic um christmas melodies that are just being
shredded Out there. So that'll be an interesting
thing to check out as it as it happens What are
some of your favorite like Christmas albums or
Christmas songs? So I'm really excited for us
to get to tackle Some Christmas albums coming
up and maybe we can save a little bit of a later
discussion I think the ones that come to mind
was our reliant case Very good. What it's got
some weird title to it. Oh, let it let it snow
let it reindeer. I think That one's top and I
I'm such a big fan of Compilation Christmas albums
the stuff that tooth and L put out the stuff
that go to records put out To me those are some
of the most fun ones because the problem is is
with a lot of Christmas albums you'll have people
that are in the style of music and that's what
you expect but then all they do is just this
traditional stuff yeah so it's nothing is separating
it from from the other thousand artists which
i understand because my mom is a big a big person
of like uh like little drummer boy Did their
the traditional one is the only way to do that?
So all the other bands I bring up and go look
audio adrenaline did this That's not the song
So the huge like for King and Country Live little
drummer boy thing. She would not be like a fan,
you know, honestly, I I don't know her feelings
I'll have to reach out and provide an update
later on Can't wait to find out about that one
That's cool. All right. Well, what, what are
some things that, um, every week we talk about
what we've been listening to lately. Is there
anything for you that's kind of a new thing that
you've been digging into? It's funny that you
mentioned, um, like Christmas albums. So each
year we, um, we put together a puppet show for
the kids at church. Um, so we like rewrite, like
we write a new one and act it out and all, and
Feel like you to get in them the spirit of writing
in the right headspace. You have to listen to
Christmas music Mm -hmm, so I plugged in my Christmas
playlist from last year So the other day on the
way home for visiting my parents It was just
a straight hour of listening to Christmas songs
and going all right. What what about this Christmas
song? Can I fit in with? Oh, yeah, we can do
you know a whole Production based on that, you
know or whatever with like telling the story
so Yeah, this past week it was just in the car
just for an hour straight listening to random
Christmas songs. I would have such a hard time
if any part of my ministry job had me listening
to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Just
because I'm one of those guys that has like that
hard line of like, we're not going to do this.
And my kids, it drives them crazy. But then they'll
start listening to Christmas music before Halloween
and they're like sick of it. by the time we're
like halfway through December. And I'm like,
you actually have to still enjoy Christmas music
on Christmas. So yeah, that's always fun. I don't
have anything new really that I've been paying
attention to you, but one record that I've been
listening to you that is one that came out I
think last year is... One of my favorite bands
is the band Luxury. They're an old school tooth
and nail band, but now just kind of releasing
their own stuff. And so they put out an album
last year called Like Unto Lambs. And I love
everything that they've released in the last
10 or 15 years. It's been really good, but this
record is super good. The production's great.
I think they record with Matt Goldman out of
Atlanta, but... It's just such a good record
and there's such a variety of like songs on it
and such good songwriting and lyrics and Their
singer is just like a beast of a singer. He's
got great vocals And so I just love I love that
band and I love that album. So I've spent some
time digging into that one lately, so That's
been fun. All right. Well, let's transition and
then see where we are going to get with with
what we've got going on today. Well, Brandon,
you mentioned something about having a game for
us. So I'm super intrigued. All right. Yeah,
I've got an awesome game set up, Joel. So, you
know, in honor of Halloween, I wanted to do something
themed. And I started thinking about you know
growing up you'd get home and you sort through
start sorting through your candy Because you
know, it's it's night time. You don't know what
people putting in that bag um So you get home
and you've got you know, like um I don't know
joe like what was it? What was a good candy like
when you reached in when you got when you were
younger You'd be like, oh man, this is exciting.
What was it? What was a good candy for you? Maybe
like a a pack of like fun dip with a little white
yeah yeah that was a big one what was a negative
one for you a negative one would be like those
chewy like peanut butter things that are like
wrapped in like orange and black wrappers um
yeah i was not a fan of those it's like those
mystery ones you never really know what you're
gonna get yeah i remember being so upset when
someone gave me non -candy but now i feel like
that would be such an amazing thing like if i
got home and someone i don't know if they if
i had 10 sets of like plastic cutlery in my bag.
And I'd be like, this is nice. I would think
it's weird. Like as a kid and an adult, I would
think it's weird. As an adult, I would say this
would be more helpful than a snack size Hershey's
bar. So I wanted to play a game of it's called
trick or treat. And you've just gotten home and
surprise, surprise. Your bag is full of CDs,
Joel. Okay. So you're going to tell me It's a
trick or a treat. All right. Okay. All right
starting off Let's go with something easy. All
right. Okay, you reach in there's a vinyl in
your bag. All right I like what you're saying.
The vinyl is the greatest hits of Jones Etta
on vinyl I don't think that's an actual release.
Oh, none of these are actually Well, I would
be all about it I don't think I have any Jones
Etta on vinyl um i don't know if that exists
i don't know if it does either but i would love
to have cruel to be young on vinyl that would
be awesome now that's a treat that's a treat
all right for sure all right the next one you
pick up it's a cd uh it's a very skillet christmas
so skillet sings the christmas classics you grew
upon putting their own uh spin on it you're doing
this to me on purpose um i can already like envision
the pyrotechnics happening. I'm gonna go with
a trick on that one. Not gonna be my favorite.
Yeah. Do you think they would cover Heatmizer
on there? Or do you think Skillet's the kind
of band that they are only playing the, like,
Christian... Christmas songs. I would hope they
would have a little bit of a sense of humor.
But I don't actually know what Christmas songs
I would want to hear in the style of skillet.
Can you imagine like a holy night maybe? What
is a Christmas song that you feel like would
fit well with the just overall feeling of skillet?
I think that a song and I've it's one of my favorites
and I've heard a lot of different styles is I
think God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. That's a song
that opens itself for, you can go acoustic, you
can go over the top, so you can have some fire
in there. Sure. Yeah, I can see that. I can see
that. I mean, I think I might be interested to
just listen for a second, but I don't think that
it would be something that I'd keep coming back
to. So yeah, I'm gonna go with the trick. All
right, our next CD is Chris Tomlin Goes Metal.
So Chris Tomlin is re -recording some of his
hits and putting a metal spin on it. That's a
treat all day long just because I want to hear
it all. I mean, it's gonna be terrible But terrible
in such a good way. Mm -hmm. Yeah, like who doesn't
want to hear that? Next up Lauren Daigle live
from the DMV If it helps, you can choose which
DMV. I'm just imagining the one that I in Monk's
Corner that I've spent time at. I mean, it would
certainly make it a better experience if Lauren
Daigle was in the DMV singing while I was there.
It's interesting. I like Lauren Daigle, but I
also never... Listen to Lauren Daigle, uh -huh,
but I actually have a good amount of respect
for her so I feel like that's one where That's
like oh, I'm gonna give that to my like my niece
or something. Mm -hmm if it ends up in my bag
You got you but I am intrigued by the DMV part
of that. How are the acoustics? Our next one
is VeggieTales presents the best of Me Without
You. I don't know where you came up with these.
VeggieTales presents the best of Me Without You.
I feel like I might enjoy it more the other way
around. Me Without You presents the best of VeggieTales.
You know they did do those albums 20 years ago
where it was they covered like Reliant K and
all but then reliant K covered I didn't even
think about that. We're talking two discs special
now. Yes Okay, and that in that case, I'm totally
going with treat I would spend at least I'd spend
hundred dollars on that right now if you find
me with Two discs. Well, that's a total treat
for you. We're throwing it out there for the
veggie tells me without you The collaboration
we waiting for we need the collab to happen five
iron frenzy goes country Yes, it's a treat anything
the five iron does I'm here for mm -hmm. They
have a really terrible Album called so bad called
cheeses of Nazareth That's just a whole record
of their goofy songs uh -huh And it's so bad,
but I'll still uh -huh. I'm here for it. Yeah,
okay So you're saying this this is one of those
candy. It's it's like the fun dip where you're
like I know this is all sugar, but I still want
this. Yes. There's no nutritional value like
in a Snickers bar. He's got a peanut in there.
And on their EP Quantity is Job One, at the end
they have a rock opera. It's not really a rock
opera, but it's an opera. It's called These Are
Not My Pants. And so there are country styled
songs. in that opera, and so I've been able to
experience a little bit of a fabric frenzy in
the style of country, and I'm here for it. Okay,
and here's our final one. When you wish upon
a Star Flyer 59, Star Flyer 59 sings the classics
of Disney. Yes, treat, treat. Yeah, I'm totally
here for it. I love it. I think it's great, and
I can just imagine You can just imagine Jason
Martin singing When You Wish Upon a Star. It
sounds heavenly already in my head. So let's
make that happen, Velvet Blue and Jason Martin
and co. It sounds like you got some some real
treats for Halloween, Joel. So out of all those
for you, which one interests you the most? I
think it's it's clearly the veggie tells one
If you add the other desk and I think that the
one I think out of all of them the one that has
the best chance of Being really good. What's
the star flyer one? And when I first came up
with it, I was trying to think what's the most
ridiculous thing I can do Then I thought man
that actually would that would be really good.
Yeah. Yeah Yeah, no, I think that'd be amazing.
I love it. I love it. Well, thanks for that.
I feel more ready for my adventures on Friday
night with my family trick -or -treating. Can't
wait to dig through those bags and see what's
in there. So, all right. Well, you're kind of
walking us through this episode, which is really
fun. But I, so I, you have a list of the greatest
Christian bands and artists of all time, according
to the people out there via ranker. And I have
no idea. Who was on that list or anything and
so i'm just excited to dig into this. So let's
do it All right, joel going into it. There's
135 different artists on here Uh, so would you
rather have the top 10 first or do you rather
me tell you a couple of the people that did not
make the top 10? Can you just for? Helping me
understand who may or may not be on this list.
Okay, can I give you an artist and you tell me?
They're on the list or not if they're one of
the hundred and thirty five artists. Yeah. Okay
MXPX They are not on the list, okay, this is
not a good list But I also probably know we're
going for uh -huh, so okay, okay Yeah, I don't
know why don't you just lead us, okay? Well here,
let me give you the the top 10 then, so you don't
feel spoiled. Can we start with 10? Yeah. Okay,
cool. All right, 10th on the list. And reminder,
it is the very best Christian bands and artists.
Okay. These are bands and solo artists. Gotcha.
It's not the best, it is the very best. All right,
coming in at number 10, we have Skillet. Skillet,
do you think they're the top 10 in the top 10
greatest Christian bands of all time? So have
to be. Yeah, I'm going to try and be objective
about this and not necessarily think so much
through the lens of my opinions, but think through
what most people out there might believe and
want to be true. And I, I still feel like I don't
think skillet deserves to be in the top 10. What
if for me, I, I think if you include. Before
2000s, they're not on there. But what if it was
just 2000s? Do you think that they cracked the
list? Or do you think you're still not putting
them in the top 10? I mean, my favorite Skillet
album is their first album. So I would lean that
it's probably, yeah, but still, no. I'm not gonna
put them there, but it's okay. Number nine on
the list, we have Mr. Matthew West. So Matthew
West is another artist that I don't really have
a ton of experience with. I think that he gained
popularity at a time where I just wasn't listening
to a lot of Christian music. And so I don't know.
I think I'm pretty sure that Matthew West is
pretty popular, but he would not probably be
on any list that I would make ever. Do you think
it's, so I'll say that for Matthew West, Would
say that he has been very relevant for the past
20 years. Like I would say that anytime in the
past 20 years He's probably top 10 airplay every
year on like a K love or air one radio or whatever
Yeah, does that sway it at all? Or are you just
looking at like quality of work? No So I think
the issue that like I'm going to run into as
we're talking through some of this stuff is I
don't listen to Christian radio and maybe I should.
Yeah. Maybe that'd be helpful. Is that like a
normal thing for you to like turn Caleb on? I
feel like the only Christian radio I probably
go with is Radio U. I know in Jordan's car she
usually has Caleb on, so I'll pick up. But yeah,
we'll go for a ride and I'll be like, hey, still
be back for the third time. Which I'm not saying
is not a treat, but right. So that's where that's
where my knowledge is going to come in a little
laughing is that the stuff I'm going to listen
to is going to be a little more obscure and not
as probably popular as a Matthew West. And so
I honestly, Brandon, I could not even tell you
the name of a Brandon. What about Matthew West
song? Yeah, I don't know any. I will say on here,
Joel, if it helps you kind of like looking going
forward on here, it does give additional rankings
for some of them. And I will say that Skillet
was number one on a list that's the best Christian
rock bands. They're also number two on best 90s
Christian alternative rock bands. Who is number
one on best 90s Christian alternative rock band?
Let's take a little detour and see. It's gotta
be Switchfoot. It is switch foot. Okay make you
feel a little bit better. I David crowd pit is
number five on that list. My mind is blown that
skillet is Beating switch foot overall for a
rock band though That's true. Well, I mean we
we still got Eight more spots to go on this thing
Well, but I just mean on that other last that
skillet was number one on the rock band list.
So, okay Number eight, Need to Breathe. Okay.
I mean, I can see that. Need to Breathe's been
popular for a while. Yeah. And interestingly
enough, both in the Christian and secular marketplace.
Yeah. So they've had a really good career with
a broad appeal. I don't, I wonder how many, like
you tell me from riding in the car with your
wife and listening to K Love. How often does
Need to Breathe get played on K -Love today?
I would say I would say I don't know if I had
to guess I would say probably frequently. Really?
I just don't see them as like that band, but
I think they're one of those bands that With
kind of we talked about there's been like a shift
in Christian music that it's a little more open
Yeah, I think also Need to Breathe does a lot
of collaborations, right? So that kind of helps
it as well. Um, yeah, but all that to say that
one makes sense to me. Okay. Um, I get it. Uh,
number seven, uh, Mr. Jeremy Camp. People, this
is all time. So this isn't even necessary. This
isn't right now. That's a very best Christian
bands and artists. So yeah. Is Jeremy Camp still
making music? Really? Okay. I think he's back.
I think it's a mix because he was rock, then
he just went through like a worship era for about
10 years. I think he's back now to just pop,
maybe? Pop. Pop worship. He's mellowed out a
little bit over time. I mean, I get this. I know
Jeremy Camp was popular. Again, I know his first
album better than like anything else. And it
was good. So I guess I get that, but I don't
think I would have them in the top ten. Yeah,
that one seems a little strange to me. Yeah.
All right. We number six, we have third day.
I mean, yeah. Third day's, I feel like third
day's got to be in the top ten. They're also
ranked number ten on a separate list that is
entitled, the best bands named after things from
the Bible, so. It's two top 10 lists they're
in right there. There you go. Yeah. No, I think,
I think that would make sense to me. Third Day's
had a great career. They've managed to stay relevant
and on top of their game. And while they put
out a couple of worship records, I think they're
also still making their own music. And so they've
kind of danced the line there. Being able to
stay relevant by digging into the worship stuff,
but still at the same time just being their own
thing and so I um Yeah, I think that I think
that one makes a lot of sense to me. Um What
are your thoughts on that? I think so. I think
they're a band that um made a huge impact in
the 2000s um into the 2010s I think they uh retired
from touring I want to say 18 or so they're they're
doing another reunion show and I There's always
that awkwardness of okay. They're coming back
to people want to hear them But I think there's
a lot of people from back in the day that love
them and I think there's a I think there's a
good bit of younger people that could still tell
you or at least Hear a song be able to tell you.
Yeah. I know that song. Yeah so Fifth place is
newsboys Yeah, it tracks makes sense. Yeah Obviously
Recent controversy. Mm -hmm, but but setting
that aside. I mean news you guys is A band that
has had great influence all the way from like
early 90s. Yeah Coming out of Australia John
James as a singer than Peter Furler than Michael
Tate and so I was most into them in their early
days with John James but then kind of a little
bit into the Peter Furler days but yeah I mean
they rode the wave and they did the worship thing
for years so yeah I think that one, I don't have
any qualms with that. Yeah. They're also ranked
number 10 on bands that currently have no original
members left. None? I like sharing how some of
these lists are very obscure. Yeah. I actually
guess that makes sense. None. Cause yeah, I think
Jeff came in, he was like their second keyboardist.
Yeah, he was. So I think that he's... He's the
oldest. Yeah. But he didn't come in until...
Yeah, because they have like the first record
that I got into by the newsboys was their album
not ashamed Mm -hmm, which is a great record
And they went from there to the like shine. Yeah
but not ashamed was excellent and But they had
like two or three albums before that that I don't
feel like I Never even had. Yeah I don't feel
like they were super popular ever They kind of
broke out on the not ashamed days. Yeah, but
um, but they've been around for a long time So
I guess that makes sense. But also If there's
a band that exists that has no original members,
I mean, come on guys. Do we still need to keep
doing this thing? like uh It's truly the band's
business model. So it's weird. But yeah, all
right. We're so we're down to the final four.
Um Joel, what's a couple of bands if you had
to guess? We're down to final four. Who do you
think we're gonna see in this final four? So
I would think that there has to be a DC talk
and or Toby Mac. I don't know how you deal with
that. Okay, but I would definitely think they
need to be on there. I've got to think outside
of just bands though and through artists. It's
a hard one because because you have like a Michael
to be Smith and Amy grant. Yeah, that's had immense
popularity But like with people voting on the
internet today Probably not super recognizing
the impact that artists like that. Yeah have
had over time and so I don't know Where they
would fall in there? but for me, I Feel like
they would be up there. Let me think who else
Yeah, I don't know. Audio adrenaline? I feel
like should be somewhere. But I feel like they
would probably be under the newsboys. But I feel
like they'd be over like a need to breathe. I
don't know. Just some thoughts. Give me number
four. All right. Number four is Mr. Chris Tomlin.
It's like you get it, but you also don't get
it. I don't feel like Chris Tomlin should be
on this list. I think this goes back to though
our discussion that we've kind of dipped our
toes into a little bit over like Christian music
versus worship music. And that there has to be
like a little bit of a line drawn there. I certainly
recognize Chris Tomlin's impact on worship music.
and he probably is, of all time, the most popular
worship artist. But so, I mean, I guess I can
see where that fits, but I kind of just want
to draw those lines a little clear. Is there
like a worship list that he's also part of? That'll
be interesting. Oh, right here he is. 21st on
the best gospel singers and groups. But once
again, I feel like gospel is separate from, you
have like Christian rock, or if you just want
to say Christian music and it tells all that,
then worship, then gospel. So yeah, he's also
number 705 on the greatest music artist of all
time. Not top 700, but still. top thousand saying
something. Ranker is interesting to me. I would
love to go see who the number one artist of all
time is. This used to be one of our go -to me
and my best friend Keith on our former podcast.
We'd pull this up. It was always a really good
show because it would just be Keith being like,
that's not a candy bar. Kit Kat's not a candy
bar. It would always lead to some pretty good
discussions. Number three, Mercy Me. Man As someone
who doesn't like actively listen to mercy me,
I don't think I would have them that high on
the list I do think like a third day is probably
more But then third day's probably never had
a song that's like as impactful as I can only
imagine. Mm -hmm. So I get that but Number three.
Yeah, I will say it is coming from someone that
There's maybe five mercy me songs that like I'd
have in my rotation. Mm -hmm, but I think that
Just the length of time they've been around The
hits they've put up put out Even just their reputation.
I think when you put everything in I think definitely
top ten and I think on the Mount Rushmore, because
audio adrenaline, I love audio adrenaline, but
they were around for like a decade. When you
look at, I don't know, Mercy Me, you have a,
I mean, they were around what 90, their first
album was 96, 97? Maybe, I don't know. Don't
feel like really but that or at least they were
popular because yeah, I probably would have been
more on my radar I don't know what I can only
imagine came out Let me let me do some research
here While you're putting that research up. I
will tell you Joel that they are ranked number
41 on the top 45 best grunge bands of all time
What Yeah, so I bet you didn't know that Joel.
Mercy Me is not a grunge band. You know, there
was just, what's weird is they are number 41.
So it makes sense if they were 45 and someone
just to be funny put that on there. But they
beat out, there's four bands underneath them
that they're like, Mercy Me is definitely more
grunge. Really good grunge bands that lost out
because Mercy Me is on that list. That's so interesting.
They formed in 1994. They released six independent
albums before they signed to a record label in
2001, so I think they started hitting their like
popularity in 2000, early 2000s. All right, moving
to number two is For King in Country. Man, this
is just getting harder for me. No. So for King
and Country is known for their like live shows
But it's a lot less about The music than it is
just about the theatrics. Yeah, I like live shows
And so they're a big deal every Christmas time.
We just talked about this earlier. Yeah But I
don't know I'm not okay with that number two
I think a list like this the what I run into
is that you don't want to be one of those people
that you say, nope, the top 10 has to be bands
from pre 2000 when music was good. But you also
can't go out and say, you know, this, um, like,
like a NASCAR, for example, there was a guy recently
that he's been winning a lot of races at a certain
race track. And people are like, this is the
greatest driver of all time on these racetracks.
And my whole take is that well there's other
people that won like three straight in a row
so it's like you have to give it time before
you can look back and say yeah what this guy
did was incredible and i think for a band like
for king of country maybe down the road you get
to see it but i think you're almost prisoner
of the moment if you put um i i think even top
10 you got to be careful about like like i don't
like if uh if brandon lake was on top 10 Feel
like he's really popular but You're putting him
in front of how many other amazing bands, you
know Well, yeah, I just looked them up on Spotify
and they're averaging about three and a half
million monthly listeners and I know from previous
ones that Forced rank for instance is like eight
and a half million million monthly listens And
so he's like double it over doubling what they're
doing. And so I'm just like how I just don't
Yeah, I struggle with that number two is not
I think the right spot for that. Wow. It's funny.
You mentioned for us frank because number one
No joking A lot of frustration. Um, I will tell
you number one is not for us frank. Okay. Um
So, you know, we haven't we've gone through the
top 10. We haven't discussed switch foot dc talk
toby mac audio adrenaline amy grant, um Don't
know. Who do you think five iron frenzy? Who
do you think is gonna pop up in this number one
less? If I were in friends, he's probably not
even on this stupid list Actually, can you tell
me if I were in frenzies on this list I'm looking
it up now. They are 122. Okay. Well, there you
go. They should be on the list I probably would
have to go with I think DC talk is so out of
Popularity today that it's probably not them
They're number 12 on the list Okay, I feel like
they they way deserve to be in the top 10 in
my opinion. I don't think that there was any
band That like firmly planted their feet in the
Christian market that was never as big as they
were yeah at the time Nobody else is doing that
today and so But, Toby Mack is immensely more
popular than DC Talk today. Okay. And probably
gets played more than, so Toby's my guess. Okay.
You wanna know where he is on the list? It's
not number one. Huh? It's not number one. He's
not even on the list. What? He's not even on
the list. That's insane. Are you serious? Yeah.
135 christian artists and no one did a vote for
toby mac. He probably gets played more than Anybody
on k -love, right? I don't know. I don't ever
listen Yeah, I mean he's got to be played regularly.
I'm that really shocks me shock like As someone
who doesn't listen to toby mac i'm offended That
that's the case a couple of other ones before
I refer number one switch foot is number 13 Lauren
Daigle is number 17. Okay. And you're number
one, very best Christian band and or artist forever,
Casting Crowns. Okay. All right. I'm sure Casting
Crowns still gets a lot of play on K -Love. Yeah.
So basically all of these people are just listening
to Caleb. That's what we're talking about. Does
Caleb play worship music or do they mostly just
play this kind of stuff? I think they play a
little bit of everything on there. Okay. So that,
but people are getting Chris Tomlin probably.
He gets played on Caleb. They play Phil Wickham
on there. They play Maverick City. Yeah, they
play them. They play Elevation. Is anything too,
is any worship band too edgy for Caleb? I can
give you a real fast, you can look up per like
groups and all so if you wrote real fast i can
tell you the top three in the different like
um generation groups oh generations yeah all
right give me the so your top three is uh in
baby boomers jeremy camp three michael w smith
two and third day first okay so you got michael
w smith popping up there smitty what where was
my goodby smith on the main list um I'll have
to go back and look up that one because I'm done
this rabbit hole. That's fine Finish the rabbit
hole. Jen Xers You've got the top three as Chris
Tomlin third Jeremy camp second and third day
first man Jeremy camp and third day They're just
like knocking this thing out of the park I'm
still thinking about mercy be being in that grunge
list Millennials you have lecrae third, okay
second is Michael W Smith and Chris Tomlin is
first and then let's just see what the Gen Z
'ers are saying third is Mercy Me second is for
King of Country and first is Casting Crowns okay
because I was about to say where is Casting Crowns
on any of these lists because if they weren't
gonna show up then it totally didn't make sense
that they were number one Let's see real fast.
Just for fun, we'll look up. Here's some of the
ones from the southeast when it comes to Christian
music. Yeah, this is my world. Casting Crowns
is eighth on there. Third day is seventh. You've
got, second is White Heart. White Heart? Number
one is Striper. Okay. They're number nine on
the list of best bands named after things from
the Bible. Striper. Uh -huh. Okay. So there you
go. Brandon, this has been a fascinating journey.
I still need you to tell me where am I going
to be Smith is on the main list. He is number
11 on the main list. Okay. All right. I'm feeling
a little better when you tell me like 11, 12,
and 13. Because I don't remember it's michael
w there's michael w smith there's switch foot
that falls in there um So I feel like for you
actually that the 11th 12th and 13th makes sense
like if I would have told you First is michael
w smith second is dc talk third is switch foot
Do you feel like you have been okay with that?
I think all three of those should have been in
the top 10. Mm -hmm. Yeah Uh, what about keith
green? He's number 21 on the list keith green
Jarza Clay is 23rd. Audie generally is 27th.
Jarza Clay surprised me a little bit. Where is
Rich Mullins? Rich Mullins is... He's not on
the list. Shame. I think he showed up one of
those little side things I was searching while
ago. Brandon one day. We're gonna cover Rich
Mullins record a liturgy a legacy and a ragamuffin
band Mm -hmm, and I'm gonna go ahead and tell
you what my rating is gonna be. Yeah a five I
told the guys in my huddle last week a liturgy
a legacy and a ragamuffin band is for me, hands
down, the greatest Christian album ever released.
And so the fact that Rich Mullins is not on this
list is a total travesty. August Burns Red is
number 81. Does that make you feel better? No.
I actually don't listen to August Burns Red.
Sorry, Brad, if you're listening to this. Yeah,
Dolly Parton was number 98. Dolly is our queen.
Did you tell me Amy Grant? Yeah, I forget what
her number was. Elvis Presley is 116. My dad
would be proud. I'm about to share a really unpopular
opinion that I'm like, this list is saying Elvis
was better than Toby Mack. Only a weirdo would
say that. Amy Grant was 34th. Okay, that's so
weird. That's a weird one. So there you go. If
you guys are interested, like I said, it's ranker
.com r a n k e r. If you search Christian music,
you'll find the very best Christian bands and
artists. Brandon, these these things are ongoing.
So I can literally go to ranker today and vote.
Yeah. So I'm gonna encourage everyone that listens
to this podcast to go to ranker and fix this
list For some artists that really deserve to
be in there So I myself I'm gonna go put in a
vote for number 11 number 12 and number 13 To
be a little higher. Let's get switch foot in
the top 10 It'll be a great day Well, it looks
like you don't even need an accountant to vote.
So yeah Can we spam it? Well, I will just say
I just up voted casting crown. So I think I hurt
your cause You did that on purpose shame on you
I just moved DC talked to number 11 though, so
How did you do that I guess just one vote of
uh, alright so we can make this happen if that's
the case Hey, are you listening listeners? Please
go to ranker And uh, let's uh, let's let's fix
this thing. I just voted down casting crowns
though Is that what you want me to do is to attack
these other? Just so we're clear I'm not going
for war against anybody I just want people to
vote their conscience on artists that they love
All right. Don't worry. I'll just don't vote
the whole top 10 There's some good artists in
the top 10. Be careful. This has been really
interesting to dig into. Thanks for bringing
this to our attention. I'm grateful that we got
to examine that and I'm sure that some of you
probably agree or disagree with us and that's
okay because you can make your voice heard. So
we encourage you to go do that just as I will
as soon as we end this. And so Brandon, thanks
for digging into that. Let's talk a little bit
about our lyric of the week. All right, so this
week our lyric of the week comes from star flyer
59 Since our podcast is inspired by star flyer
59 and this comes from star flyers Disney covers
album I'm just kidding. It's not No, this comes
from the star flyer song you're mean and the
lyric is you're mean or so it seems You've got
everything but the one I need interesting lyric
from Jason Martin. Well, it's been a joy having
you guys with us this week. Don't forget to go
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We would love it if you would leave us a review
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greatest podcast of all time. Whatever. I'm sure
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get moving on that, that'd be great. But we're
thankful for you. Thanks for coming and listening
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a joy to get to talk through this stuff. So we'll
look forward to seeing you guys next week.