The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Three

We return to our list of the 100 Best Christian Albums Ever as determined by CCM Magazine in 2001. We Start at Number 80.

The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music, 2001

• 80 - Kansas, Jennifer Knapp, Gotee, 1997
• 79 - Sanctuary, Twila Paris, Star Song, 1991
• 78 - Streams, Various Artists, Word/Epic, 1999
• 77 - Invisible Girl, Julie Miller, Street Level, 1994
• 76 - Return to Paradise, Randy Stonehill, Myrrh, 1989
• 75 - One More Song For You, Imperials, Dayspring, 1979
• 74 - Don't Wait For The Movie, White Heart, Sparrow, 1986
• 73 - Kirk Franklin and The Family, Kirk Franklin and The Family, GospoCentric, 1993
• 72 - With Footnotes, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Myrrh, 1974
• 71 - Beyond Belief, Petra, Dayspring, 1990

In a lot of cases my gripes tend to be about rank, though in some cases I wonder what were they thinking? Such is not the case here. I admit I am not too up to date on some of these (Julie Miller), but I think I know enough about Twila Paris to make a judgement. Personally, I think she had a better overall product most times than Sandi Patty, even though I would not have been buying either of their albums on a regular basis. They were just a tad too tame for me. Personally, I think With Footnotes is just about right. It was a very good debut, but Mansion Builder, to me, was a vastly superior product. It is a shame it didn't make the list or the honorable mentions.

If you're into Gospel Music (and I don't mean Southern), you've just got to love Kirk Franklin. Now I came late to his music (post-Stomp), so while I was just a little underwhelmed with Hello Fear, it's just that with him, the bar is set way high.

White Heart. I am going to step into the Lions Den on my own here. DWFTM was back when White Heart was good. Now I have always been more Whitecross than White Heart, but both these guys and Glad in later years went more Country/SG, and in my esteemed opinion, went downhill. As to the Imperials, this is when they were good, OMSFY was one of their best albums. Unfortunately, they backslid and went back to Southern Gospel. Oh Well.

One More Comment, J Knapp. Kansas was a phenomenal debut, and was the most folk of all of her releases. Her work will show up in my list as well, and I think the CCM Mag guys, if they are consistent in their rationale, will agree. That's a teaser for my later posts.

We are just getting started on this 10 year critique of CCM Magazine and their Book, Published in 2001 CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music. We still have a week to go. As to comments, I encourage them. Agree, disagree, have additions you think should be on the list? Comment Below. As I say in all these posts, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Related Posts:

• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?
• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Two
• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Four
• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Five
• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Six
• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Seven
• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Eight
• The Greatest Christian Albums Ever?, Part Nine
• The 10 Greatest Christian Albums Ever?