The mid-90s was such a weird--in a good way--time for Christian music. You still had a lot of Michael W. Smith and Stephen Curtis Chapman (Steven Curtis Chapman? idk it’s been a long ass time), but that was also when you had Jars of Clay and Audio Adrenaline and Newsboys and dc Talk at their cringe-worthy best.
(”cringe-worthy” not for their musical style--which was actually really awesome on the album Jesus Freak--but rather for their highly misguided attempts at social commentary, such as the classic, “Colored People.” Yeah.)
(in their minor defense, the band was 1/3 black, but there were also only three people in the band, soooooo yeah)
(but you’ll still catch me rocking out to “In the Light” whenever I listen to it, even if it definitely does not gel with my present religious feelings)
Jars of Clay is the rare Christian band that actually didn’t suck, largely because their music has always been more real than other Christian bands (who tend towards [a] I LOVE YOU JESUS WOO or [b] I AM SO HAPPY ALL THE TIME or [c] I AM SAD BUT IT IS ONLY BECAUSE I SINNED SO JESUS FORGIVE ME SO I WILL BE HAPPY AGAIN I LOVE YOU JESUS WOO). You could actually listen to it if you were feeling sad and not feel guilty for feeling sad! Or angry! Or other negative emotions!
But this is a good review.