Best CCM Albums of the 1990s (That I've Listened To)

The 1990s were an exciting time for the contemporary Christian music industry. There were so many great artists and bands that came out or had their start during that time period, including Third Day, Casting Crowns (formed in the late 90s), MercyMe (started in the mid 90s), Rebecca St. James, whose brothers make up For King and Country, Jaci Velasquez, among others. Here are the best contemporary Christian albums of the 90s I have listened to.

Jesus Freak, DC Talk (1995)

You cannot start a discussion of the best contemporary Christian albums of the 1990s without mentioning DC Talk’s 1995 album Jesus Freak. It is one of bestselling Christian albums of all time. The songs, “Jesus Freak”, “Colored People”, “What if I Stumble” and “In the Light”, were major hits on the Christian charts. This album was one of the albums that made Contemporary Christian music what it was in the 1990s. DC Talk would go on to win several Dove Awards for this album.

Un Lugar Celestial (A Heavenly Place), Jaci Velasquez, (1996)

This album from Houston, Texas native Jaci Velasquez was a major hit. It was her first non-independent release and went platinum. Five songs of the ten songs on the album went on to become major hits on the Christian charts, including the title song. “If This World”, “Flower in the Rain”, “Un Lugar Celestial (A Heavenly Place)”, “On My Knees”, and “We Can Make a Difference” were all huge hits on the Christian charts (I vividly remember all five despite being a young boy at the time this album was released; I happen to have this album on my phone). This album ended up winning Velasquez the 1997 Dove Award for Best New Artist of the Year, beating out Third Day (I have all their studio albums on my phone) and others, and rightfully so. Jaci Velasquez was only 15 (almost 16) years old when this album came out, which makes the success of the album even more impressive.

Going Public, Newsboys (1994)

Coming out the year before Jesus Freak the Newsboys album Going Public was the follow up to 1992’s Not Ashamed. This album was a smash hit and won Newsboys two Dove Awards and they were nominated for a Grammy. The songs “Shine” and “Spirit Thing” were two massive hits off this album. This album is one of the earliest albums I remember listening to on CD (I was three years old when this album came out). “Spirit Thing” has a reference to Pentecostalism in the song in “And it didn’t come from skating with Holy Rollers”; Holy Roller was a derogatory term that other evangelicals used against Pentecostals in the early days of Pentecostalism. “Shine” remains today one of the greatest contemporary Christian songs of all time.

Take Me to Your Leader, Newsboys (1996)

Released the year after Jesus Freak, Newsboys continued their success on the Christian charts with the 1996 release of Take Me to Your Leader. This album was the final album with co-founder and co-lead singer John James, who would leave the band after struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. This album had so many great songs from “God is Not a Secret”, “Take Me to Your Leader” and “Let It Go”. I have listened to this album numerous times. I would have it on my phone if it weren’t for the album splitting (I have Going Public on my phone; I have deleted a few albums off my phone because of album splitting).

Third Day, Third Day (1996)

The first one of Third Day’s non-independent releases, this album was Third Day’s fourth studio album in four years (they would release Conspiracy No. 5 the next year; Lynyrd Skynyrd, one of Third Day’s biggest influences would also release their first five albums in five consecutive years from 1973-1977. Third Day brought a hard-edged Southern rock sound to this album, which made them stand out from the other Christian bands at the time. Two songs were added to this album that were not on the 1995 Grey Dot Records independent release of the same name, and they are “Nothing at All” and “Praise Song”. Every song with the exception of “Nothing at All” was on a previous Third Day album. Songs such as “Blackbird”, which is a song about the Black Crowes (there are three Black Crowes songs referenced in the song), “Thief”, and “Consuming Fire” remain Third Day fan favorites to this day. In my opinion, it’s not Third Day’s best album, but it’s a great place to start if you want to start listening to Third Day. It’s one of the top Christian rock albums of the 1990s. This album is also known as the bus album.

Time, Third Day (1999)

Time was Third Day’s follow up to 1997’s Conspiracy No. 5, which was a more grunge album that spawned the hits “Alien” and “My Hope is You” as well as the Third Day fan favorite “Gomer’s Theme”, which is why Third Day fans are called Gomers. This album signaled a return to the hard-edged Southern rock style of the self-titled album. This album spawned the hits “I’ve Always Loved You” and “Your Love Oh Lord”. The songs “Believe”, “Took My Place”, and “Never Bow Down” are hard charging Southern rockers and the final song “Give” is a phenomenal ending to the album. “Give” is Third Day’s longest song at 8 minutes and 15 seconds. Mac Powell, Third Day’s lead singer, would cover the song “I’ve Always Loved You” for his 2014 country album Southpaw, which itself is a really good album. Third Day would release a five-song EP with this album entitled Southern Tracks. I’ve heard all five. Last year, Third Day released the 25th Anniversary of edition of Time with all five tracks from the Southern Tracks EP. It’s well worth a listen to.

R.I.OT. (Righteous Invasion of Truth), Carman (1995)

Carman was one of the bestselling male solo artists in the Contemporary Christian scene in the 1980s, and he continued his success in the 1990s, and in 1995, he released R.I.O.T. (Righteous Invasion of Truth). This CD is in the CD player I’ve had for years, even though the sound isn’t good on the CD player anymore. I was four years old when this album came out and I remember listening to it as a kid. This album ended up getting to number 45 on the Billboard top 200 charts. I remember all the songs quite well, especially the title song and No Monsters.

Petra Praise, Vol. 2 (We Need Jesus), Petra (1997)

It’s the only Petra album that will be on this list, but I could have added other Petra albums they came out with in the 1990s (I’ve listened to all their albums). The pioneers of Christian rock were on the back end of their career at this time, but came out with another worship album, as they came out with Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out in 1989 (also a great album). Really, the only Petra song I remember from growing up was the hit single “We Need Jesus”, which has former Kansas lead singer John Elefante providing backing vocals which was the final song on this album. This album won Petra the 1998 Dove Award for Best Praise and Worship Album.

Contagious, Third Day (1994)

Contagious was Third Day’s second studio album and was released independently and will be the only independent album I list. This album was the album where Third Day brought out the electric guitars and they also came out with a blues song called “Sometimes”. It’s this album where you hear the Lynyrd Skynyrd influence for the first time in the songs “Simply Amazin’” and the title song “Contagious” which are great Southern rock songs; I’m huge fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s early stuff, not saying their stuff after the 1977 plane crash is bad (it isn’t); there’s no profane language and limited sexually explicit content on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first four albums. Third Day songs such as “Mama”, “Thief”, and “Did You Mean It” were recorded for the first time on this album and all three songs ended up on both self-titled albums. This album is pretty much only available on YouTube. Go the to the YouTube channel Jardel Jefferson and you’ll find the album.

Nu Thang, DC Talk (1990)

This album was released about two months before I was born. I remember listening to this album as a kid. It’s back when DC Talk was primarily a hip hop group. TobyMac provides the rapping on this album (as he does all the other of DC Talk’s albums). The song “Walls” resonates today with all the racial division we have, not just in the country, but also the church. Thirty-five years after its release Nu Thang remains one of the best CCM albums of the 1990s.

Honorable Mentions

Here is a list of honorable mentions.

Conspiracy No. 5, Third Day (1997)

Jaci Velasquez, Jaci Velasquez (1998)

Not Ashamed, Newsboys (1992)

God Fixation, Petra (1998)

Wake-Up Call, Petra (1993)

Unseen Power, Petra, (1991)

Beyond Belief, Petra (1990)

Put in the comments some of the best contemporary Christian albums of the 1990s you have heard. I would like to hear from all of you. I’ll be coming out with a list of the best 15 Christian albums of the 21st century I have listened to possibly later this month or early next month.