THERE IS no such thing as “Christian” music. Music is music, and music about God no more deserves to be packaged and sold as “Christian” than music about love, loss, or society. They’re all part of life. So it might surprise many of our readers—particularly those who have been with us through our rocky relationship to “Christian music” as it was once defined—to see a list of faith-inspired albums appearing on Patrol. But after a few words of explanation, we hope you will peruse this list with the same excitement with which we present it.

This magazine is unapologetically critical of those who suggest art is superior—or more “Christian”—simply for dealing exclusively with religious subject matter. On the other hand, it’s perfectly legitimate for publications with Christian leanings to spotlight music made by believers; to promote those using their musical talent to explore deeper questions. The worthiness of that goal should not lead to unmerited adoration or uncritical promotion. It should not feed a “bias” toward music made by Christians, a partiality that often prevents such endeavors from being evaluated objectively. But the goal itself—a desire to see truly inventive, talented Christian musicians succeed—is one every Christian magazine should wholeheartedly support.

To that end, Christian publications have, year after year, compiled lists of the “best Christian albums.” But when it comes down to selecting those albums, Christian music editors have traditionally been beholden to other objectives entirely: satisfying the swathes of evangelical readers who prefer stock religiosity to real spiritual tension; keeping alive a nostalgia for the apocryphal “glory days” of Christian pop subculture; and perhaps most of all, pleasing the narrowly-focused Christian music industry that will be paying thousands of dollars to advertise on the facing page. To make the situation even bleaker for believers laying down their lives to create excellent art, the work of discovering them in their obscurity is much more laborious than simply queuing up the “best” of the glossily-hyped, expensively produced releases that landed on one’s desk over the past twelve months.

Laborious as it may be, it is well past time that someone tried. So this year, rather than add another layer to the heap of general-interest best-of lists, Patrol has done exactly that. Of course, we started by covering the standard bases: sorting through the major-label releases, monster singles, and even a few worship albums. But for the first time, a Christian magazine has also journeyed into the pubs, coffeehouses, and small churches where the best faith-inspired music is made, including some well outside the congratulatory spotlight of any major Christian publication. For the first time, someone is publishing a “Christian” list for which collaboration with Michael W. Smith or a slot at Cornerstone are not qualifications. For the first time, you won’t find any “old favorites” appearing just because they made an album this year and we are thus somehow obligated to show proper respect (though old favorites are not by any means categorically excluded). Instead, we have collected a group of artists connected with our faith—be it explicitly, implicitly, intimately, loosely, or previously—and, with no influence but their notes and our ears, ranked them as justly as we are capable. The result was eclectic and surprising.

As we present our selections, we above all hope that a list like this—especially one preceded by so much qualification—will not always be necessary. We look forward, however idealistically, to a day when Christian artists are enjoyed and reviewed next to the latest from TV on the Radio and Fleet Foxes. But for that to stand a chance of becoming reality, Christian magazines must step forward to fulfill their responsibility: to ignore the tawdry and meritless, and to engage the effort necessary to put the greatest faith-inspired artists—musicians who understand the delicate balance of faith and life—into the spotlight they so richly deserve. The fifty albums below represent our best attempt to lead in that path.

50

Relient K
The Birds and the Bee Sides
(Warner Brothers)

The best of the rest, swept from the edges of record label woes and fallen through the cracks of changing seasons.

49

Jon Foreman
Spring & Summer
(Credential)

Although not on equal ground as four separate parts, they cohese some respect out of us as a complete quadrilogy. Foreman poses unusually sincere questions about God as he wistfully longs for home, love, justice, and a song for the journey.

48

Bethany Dillon
So Far: The Acoustic Sessions
(Sparrow)

A short recap of Bethany Dillon thus far, unplugged and untainted by the lost innocence of growing up.

47

Jars of Clay
Closer EP
(Grey Matters)

A lovely glance at the in-between-albums stage, with a couple of bonus remixes (which we’ll admit, are just as unnecessary as always). But if it’s an accurate sign, it means we could be on the cusp of a brilliant full-length, not to mention the possibility that after 15 years, they still haven’t peaked.

46

Grits
Reiterate
(Provident)

If you can’t be entirely original, you might as well rip off the best. A huge step up on the production front, Reiterate borrows the best laid plans of Justin, Big Boi, and Timbaland in an attempt to take over the dance floor.

45
Deas Vail
White Lights EP
(Brave New World)

A couple of misdeals and a little table talk, but Deas Vail still play most of their cards intentionally, opting at times for a poker-faced bluff rather than going all in. It’s good that some bands still know their standing in the world, and the value of beauty over wannabe radio-crunch brawn. [Review]

44

Francesca Battistelli
My Paper Heart
(Fervent)

Unapologetic summer-drive radio pop-rock from a surprisingly young artist well beyond her age in musical chops. The best of the CCM juggernaut this year. [Review]

43

The Lassie Foundation
Jetstreams, Three Wheels EP
(Northern)

Coming after the “oh-so-mythical California shoegaze sound” of 2004’s Face Your Fun, this EP strikes a balance between the band’s previous impenetrability and their more recent pop stylings. It’s purposefully dark and brooding, but in a fun way as Everett conjures up images of planes being shot down, filled out with lovely, wordless “babaduhs.”

42

Jonas Brothers
A Little Bit Longer
(Hollywood)

With their career hardly begun, the Jonas Brothers have transcended their own startling youth, purity rings, Disney associations, screaming junior-high girls, and the over-15 world’s endless mockery. They’re for real; dismiss them at your own risk. [Review]

41

The New Frontiers
Mending
(The Militia Group)

A foot in the post-emo of underrated bands like Lakes, Daphne Loves Derby, and Waking Ashland, and another in the melodic structure of much of modern worship music, Mending makes for a failing recipe on paper, but succeeds with much simple beauty in execution. [Review]