Tag Archives: train

BEST OF 2021- PART 5: TOP 15 DELUXE EDITION AND BEST-OF COMPILATION ALBUMS OF 2021

Hey everyone… guess what! It’s Mother’s Day 2022. So happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers of the world! But I’ve just found out that within our last ‘best of 2021’ post about our top 40 albums of 2021; we have not included some albums! Perhaps you’ve noticed, perhaps you haven’t! Anyway, the reality is that we’ve created a brand new category this year- and that’s for deluxe edition and best-of compilation albums. Pitting them in our list again all original albums… isn’t fair at all- because it’s like comparing different kinds of albums! And so, as we rectify this issue right away; let me present to you all our favourite 15 deluxe edition albums as a site for the entire of 2021! Impacting and inspiring songs are special, but a re-release with added tracks confirming the timelessness of the original album in question? They’re even more special!  So sit back, be inspired, and let these deluxe edition projects minister to you during this time of uncertainty!

Continue reading BEST OF 2021- PART 5: TOP 15 DELUXE EDITION AND BEST-OF COMPILATION ALBUMS OF 2021

Momentous Mondays: Most Influential Artists Of All Time – Where Are They Now: Week 1-20

So… here we are. Just over 3 years since our first post of the blog series that ultimately changed how we (Jon and myself) listen to music and how we understand how God chooses to speak to us through music. Since that day in February in 2019 when we wrote about a crazy idea about writing about influential artists and why we believe them to be influential; we’ve since been on a musical journey that at first, we believed to be probably foolish. But now we both realise that we wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. As Christians, the assumption is that mainstream music is ‘evil’. But after 150 blogs (100 blogs about influential artists of all time, and 50 blogs about up-and-coming artists), we’ve found that, to the contrary, God uses all types of music to inspire us, encourage us, comfort us, and help us in this thing called life. You may not agree with Jon’s and my list. But that’s ok. Because we all have our preferences, and on things like this, it’s not worth splitting hairs over. I mean, is ‘this list doesn’t have my favourite artist on here!’ the hill you want to die on? No? I thought so.

It’s been about 3 years since our first post, and other variations of that time frame since all of the other blog posts. And it’s been about a few weeks since our blog post about Robbie Williams. And as such, we thought it would be fitting to write about the 100 artists (and 50 up-and-coming artists!) again- but in a more of a snapshot setting. A ‘where are they now?’ post, sort of a reflection post, a look back at 20 artists at a time (or in the case of the up-and-coming artists- 10 at a time!); just to see where they are at, and to reaffirm that we believe they’re still influential. Sure, you can read about all these artists on Wikipedia- but there’s something about a collated post where you can read about 20 artists at once! So… do you want to be reminded of why we chose the artists we did? Read on and be amazed and inspired by what’s happening in the lives of Michael W. Smith, Avril Lavigne, Delta Goodrem, Josh Groban, Casting Crowns and others!

Continue reading Momentous Mondays: Most Influential Artists Of All Time – Where Are They Now: Week 1-20

MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 16: TRAIN

Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if I listened to great bands and songs, and the great albums from said bands, when they actually released, rather than all these years later. How would my music tastes have changed- or would they have stayed the same? How would my outlook on life be, would I be more of an extrovert or an introvert, would my values change or would I still be in the same profession that I am currently in? I know, weird questions, but I truly believe that music and the song that can impact and encourage, influence and challenge; can really change a trajectory of someone depending on when they hear it in their lives. And at a certain point, a song can be a catalyst for change, personal or as a collective, to be something better, to look inward and see what needs to realign and refocus, or what values that is held close, need to be reassessed, and which need to still stay the same. So to answer my own question that I posed earlier…I don’t really know what would’ve happened if I did listen to artists when their respective albums released. I mean, had I did listen to artists like Avril Lavigne, Ronan Keating, U2, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, even Owl City and Lifehouse, during the times when albums of these said artists released; maybe, just maybe, the wonder and awe, and the unique feeling that comes when discovering a whole discography of a new artist, could be less and less. Because essentially if you follow an artist’s career from year dot, you become accustomed to their music your whole life, as opposed to someone else discovering for the first time a whole discography of an artist they’ve missed out on.

Continue reading MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 16: TRAIN