My Favorite Albums from the 2010s

The following albums are my personal favorites from the past decade. Objective measurements were not used in the making of this list!

Also, these are listed chronologically -- not in any other way. Enjoy!

Here's the Spotify playlist of all of the albums below!

Josh Garrels, Love & War and the Sea in Between
(2011)

Spotify

Christianity Today, the magazine that has been making headlines in more ways than one recently, named this record "Album of the Year" in 2011 -- and rightfully so. Garrels gave us three albums this decade and this one was the best.

The City Harmonic, I Have a Dream
(2011)

Spotify

Sadly, this band no longer exists. The men from Canada needed more time to invest in their families and personal ministries so they disbanded a couple of years ago. Elias Dummer, the front man, is doing solo work now and recently ranked fourth on my 2019 end-of-year review. These guys rocked hard and this album contains some wonderful writing.

Dustin Kensrue, The Water and the Blood
(2013)

Spotify

Warning: He's a heretic now.

That said, The Water and the Blood is a triumph. If your conscience permits, enjoy the recognizable rock voice of Kensrue and the amazing tracks found here.

Kings Kaleidoscope, Becoming Who We Are
(2014)

Spotify

I started doing an end-of-year roundup in 2014. At that time I used a basic 5-point scale and didn't back up my rankings with any objective measurements. I gave this 17-track album 4.5/5. It should have received a 6!

Their albums since have not been as good. And they dropped an F-bomb once.

Kip Fox, The Unheard Collection
(2015)

Spotify

Kip Fox is one of the most underrated songwriters around. I say "underrated," because he's so unknown. This collection of songs should be much more popular than it is! He's a Lutheran who lives in Arizona. And I interviewed him once.

Young Oceans, Voices, Vol. 1
(2016)

Spotify

This collection of songs that were previously released, recorded with a variety of different artists, is a great set. One of the things that people dislike most about Young Oceans is their vocals, so having others take the vocal lead was a genius decision -- and the final product proves that! It's a great album.

Rivers & Robots, The Eternal Son
(2016)

Spotify

I've said it before and I'll say it again: This is the most perfect Christian music album for me. Some things could be improved, but not much. I love the style, I love the lyrics, I love the creativity. These Brits have something special here. Jonathan Ogden let me interview him once.

City Alight, Only a Holy God
(2016)

Spotify

I first heard about this band through a Facebook ad. Not many people were listening to them at that point and as soon as I heard them I knew they were different in the best way. These Anglicans from Australia are writing great songs for the church!

Sovereign Grace, Prayers of the Saints Live
(2017)

Spotify

The great tragedy of 2017 was that this album somehow did not make it to my end-of-year review. I have lost count as to the number of times I've listened through this album. It's a great pre-church soundtrack to play as people arrive. It's a great album to sing once everyone is in the pews!

Matt Boswell and Matt Papa, His Mercy Is More
(2019)

Spotify

What can I say that I haven't already said in my 2019 music review? These guys write good songs and they write them with you in mind. Learn the songs and sing them!







Honorable Mentions

Beautiful Eulogy, Worthy

Andrew Peterson, Resurrection Letters, Vol. 1

The Sing Team, Oh! Great Is Our God!

Rivers & Robots, All Things New

Shai Linne, Still Jesus

Josh Garrels, Home

Northwest Collective, Rejoice: Live from Seattle