27 Albums That Shaped the First 27 Years of my Life, #27: Avalon - In a Different Light

As I quickly approach my 27th birthday (an age, coincidentally, that many musicians met their own mortality), I have been thinking about the role that music has played in my life. I have not played an instrument for nearly sixteen years and have never been in a band, but I would still consider myself an audiophile. The 26000 songs on my hard drive would agree with me as well.

Because of all those things, I thought it would be as good a time as any to compile my list of the 27 albums that most shaped these first 27 years of my life. Starting Friday January 31, I will be posting one album from the list every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until we reach #1 just before my birthday.

Let me make one thing abundantly clear: I am not saying that these are the 27 greatest albums of all time. I am not so arrogant to believe that my personal opinion is the definitive voice on music. I like what I like. Hopefully you will be able to unearth some gems from my list. If not, that is alright. These songs and albums are important to me regardless of anyone’s opinions of them.

#27: Avalon – In a Different Light
Release Date: March 23, 1999
When I first heard the album: Summer 1999

Why I loved it then: Let’s be honest. You probably didn’t expect a late-1990s Contemporary Christian release to be the first album on this list. But growing up, this is the type of music we listened to in my house. The radio was always set to the Christian station, and it was the only genre I listened to until high school. While admittedly there was a lot of goofy and cheesy music on that station, there were some gems. I loved Avalon as a kid because I thought their vocals always meshed seamlessly. I owned the audio cassette of this album, and I listened to it almost every morning of seventh grade.

Why I still love it now: Nostalgia, mostly. This is far from the type of music that generally permeates my speakers. I wouldn’t even go so far as to say that I still “love” the album. But if I need to listen to something that is unapologetically positive, I could do much worse than this. It still brings me back to junior high, my first season of playing

Lingering Lyric: “You saved me once/ I know you’ll save me still”
Top Tracks: Take You at Your Word, Always Have, Always Will, Let Your Love