News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Life
Culture & Art
Hobbies
News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Culture & Art
Hobbies
In Review: Dawson Hollow – Pixelated Haze – joshbalogh
Dawson Hollow, an exciting indie-folk band hailing from the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, has been steadily gaining attention for their unique fusion of musical styles like, Modern Pop, 70s R&B, Folk, and Indie Rock. Comprising five siblings, the band’s dynamic sound is driven by their ultra-tight harmonies, strong instrumentation, and a deft hand at musical…
Top 100 Songs of 2024 – joshbalogh
What a great year for new music, especially the hidden corners of the independent scene! I keep finding myself captivated by musicians operating outside of the constraints of a traditional label. In this post I’ll list my Top 50 songs of 2024 without commentary so as not to lull you to sleep. This will include…
Top 5 Books from 2024 – joshbalogh
These are my five favorite books that were newly released in 2024. 1. Practicing the Way: Be With Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did - John Mark Comer Very pastoral and practical encouragement on the simple (but not easy) way to live out the gospel in everyday life. 2. With All It’s Teeth:…
50 Album Recommendations from 2024 – joshbalogh
These are my Top 10 album recommendations from 2024 of five different genres/categories under the Christian music umbrella. Pop/Rock, Rock/Heavy, Singer Songwriter, Hip-Hop/Rap, and Worship. I’ve ordered them alphabetically, and will be choosing my annual Top 20 albums from among this list. Also, as a bonus I have included 5 Mainstream Records and 5 EPs…
Sixpence None the Richer: We Are Love Tour – joshbalogh
Seeing 90s band Sixpence None the Richer has long been a bucket list concert for me, and one I thought I’d just never get to fulfill. Fortunately, we’re living through a great time in music history where nostalgia and reunions are in high demand. You can imagine my excitement when I heart that SNTR would…
Top 150 Favorite Albums of All-Time – joshbalogh
These are the records that made me. The ones I’ve returned to again and again over the course of my life. The Top 150 Albums of All-Time. The ones that have soundtracked the various stages and seasons, the highs and lows. Each one represents my musical taste as it evolved from middle school to present day. I…
1990: Top 10 CCM Albums – joshbalogh
I don’t have much to say about CCM albums released in 1990 from a personal experience angle. I was young and only album #2 was in my actual rotation at the time. That said, it’s a solid year for 90s CCM and my pick from #1 is definitely deserving. In fact, atleast half this list…
Top 25: Sixpence None the Richer Songs – joshbalogh
Sixpence None thr Richer has always been a favorite band since first hearing songs from their second album This Beautiful Mess in 1995. However, in the past ten years of my continued fandom I have only fallen even harder for their catalogue. Their body of work has and continues to age incredibly well. Now, they…
1991: Top 10 Christian Albums – joshbalogh
Christian music in 1991. These are the ten albums from Christian Music in 1991 that I think held up best. I’m not gonna lie, I probably wasn’t listening to any of these albums save #1 and #3. It would be until much later in my obsession that I would come to fully appreciate a majority…
Remembering Rich Mullins (1955-1997) – joshbalogh
Rich Mullins. Every year I spend September 19th remembering him and listening to his music. As a sixteen year old at the time of Rich Mullins fatal car accident I will not pretend that I appreciated him to the degree that I would later in life. I didn’t own any of his albums, and was…
1993: Top 10 Christian Albums – joshbalogh
The Top 10 Albums of every year in the 90s series is almost complete— two more to go! (1991 and 1990) We have now reached the years I was less directly impacted by at the time. (Hence a Top 10 Albums vs. 25 or 30) That is to say, I’ve come to appreciate several of…
1994: 30 Christian Albums Turn Thirty – joshbalogh
On the cusp of what I would say is the golden era of Christian Music (1994-2007), 1994 set the table nicely for a generation of CCM that would explode, expand, reach into the mainstream and then begin its fade. 1994 had some truly terrific albums that still hold up to this day thirty years later.…
7 Albums from My Formative Years – joshbalogh
The 90s had the best music. But then again, I’m biased as it was the setting for my formative years. As such, I thought a fun list might be to pick one album for each of my middle school and high school years as a representative of what I would have been listening to in…
Let Your Whimsy Loose! – joshbalogh
So I have to tell you about one of my favorite days, and it wasn’t a holiday of any sort...it was just a day. There was nothing inherently special about it. The day started off as many Friday’s do for us Balogh’s. It was a day off of work for me, a day that usually…
100 Greatest Christian Albums of the 80s – joshbalogh
This 100 Greatest Albums decade list like the ones before it has a twofold purpose: 1. To attempt as a fan of all things Christian music to be as well-rounded in my listening of the entire history of CCM music as possible. 2. To do my best to compile and leave behind a resource for…
Best Christian Music of 2024 so Far… – joshbalogh
I’ll save the longer preamble for my year-end list, so for now…these are my recommendations from Christian (and faith adjacent) music at the halfway point of 2024. I went with 25 Albums and 25 Songs. I’ve picked five albums from the five primary genres that I think fit snugly under the CCM or Christian music…
Christianity: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means – joshbalogh
If you know me, you know that The Princess Bride has long topped my favorite movies of all time list. One reason I love the movie so deeply is the abundance of quotable lines that fit so many situations in life. Even marginal fans of the movie recognize the catch phrase of criminal mastermind Vezzini,…
2014: Ten Albums Turn Ten – joshbalogh
In the year 2014 I was 33 and deep in NextGen Pastoring work. Father of 3 young kids and slightly less immersed in Christian music than I would become a few years later. I’m sure I was listening to plenty of music but I recall spending most of my time listening to my Top 3…
These 5 Albums “Altared” the Christian Music Industry – joshbalogh
Was it a good thing for Christian music? A bad thing? Just another swing of the pendulum? One thing’s for sure, the industry was never the same after this major pivot in the late 90s/early 00s. These are the five albums that I think created the seismic shift of a genre that was arguably at…
Friendly Fire: Deconstruction, The Christian, and Christian Music – joshbalogh
The recent rash of high profile Christians deconstructing their faith and/or walking away entirely is heartbreaking to watch. Whether a worship leader at a mega church, a career CCM singer songwriter, an author who had a profound impact on impressionable minds, or the lead singer of a band aimed at the “safe for the whole…
Top 100 Favorite Albums of All-Time – joshbalogh
These are the records that made me. The ones I’ve returned to again and again over the course of my life. The Top 100 Albums of All-Time. The ones that have soundtracked the various stages and seasons, the highs and lows. Each one represents my musical taste as it evolved from middle school to present…
2004: 20 Christian Albums Turn 20 – joshbalogh
In the year of our Lord 2004 I graduated college, turned twenty-three, and began dating (and got engaged) to the woman that would become my wife. It was all soundtracked by some incredible albums. Two of them remain all-time favorites from all-time favorite bands. Several I didn’t warm to until much later, especially the harder…
Gileah Taylor – Slow Parade – joshbalogh
Slow Parade is an AOTY candidate. Indie artist Gileah Taylor and her album Slow Parade is the type of record I find myself increasingly drawn to. The slow burn variety. Music that is nuanced and subtle. The kind that soaks into your consciousness with repeat listens. This is music for the dark night of the…
Mt. Rushmore of CCM – joshbalogh
What an agonizing list to make. With so many great and essential options how do you whittle it down to four?! I waffled, edited, swapped out, and finally settled on my four. I’d love to hear yours as well, so please share after reading. Here goes, in no particular order… Who’s on yours? Andre Crouch…
Michael W Smith vs. Steven Curtis Chapman – joshbalogh
I love them both, but just for fun and the kind of impossible question I like to address, I decided to present the facts. If I was trying to decide which one of these CCM icons I thought has had the better resume and therefore impact on CCM, who would I pick? Join me if…
Top 30 Most Influential Worship Songs (1994-2024) – joshbalogh
The worship song “Shout to the Lord” is how old?! Yup, if you can believe it, the tune that some say started the turn of CCM to its current worship bent, is celebrating thirty years in 2024. To be sure, worship music had been in existence prior to Hillsong Church and Darlene Zschech via Maranatha…
Top 10 Songwriters of Christian Music – joshbalogh
Christian music. Whatever that ever meant or means now. Songwriters. After much thought and shuffling of the list I’ve decided on a Top 10. These lyricists have played a part in shaping my thinking on life, theology, my own attempts at crafting songs/poetry. These are the songwriters that shaped me and continue to do so…
1999: 25 Christian Albums Turn 25 – joshbalogh
Was 1999 the greatest individual year of Christian music?! Personally I don’t think so, but it certainly was a highly transitional year for the genre. It happens to coincide with major transition in my own life so I can identify. In 1999 I would have just graduated high school and started college. I left behind…
The Jukebox Junkie’s Top 20 Albums of 2023 – joshbalogh
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—end-of-year list season! Here is my annual contribution to my favorite topic—music. This post will detail 20 favorite faith based albums of 2023 and why I liked them. As always, when listening to music I’m looking for songs and albums to take me to that place of longing…
The Jukebox Junkies Top 50 Songs of 2023 – joshbalogh
As a precursor to my final (probably) post of Top 20 albums, here is a list of my Top 50 songs with a linked playlist if you’d like to listen along. Truth be told, it’s really a Top 100 songs of all genres, but instead of that potentially overwhelming post I just share fifty here…
What I’ve Heard: November 2023 Edition – joshbalogh
What I’ve Heard: November 2023 edition. You’ll see longtime favorites, newer discoveries, and albums/eps that have grabbed my attention and released in 2023. Last post like this of the year and probably ever as I’m not going to continue them in 2024. Top 25 of November 2023 No commentary this month, I’ll let the collage…
Steven Curtis Chapman: Ranking his Fifty #1 Songs – joshbalogh
Repeat after me. Fifty #1 songs. Yup. CCM icon Uncle Steve (aka Steven Curtis Chapman) has fifty number-one songs in his career to date. Crazy. So I thought I’d celebrate his most recent accomplishment with ye olde blog post/ranking of all fifty songs. Keep in mind he has plenty of other songs I like more,…
50 Album Recommendations for 2023 – joshbalogh
This has been such a strong year for music. 2023 has proven to be fertile ground for just about any music listener. This list is the Top 10 ranked in order of how much I liked them in five-ish different categories that make up Christian music. These are the ones I’ll be trying to whittle…
What I’ve Heard: October 2023 Edition – joshbalogh
What I’ve Heard: October 2023 edition. You’ll see longtime favorites, newer discoveries, and albums/eps that have grabbed my attention and released in 2023. I’m going with much less commentary on my month this time around, but will offer a few passing thoughts and some links. Lastly, I’ll share the 2023 playlist that I make additions…
Top 25 Favorite Tooth & Nail Albums – joshbalogh
I often think of alternate realities or parallel universes that contain all the possibilities and nuances of different decisions. Is that just me? Maybe I’m more influenced by the MCU multi-verse than I’d like to admit, or maybe I’m just a “I wonder” kinda guy. Anyway, in one of those imaginary realities I’ll call my…
2003: 20 Christian Albums Turn 20 – joshbalogh
These are my favorite albums from 20 years ago ranked in order of my enjoyment. Normally I’d wax poetic on each with details as to why I love them but I’m opting for the quick and dirty list sans commentary this time. Do you still own copies of any of these? Have they held up…
Top 25 Coldplay Songs – joshbalogh
Love them or loathe them, Coldplay has had quite a career spanning twenty plus years. Personally, I mostly love them. They have released a few of my all-time favorite albums over the last 20 years. Though I’ve been lukewarm toward their last 2-3 albums, I think they have a relatively strong catalogue, so just narrowing…
What I’ve Heard: September 2023 Edition – joshbalogh
What I’ve Heard: September 2023 edition. You’ll see longtime favorites, newer discoveries, and albums/eps that have grabbed my attention and released in 2023. A little less commentary on my month this time around but I will link a few music reviews that I did for Jesusfreakhideout as it was a more prolific month of reviews…
What I’ve Heard: August 2023 Edition – joshbalogh
What I’ve Heard: August 2023 edition. You’ll see longtime favorites, newer discoveries, and albums/eps that have grabbed my attention and released in 2023. Additionally, I’ll zoom out to include my Top 100 of the month as I truly did a large amount of listening this month. Lastly, I’ll link the 2023 playlist that I make…
100 Greatest Christian Albums of the 80s (In Process) – joshbalogh
This 100 Greatest Albums decade list like the ones before it has a twofold purpose: 1. To attempt as a fan of all things Christian music to be as well-rounded in my listening of the entire history of CCM music as possible. 2. To do my best to compile and leave behind a resource for…