#15: End Of Silence by Red: Red burst on to the Christian music scene in 2006, with Breathe Into Me being one of rock's top tracks. The track certainly showed what the entire disc was all about: Edgy, hard rock with strong lyrics. Breathe Into Me was just one of the disc's many highlights. Tracks like Already Over and Lost are just two of the disc's great tracks. Combining superb musical elements with truly impressive, hard-hitting lyrics, and mixing it together with some great vocals, Red definitely created one of the year's best discs.
#14: Define The Great Line by Underoath: 2005 was a big year for Underoath. They started to get heavy play on MTV2, and their appearance on Warped Tour only helped things even more. But, to follow up a disc like They're Only Chasing Safety is no easy task. The Underoath boys did well to avoid a letdown, as Define The Great Line showed exactly why the band became so popular while showing some definite growth. Tracks like You're Ever So Inviting and In Regards To Myself were heavy on the screaming, which seemed to be a theme for the entire disc. It may have actually been one of things that kept the disc from doing better this year, as the screaming had the potential to grate on the nerves after a while. However, one look at the lyrics shows why this disc made the list. The lyrics showed definite improvement from the previous two discs and, though the disc lacked a track like Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape, the all-around effect of the entire offering ended up being quite good. Define The Great Line definitely put Underoath on the path to continued to success, and it was easy to put this disc on the list this year.
#13: Chroma by Cartel: Much, much farther to the pop end of the musical spectrum, the tone changes between #14 and #13. Cartel creates a brand of music that's pretty popular these days, combining some pretty good elements of pop, punk and rock. But what set Chroma ahead of the other bands like them was their ability to craft excellent lyrics. The self-proclaimed minstrels of this era, the focal point of Cartel is the lyrics, which is very uncommon in the pop/rock realm these days. Tracks like Burn This City, Say Anything (Else) and Runaway show that off with some typical pop/rock musical stylings, while The Minstrel's Prayer and Save Us take a much more toned-down approach to things. And in the disc's nine-minute closer, A (Which directly follows Q), the band rehashes much of the disc in a completely different style, taking lines from many of those tracks just mentioned and dispersing them throughout the track, which finishes with a five minute instrumental. Chroma, though typical on some of the basic levels, is incredibly unique in it's intricacies, which is what made it one of 2006's best.
#12: Exit Lights by Falling Up: A remix disc that manages to make the Top 25 Albums of the Year raises some eyebrows. A remix disc that makes it into the Top 15 raises even more. But when this disc is actually heard, it is completely understandable why it made it up so far. Much like David Crowder Band's B Collision (#21), this disc is definitely not your typical remix disc. It's not just a bunch of remixes thrown together for the sake of releasing "new" material. Rather, it is another remix disc with an actual theme behind it. This disc is meant to be a collection of electronic recreations. Guest artists (Rachel Lampa, Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch, and Solomon Olds of Family Force 5) add ot the discs creativity, and the addition of extra verses or completely changed verses only add to the uniqueness of this supposed remix disc. Throw in a new song as well as two instrumental tracks that give brief repreive between some hard-hitting songs, and you have one of the best remix discs to come around in years and one of 2006's top discs.
#11: Good Monsters by Jars Of Clay: Many in the Christian music community are going to call it an absolute travesty to have Jars Of Clay this low ever, but even moreso in 2006. Good Monsters was one of 2006's most critically acclaimed discs. To find a bad review of the disc was incredibly difficult. And rightfully so. Good Monsters is easily Jars Of Clay's most complete disc to date. The growth of the band has been apparent throughout most of their discs, but on Good Monsters they took their efforts to a new level. Even Angels Cry, There Is A River and Mirrors & Smoke are just a couple of the amazing tracks from this disc. The addition of Leigh Nash's vocals on Mirrors & Smoke made the track one of the top highlights from the disc. Overall, Good Monsters absolutely has to be recognized on any list of the year's best discs and, even if people find it to be a bit low on this one, it gets it's due respect here at #11.
#25-#21
#20-#16
#15-#11
#10-#6
#5-#2
#1