Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once wrote “music is the universal language of mankind.” He rightly saw the intrinsic power that music holds across all tribes and time. Throughout history, every known culture has created their own music, used for celebration, grief, and most often in the context of religious custom. Be it the choral voices echoing in cathedral halls or rhythmic drums around a fire, music seems to be both intrinsically human and tied to our religious instincts. Today, almost every Christian church service in every denomination begins with a time of worship through the vehicle of music. Music woven with poetry seems to have a spiritual ability to articulate our beliefs about the transcendent and brings us closer to the divine.

While in the last century we’ve watched music separate itself from its historically religious ties, there still exists a thriving Christian music industry that began in the 1970s as a response to the majority of popular music moving in a secular direction since the early 1900s. In 1972 Larry Norman released his tongue-in-cheek song “Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music,” which seemed to act as an exhortation to Christian artists to create great music centering around faith again. Since then, Christian music has grown into a multibillion dollar industry, reaching countless ears and hearts around the world. But even with its financial success, it has often come under fire, much like the Christian movie industry, for being low quality and formulaic in its production. While there have been valid critiques of the quality of Christian mainstream music throughout the years since its rebirth, there have also been many artists and albums who have utilized their faith as inspiration for truly soaring artistic works that have the power to explore faith, humanity, and God in deeply moving ways.

Below is my list of the 10 best Christian albums of all time.

1. A Liturgy, A Legacy, And A Ragamuffin Band – Rich Mullins (1993)

Poet, prophet, and songwriter Rich Mullins has become beloved for the depth of his words and the complexity of his music. In this album, he crafted a piece of art that displayed faith in a truly meaningful and moving way that still inspires spiritual depth to this day.

2. Jesus Freak – DC Talk (1995)

In this groundbreaking album, rock/punk/rap/pop trio DC Talk stepped away from the formulaic and safe sounding music that had started to take hold of the Christian music industry and instead combined multiple genres of music, including hard beats and guitar riffs that sounded more like Nirvana than church worship music. This unique sound served as the base for their even braver lyrics that explored relevant issues such as racism, suicide, and social justice through a lens of faith.

3. Illinoise – Sufjan Stevens (2005)

No one was quite prepared for this indescribably creative album by enigmatic songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens. Using faith and biblical imagery mixed with Americana mythos, this album takes the listener on a musical journey that both entertains and explores the depths of the human experience. Utilizing a full brass band, acoustic guitars, banjo, and a choir, Sufjan Stevens composed a masterpiece that is still looked at today to show the creative potential in music influenced by faith.

4. Lead Me On – Amy Grant (1988)

Even though the Christian music industry had been going for over a decade, it had had a difficult time breaking out of the more insular walls of the church — until now superstar Amy Grant released this album that, through its multiple hit songs with catchy pop melodies and faith-filled lyrics, crossed over into mainstream culture, getting secular music play and critical success, showing that Christian music wasn’t only for Christians.

5. Joshua Tree – U2 (1987)

While released on a mainstream label, this landmark album is still claimed as one of the most beloved Christian albums ever made. The young rock band became the largest in the world, drawing millions to stadium concerts with their soaring electric guitar melodies on which were sung deeply spiritual lyrics about God, Heaven, and redemption.

6. Jars of Clay – Jars of Clay (1995)

The mid-nineties marked the beginning of an artistic renaissance in Christian art and music. This album, by the then unknown band, was one of the first to show that artistry and beautiful musicality could also be successful. Utilizing unique instrumentation and crafting poetic lyrics about faith, Jars of Clay’s self titled album inspired a brand new wave of both artistically high and popular Christian music.

7. The Everglow – Mae (2005)

In the early 2000s, the artistic Christian art revival had faded into a corporate Christian music industry that produced almost entirely lower quality and formulaic pop-radio music. But a few artists with a handful of visionary music labels went a different direction. While not making it onto the radio or into the mainstream, this movement garnered a large and loyal fan base that longed to experience Christian art in a more creatively deep way. Mae and their album The Everglow still stands out as one of the most unique and brave concept albums to ever have been made within the Christian artistic community. The album utilizes an almost cinematic sound with delicate piano, soaring guitars, and lyrics that take the listener on a journey of faith, doubt, fear, and hope.

8. For Him Who Has Ears to Hear – Keith Green (1977)

Keith Green’s wild conversion and free spirit in the Jesus Movement era, reflected both in his biography and music, still inspires thousands today. Having an almost uncontrollable passion to love the lost and bring the hurting to Jesus, he used his music — particularly this album — as a winsome alter call to whomever would listen. With Elton John-styled piano skills and hymn-like lyrics, this album still stands as one of the most powerful and inspiring albums in the Christian music canon.

9. The Beautiful Letdown – Switchfoot (2003)

After having one of their songs featured in the hit 2002 film A Walk to Remember, Christian rock band Switchfoot released this album that took not only the Christian market but the mainstream world by storm. A departure from most of the pop and soft-rock sounding music on Christian radio, The Beautiful Letdown was filled with heavy drums and soaring guitars that paired perfectly with angsty lyrics about life, purpose, and God.

10. Anomaly – Lecrae (2014)

For years, the Christian music industry had mostly stayed within the genre lanes of Gospel, pop, praise, and occasionally, rock. But in the early 2010s, a fresh sound and new voice emerged on the Christian music scene. Lecrae took both the Christian and mainstream world by surprise with his rap music that featured heavy and original beats, tight rhymes, and raw, poetic lyrics that explored relevant cultural issues and deep spiritual truths through the lens of a Black man living in modern America. While many of his albums reached a faithful fan group, Lecrae’s 2014 album, Anomaly, solidified him as a cultural figure after being a certified gold album and winning him a Grammy.