Top Christian Albums of the 1980's -- #1

THE BIG PICTURE – Michael W. Smith (1985)

Prior to The Big Picture, Michael W. Smith was a talented keyboardist and songwriter. His first two albums were solid efforts with some still-classic songs, worth hearing but overall not much beyond the ordinary. By contrast, The Big Picture exploded with energy, and brought Smitty to the forefront as a complete musician and producer, becoming then and now one of the leading figures in his industry. He could do more than play the synthesizer and hit the high notes on Friends – on this album he surrounded himself with other equally-talented musicians and created complex, multi-layered arrangements that leave you breathless.

Top to bottom, nothing else compares. Lamu sets the stage with a wall of drums and guitars that attack you on multiple sides. Wired For Sound is perhaps the most dynamic Christian song ever recorded. Old Enough to Know became an anthem (alone on the top floor of a youth hostel on a numbingly cold night in the Netherlands). Pursuit of the Dream spins your head around. Rocketown is the obligatory radio-friendly ballad, while Voices is so moving that I considered transcribing the lyrics onto my high school yearbook page. The Last Letter provides hope for the distraught. Even the weaker tracks – Going Through the Motions, Tearing Down the Wall and the enigmatic conclusion You’re Alright are still outstanding for their musical originality and deep lyrics.

MWS followed-up with the strong i (2) eye and then the forgettable and seemingly incomplete Go West Young Man before finding a new niche as a praise & worship performer. He has given us an outstanding body of work and has never compromised his values. Still, it is the album he produced at age 27 that stands far above not only his other works, but the works of a genre over an entire decade, and the standard by which others are judged.