Top Christian Albums of the 1980's -- #3

MELTDOWN – Steve Taylor (1984)



Steve Taylor produced only five regular albums, the first of which was a 6-track "EP" and the last of which appeared in 1993. Yet each one was special in its own right, and the quality of the first four make this by far the most difficult call for the one-album-per-artist rule.




Meltdown is Steve Taylor’s first full-length album, although it contains at least two tracks intended for I Want to Be a Clone, the debut EP that appeared two years earlier.




While it lacks the biting satire of Clone, and the production quality isn't quite as polished as On the Fritz and I Predict 1990 which followed, and each album contains a jaw-dropping range of musical styles and versatility (not to mention the ongoing satire), Meltdown gets the nod because it brings Taylor into his own not just as a songwriter, but as a complete musician.




Ironically, Taylor's three best songs of the decade (Bad Rap from Clone, To Forgive from Fritz -- one of the greatest songs of the decade -- and I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good from I Predict 1990) are found on other albums. Again, it's almost unfair to limit Steve Taylor to only one entry on this list, but rules is rules, and Meltdown is the clearest example of the Steve Taylor experience, from the jarring opening title track to the stirring closing ballad Baby Doe and everything in between.