We’re talking about Michael W. Smith this week on a special Christmas episode of the Praisedown! Heath and Alex sit down once again with musician, owner of Make Oklahoma Weirder, and returning guest Jarvix! We’ve got a big, turgid megasode for you! For christmas we got you the following talking points and happenings:
- How to choose the RoboPope!
- An advertisement for an exciting, new podcast product!
- A surprise guest!
Since Jarvix is back, then you know that tune talk is less skippable than usual! On our holiest recording of the year, we’re discussing Michael W. Smith’s Christmas album…Christmas!
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last episode we had backlogged before Alex got sent to Hell. We promise we’re going to get something figured out to keep the show going uninterrupted. Thank you so much for sticking with us. Please pray to get Alex out of Hell; it’s not great that he’s in there!
Michael W. Smith’s Christmas showcases ambition in a genre where others commonly phone it in
Michael W. Smith is what I would call a big fish for this show. Smith is a musician who many people would describe as the poster child of Christian Contemporary. His catalog boasts an extremely eclectic and fascinating start, and slowly coagulates into his career as an extremely well-decorated CCM heavyweight. By 1991 Michael W. Smith reaches his highest point of mainstream success, marked by “Place in this World” hitting No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Michael W. Smith’s appropriately titled 1989 release, Christmas, is his first Christmas album of four over the span of his career. A Christian Contemporary Christmas album (say that three times fast), even in Christian circles, is not typically thought of as something to get very excited about. Christmas is thankfully not cut from the same cloth as other CCM Christmas albums that set the stereotype. The album features a large orchestra and chorus, sweeping soundscapes and sonic contours that I would describe as reminiscent of prog rock. You may just have to listen in to understand.
For a full review and a good time, please take a listen to the episode below!
The Praisedown with Heath and Alex – Dracula Dracula Revolution: A Christmas Megasode with Jarvix
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