Jars of Clay – Christmas Songs

Jars of Clay was my first favorite band, and has continued to be one of my favorite bands (along with U2).  Dan Haseltine is perhaps one of the best lyrical writers today.  So I may be a little biased to their music, but their new release – Christmas Songs – is both fresh and reminiscent of their earlier sounds (think title album).  In fact, I can’t think of a better pop/rock Christmas album than Christmas Songs.  So, when I saw an article in Christianity Today giving Christmas Songs 3.5 stars, I was extremely surprised. How they heck could Josh Groban get more stars on a Christmas album? Is this a joke?

The CCM is in a sad state, stuck in recycled sounds, unauthentic, overused lyrics, and consumerism, and Jars of Clay has seemed to never be apart of this. So its sad to see Christianity Today not even giving a little respect to the best authentically Christian band in contemporary history.