Will It Float? Revisiting the Albums of My Youth

Last night I drove through back roads of snowy, slushy Boston to pick up my teenage son from an event. I listened to an album that I first listened to when I was about his age: Drowning with Land in Sight, by The 77s. “Film at 11” followed by “Mezzo” is still one of my favorite one-two punches of any guitar-driven album.

Awash in nostalgia and Mike Roe’s near seamless transitions between blistering bluesy solos and shoegazy arpeggios, I realized what a remarkable thing it is for an album from my youth to still hold up. To have grown up to an album, and to have that album grow up with me, revealing yet more sonic and lyrical depth as the years pass? A rare and beautiful thing.

Or maybe it’s not rare. I started wondering: how well did I pick ‘em, back in the day? I purchased Roadside Monument’s 1994 Beside This Brief Hexagonal, my first Christian “alternative rock” cassette, right when it came out. And, man, does that album hold up. It made the perfect companion on a moonlit walk on the harbor as recently as a year ago. So much of my voracious listening to music since discovering that album has been a quest to find more like it. Beside This Brief Hexagonal still stands alone.

On the other hand, my Columbia House purchase of the 1991 Beauty and the Beast soundtrack for 1/8 of a cent? Money well spent, I guess, but I couldn’t make it through more than 20 seconds of “Gaston” just now. Not to mention, uh, the entire premise and abusive relationship dynamics of the story.

So here I begin a new eleventy-billion-part series I’m calling “Will It Float? Revisiting the Albums of My Youth.” I listen anew to an album from the 1980s or 1990s and ask: does it hold up for me today? Musically, lyrically, culturally.

The title idea comes from David Letterman’s “Will It Float?” segment, which if it were under analysis here, would not float for me today because—brilliant theme music and concept notwithstanding—it objectifies women. Come on, David Letterman…. Anyway, take this palate cleanser from SNL’s Jack Handey, from around the same time:

Here are some of the albums I’m thinking about, in no particular order, with a snippet about each.

• Medals, Russ Taff (1985): just listened this week. Still so good.
• Self-Titled, Russ Taff (1987): the nostalgia is strong with this one. “I Still Believe” might rate as a cheesy platitude of a song if I didn’t know Russ Taff’s amazing backstory. I love this album.
• Lead Me On, Amy Grant (1988): where to start? It’s been rated best CCM album of all time for many reasons. Her powerful vocals and the just perfect guitars are two reasons.
• I’ll Lead You Home, Michael W. Smith (1995): I might justifiably be ribbed for liking this one. And some of it may not hold up. But the trilogy in it still gives me goose bumps.
• Watermelon, Driver Eight (1996): this one goes with Roadside Monument for me.
• Stay of Execution, Deliverance (1992): yeah, I’ve been listening to metal for a long time.
• The Power of Failing, Mineral (1997): core memory: driving to my full-time telemarketing job between high school and college, emoting to this album.
• Rattle & Hum, U2 (1988): I saw this movie when it came out in theaters, with my dad. I wasn’t even double-digits-years old yet.
• Achtung Baby, U2 (1991): This 1/8 cent purchase from Columbia House single-handedly redeemed the 1/8 cent I lost on Beauty and the Beast.
• This Beautiful Mess, Sixpence None the Richer (1995): this album deserves more than a snippet. I purchased a Boss DD-5 Digital Delay pedal because of it.
• S/T, Sixpence None the Richer (1997): the story behind this album makes it even better. And Sixpence is touring again. This album almost didn’t see the light of day.
• OK Computer, Radiohead (1997): one of my claims to fame: I found this CD at a record store as a pre-release version about a week before it came out. That’s right, I heard one of the best albums ever before anybody else…
• The Bends, Radiohead (1996): …and I was already a Radiohead fan, so OK Computer was so much more astounding, so much sweeter. I listened to The Bends in its entirety recently, too. It floats.
• E.P., Bloomsday (1997): I loved this album from day one, but it has aged so well that I love it even more now.
• Free Flying Soul, The Choir (1996): that opening three-chord combo to Salamander? Still so clean. So very clean.
• S/T, Jars of Clay (1995): biggest influence on my guitar playing. Haven’t listened in a while! How will it land with me in 2025?
• The Day the Colors Died, Bloomsday (1996): then and now, I didn’t like it as much as their E.P. that would follow, but this was and is such an awesome band. This full-length is excellent.
• Slow Dark Train, Vigilantes of Love (1997): what’s this, a Christian songwriter singing about depression? Yes, please, and thank you.
• Delusions of Grandeur, Fleming & John (1995): this album is still wonderful but will not float, I’m afraid. More anon.
• Forever Your Girl, Paula Abdul (1988): haha, not even kidding. I can still sing at least the choruses to these songs.
• i 2 (EYE), Michael W. Smith (1988): so nostalgic it hurts. This is inextricably linked with my Christian middle school experience in Wheaton, IL.
• Back to Back, P.I.D. (Preachas in Disguise) (1998): I’m name dropping this just to see if anyone’s heard of them. My brother has.
• RRRock It Right, Michael Peace (1987): I just listened to the opening track, “Heart Trouble.” Still kind of a banger (I think).
• S/T, King’s X (1992): King’s X will never not be awesome.
• I Scream Sunday, One Bad Pig (1991): yeah, I might be able to let this one go. I’ll give it another try.
• Jesus Freak, DC Talk (1995): I’ll be skipping this one. Too fraught.
• So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt?, Keith Green (1980): “bamanna bread?!?” I will make that joke every chance I get.

“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about”¹ Randy Stonehill, Mylon LeFevre, Margaret Becker, PFR (Pray for Rain), Poor Old Lu, Fold Zandura, D-Boy Rodriguez, Boyz II Men (though I DO have time to sing them, often), Steve Camp, Precious Death, Holy Soldier, etc.

What important albums from the 80s and 90s am I missing? Which ones should I revisit first?

1. From Hebrews 11, which I spent a lot of time studying my senior year in high school—it floats! I love that book. ↩︎