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Apparently, my musical destiny is to listen to Audrey Assad's 2012 release, "Heart" 1000 times. I have never heard anything like this in my life. I hate Christian music. No, I'm serious. Because it's stupid. Either you can tell that the person doesn't believe what they're singing about, or this Jesus they love so fervently can't do anything about anything that matters. That isn't what the Bible says.
And music is supposed to grab your soul and not let go. When is the last time a Jesus record did that to you? Babyface may be a fornicating pervert, but he knows how to make songs you remember. A great song forces you to reckon with it; it alters the sonic world you live in. Audrey Assad alters my sonic world.
There's no point in talking about individual tracks; we're talking about an entire album that's going to change popular music, not just Christian music. I'm not a critic, and I'm certainly not an expert. But this is nuts. Think about the Weezer debut, or "August And Everything After," or "Thriller." That's how great it is.
I hear every great songwriter I know when I listen. And vocally, there's a purity and perfection you get from people like Celine Dion and Whitney Houston, not singer-songwriters. Like I said, I've not heard an album this good in a very long time.

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