Last and least of my alphabetical list of influential albums from 1998 is Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest by Zao.
This one has not aged so well. I’m not sure why, but I feel goofy admitting that I was obsessed with this record. Zao was the first Christian band I had ever heard that I got excited about. When this record came out, it opened a lot of doors for Christian hard core and gave me hope in Christian music in general. It was heavy and catchy and recorded well for the time. Zao seemed like the biggest band in the world to me when I was 19 or 20. Everyone I knew liked them. Even people who didn’t like hard core liked Zao. It was this strange phenomenon. I saw them 13 times in one year. I have a really dorky picture of me and Jessie Smith after a Zao show from when I was 19.
I thought Jessie Smith was the best thing since digital watches. He really was a great drummer. He hit hard and made everything look easy. He was really fun to watch. Zao was really fun to watch and sing a long to. Zao shows brought dorky Christians with something to prove together. I look back fondly on those times. There was something real about what God was doing in our hearts that had little to do with Zao. I miss the days of sprit-filled hard core. Maybe it was adolescent sensationalism, but I know God taught me a lot at that time.
Unfortunately, Zao’s integrity has tarnished a bit and this record, while nostalgic, sounds pretty 1998. But I would be lying if I didn’t acknowledge the huge influence it had on my life in those early years of college. Thanks for the memories Zao. Thanks for the awesome records 1998. Now I’ll come up with something else to ramble about. Maybe 1999??????
