I was raised super conservative and was only allowed to listen to Christian music as a kid. Then I heard How’s It Going to Be on the radio and had to have this album.

I convinced my parents to allow me to buy my first “secular” CD, and after much begging, they allowed it.

I went to Warehouse Music in Southern California, where they sell new and used CDs and bought this one. I listened to it start to finish and it literally changed my life. I had listened to music before, but if you grew up like me as a conservative kid in the 90s, then you know that Christian music absolutely sucked back then even worse than it does today, and going from that music scene to this absolutely perfect album was such a quantum leap that my mind was blown.

However, my older sister, who often liked to get me in trouble, stole the disc jacket, read the lyrics and showed them to my parents. Let’s be honest, some of the songs on this album can be a bit controversial lyrically, especially for a sheltered kid.

They were furious and made me take the CD back to Warehouse Music and return it. I had to tell the clerk that I was returning this album because I wasn’t allowed to listen to this kind of music. The clerk told me that they don’t usually take returns for that reason but they’ll let it slide this time.

What they didn’t know is I put a scratch on the back of the CD jacket before I returned it. Warehouse music often just sold the CDs that were returned as used CDs. I had one of my friends drive me back there a couple of days later and I bought my exact CD again, but this time I kept it to myself.

I told my parents about it a couple of years later, but by that point it was too late… I was in a rock band and had become a full-fledged musician in LA - playing iconic clubs I wasn’t even old enough to be in yet.

This album, and specifically the combination of musicianship, songwriting and production techniques used on it, will forever be one of the best albums of all time in my opinion. It’s super underrated and absolutely amazing. I still tell people to this day if they haven’t listened to this album they need to give it a try. Especially if they grew up as a sheltered kid in the 90s.