One of the most beloved albums in Christian music history is getting a proper celebration - and if you want in, you need to act fast.
The Newsboys' Take Me to Your Leader, originally released in 1996, is back this week in a limited 30th anniversary vinyl edition from Girder Records. It drops June 5, pressed on what the label is calling "XPAK 400 Rocket Red" vinyl - a direct nod to the iconic sci-fi floating car on the album's original cover art.
Sourced from the original Capitol Records files, the reissue features the full run of ten top-ten hits, including the generation-defining anthems "Breakfast" and "Take Me to Your Leader." The collection is described as more than a nostalgic reissue - it is a definitive piece of Christian rock history.
The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Gospel album and won a Dove Award in 1997 - for its packaging, of all things. It featured an XPAK 400 on the cover, a real floating concept car created by George Barris in 1959. That same spirit carries through into this release.
Every track on Take Me to Your Leader became a top-ten hit on at least one of CCM Magazine's Christian charts - a feat that still stands as one of the most remarkable runs in CCM history.
This is the Peter Furler-era Newsboys at their absolute creative peak - the lineup of Furler, John James, Phil Joel, Duncan Phillips, and Jody Davis, with Steve Taylor producing, engineering, and co-writing. It was creative, fun, and full of clever lyrics - something that felt genuinely different in an era when Christian music was still finding its footing as art, not just ministry. "Breakfast" alone has nearly 9 million Spotify plays to this day. That is not nostalgia. That is staying power.
The pressing is limited to just 350 copies. Once it is gone, it is gone.
For a generation that grew up on this album - blasting it on road trips, memorizing every lyric, hearing the gospel woven into something that actually sounded like joy - this release is a reminder that good music made for the glory of God does not age. It just gets pressed on red vinyl and shipped to your door thirty years later.
Pre-orders and purchase info are available at girdermusic.com.
