Released The Blue Album demo

Chevelle recorded a seven-track demo known as The Blue Album , released in 1998. The band played small concerts for the next three years until they were signed on to Steve Taylor ‘s Squint Entertainment , a contemporary Christian music label. The band recorded with Steve Albini for 17 days in Electrical Audio studios and released its first full-length album, Point #1 in 1999. Two singles were released from the album with accompanying music videos, ” Point #1 ” and “Mia”. The songs received GMA Dove Awards in 2000 and “Point #1” in 2001. The album received an award for “Hard Music Album” in 2000 by the Dove Awards. The album was well received by Phantom Tollbooth and HM Magazine , yet was criticized for its repetitive song structures by Jesus Freak Hideout, a Christian music website. The band’s label at the time was going through legal troubles as Word Records was attempting to wrest control of Squint from Taylor. This caused uncertainty with the band’s future. Discussing the legal battle, bassist Joe Loeffler stated “we weren’t sure if anything was going to happen after that, it was pretty crazy.”