Christian Rock: Difference between revisions

** On the other hand, some "Christian rappers" are basically the early days of [[Will Smith]], remixed, with an occasional positive Christian vibe just because of their personal background. So basically if you like Will Smith you'll think these guys are OK and if you don't then you won't.

** Gospel group Mary Mary is known for creating gospel songs that are different from the usual (a full choir with a preacher leading a la Kirk Franklin) and that are more like R&B songs with Christian lyrics, that actually are played on non-gospel R&B stations.

** Christian [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBjWwzemnyE Death Metal].

*** For a straight Death Metal/Deathcore example, check out [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28FZ1ijkQBk Impending Doom] and their self-proclaimed "Gorship" style of worship to God through their music. If you look back in their discography, their first EP ("The Sin and Doom of Godless Men") is almost Noise.

***** Hardly surprising. Hellhammer (of yes that Mayhem) is about as prolific a drummer as you're likely to find anywhere. Wheel him in behind a kit and he'll keep hitting the thing until you make him stop. Seriously, go look up how many albums the guy's actually played on.

** Rackets and Drapes, just Rackets and Drapes, called the christian version of Marilyn Manson, they definitely live up to that title. also the lead singer Kandy Kane admits to being a cross-dresser

** In a strange twist, the metal band Vengeance Rising started as a Christian band, but the frontman and remaining member, Roger Martinez, later renounced Christianity and now seeks to make anti-Christian music.

* Christan rock band [[Skillet]] started out with songs that were not at all subtle about worshipping Jesus, but eventually turned their sound more mainstream, switching to lyrics that were ''kind of'' about Jesus.

** To elaborate, lead singer John Cooper has stated in interviews that it is the band's desire to be relevant to Christians and non-Christians alike, but they're still very much a Christian band. Given that they still (as of 2009, at least) read from the Bible during concerts, that seems to indeed be the case and John does preach too.

* Let's not forget Andy Hunter and his contribution to the ''[[Need for Speed]]: Underground'' soundtrack, "The Wonders Of You". It is, in fact, Christian Techno.

* [[Stryper]] was a Christian hair metal band that hit near mainstream success in the 80s with their single "Honestly".

** Occasionally used by hairband fans as proof that theirs is the Greatest Genre EVER: because [[Stryper]] is Christian rock, but are comparable in quality to most bands in the genre. The argument being, "Even ''Christian'' hairband is good, because we're just ''that'' awesome."

** She's still a professing Christian, though, and even called [[Lady Gaga]] out for being too "blasphemous". Let that one sink in for a moment.

* [[Jessica Simpson]], before she achieved mainstream success.

** Their song "We're in a Parody Band" labels themselves as part Weird Al and part Billy Graham.

* [[Relient K]] is a Christian punk-pop band with a penchant for quirky lyrics and, early on especially, pop culture references. They've become a bit more vague, but they are still in the genre.

* One of the pioneers of the genre was [[Petra]], founded in 1974. Their name is Greek for "rock", and that's pretty much the only descriptor of their style that's vague enough to remain accurate throughout their history (in the '80s alone, they went from sounding like [[Kansas]] to being a heavy metal band), with synthesizer-fueled pop-rock somewhere in the middle. They got a ''lot'' of flak early on for daring to play rock music (which many Christians at the time were still uneasy about), and levered a couple [[Take That|Take Thats]] to their accusers in response.

* KJ-52 is a comedy rapper as much as he is a Christian rapper.

* Welcome, my friends, to the world of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDZN-yjz6iw&feature=PlayList&p=61708A6D7D21EA02&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2 Christian screamo.]

* Neal Morse of the [[Progressive Rock|Prog Rock]] groups Spock's Beard and Transatlantic. After converting to Christianity, Morse produced the Christian themed concept album, ''Snow'', with Spock's Beard, after which he focused on a solo career focused on his new found faith, often deviating from his prog rock roots, though he has produced several prog rock Christian concept albums, including ''?'' about the tabernacle and ''Sola Scriptur'' about Martin Luther.

* The [[Ur Example]]: 1972's "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" by Larry Norman, generally viewed as the godfather of Christian rock. The song was on the soundtrack for the Christian film ''A Thief in the Night'', which is basically a [[The Seventies|Seventies]] version of ''[[Left Behind]]''. Later on, Norman would grow disenchanted with the Christian music scene, claiming that it had become about "sloppy thinking, dishonest metaphors, and bad poetry," and joking that you could write a Christian pop song by taking a secular [[Silly Love Songs|love song]] and [["God Is Love" Songs|replacing "baby" with "Jesus"]].

* [[Older Than They Think]]: Ricky Nelson was doing this as early as 1960 with his hit single "Glory Train."

* Family Force 5 deserves mention. "It's better than drugs/in fact it's sent from above" (from Love Addict") is a reference to God, if indirect/vague; they've played at Christian concerts, and they even mention God directly in "Peachy".

** They also did a cover of the song "In My Minds Eye," originally done by [[DC Talk]], mentioned above.

* Michael W. Smith is one of the most popular artists in the history of Contemporary Christian music. He had some brief success on the pop charts in the early '90s with "Place in This World" and "I Will Be Here For You", but with his 1995 album ''I'll Lead You Home'', he returned to overtly religious music and hasn't looked back since.

** Steven Curtis Chapman is almost as popular.

* [[Bob Dylan]] embraced the genre in the late '70s and early '80s, with his albums ''Slow Train Coming'', ''Saved'', and ''Shot of Love''.

* dcTalk was one of, if not ''the'' most popular Christian Rock in the mid-90's. They actually got their start in Christian ''rap'' and slowly evolved into pop-rock with a little hip-hop mixed in. They broke up in 2000 for what was supposed to be simply an 'intermission,' but they haven't even toured together since 2002. Well, so much for that.

** And they recorded an absolutely fantastic grunge song that just happened to be overtly Christian. Its name? "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbB0QrBIs9k Jesus Freak".]

* Another seminal figure in Christian Rock is guitarist Phil Keaggy. There's a popular incorrect urban legend about an interviewer asking [[Jimi Hendrix]] how it felt to be the world's greatest guitar player. He responded by saying, "I don't know, you'll have to ask Phil Keaggy." Incorrect because Keaggy was still unknown by the time Hendrix died.

* ''Day of Fire'' is a repeatedly stated Christian Rock band, whose songs are so rock that it's hard to notice the christian references, unless they directly throw it in there, and even then it's hard to notice sometimes (Rain Song comes to mind). Having a guitarist tour previously in a non-christian rock band certainly helps with the sound. Unfortunately, they recently went on hiatus.

* In 2000, right smack in the middle of the boy-band craze, Christian teenage girls got Plus One. They zoomed to the top of the CCM charts, and had one or two mainstream hits. It didn't hurt that they fulfilled the number-one boy-band priority, namely, being ridiculously good looking.

* Just because the OC Supertones are overtly Christian, it doesn't mean that they can't have an awesome surfer infused ska music.

* [[Thousand Foot Krutch]] is a band that many people don't realize that they are Christan rock. Granted their song style is either rap or metal so not exactly what most people think Christan rock is. They tend to be more subtle than most bands as well.

** Although their song ''Look Away'' specifically mentions Jesus and songs like ''Breathe You In'', ''Already Home'', ''Falls Apart'', ''Inhuman'', and ''Watching Over Me'' can easily be thought of as Christian songs.

{{quote| "[[Hey, It's That Guy!|Hey, isn't that]] the drummer from Satanica?"<br />

"You know, I think it is." }}

** The "having sex with Jesus" nature was likely due to the tendency in some Christian rock to use metaphors that sound very sexually-loaded to some non-fans - e.g. repeatedly saying that one wants to "touch," "feel," or "hold" Jesus.

* In one episode of ''[[King of the Hill]]'', Hank tries to get his son interested in Christianity again. He is horrified when Bobby becomes an aficionado of Christian Rock and starts hanging around with a group of "Christian Skaters"; the horror is partly due to their appalling fashion sense and musical taste, but mostly because Hank doesn't want Bobby to treat Christianity just like another youthful fad.