Christian Schlock

Over the last decade, there's been a spate of new "faith" rock bands that cling tightly to the support network of faith-based (Christian) radio stations. Here in Atlanta, the big dog is a fish, or I should say, THE Fish:



They've put up large billboards that declare how their radio station is "safe for the whole family." Which brings me to my point.

I don't want my rock to be "safe." What fun is that? And after forcing myself to listen to this crap faith rock on this morning's commute, it's clear to my ears that all these bands do is rip off the sound of both classic and contemporary rock and add ridiculously predictable lyrics about god. Just take any rock love song and change the object of desire or love to "God" or "Jesus."







You can see that these "faith" bands also look indistinguishable from the more mundane rock bands. Ten minutes of this musical shit and I want to crank the Stooges "I Wanna Be Your Dog."

You better not be hatin' on mah man Pop...

Is that "Prince o' Peace"?:neutral:

...

...

No, that would be Iggy.

Pangloss62 wrote:

... it's clear to my ears that all these bands do is rip off the sound of both classic and contemporary rock and add ridiculously predictable lyrics about god. Just take any rock love song and change the object of desire or love to "God" or "Jesus."
...

Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?

Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?


Ooh

Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?
No one will be watching us
Why don't we PRAY TO JESUS in the road?

The part, to me, that seems...incongruous...is that the Jesus-Rock bands attempt to emulate the "rock style" - which is based on the "rock lifestyle" - and this seems...just not quite right...to me. Because...this is hard to express...how sincere can they be about pursuing a righteous lifestyle if they feel like they have to copy the social posturing from a lifestyle that runs counter to their own? They aren't taking from "the devil" and turning it to good - they are pretending to be "the devil" and tacking a cheap veneer of trite and superficial lipservice on top of a musical style that is traditionally based on everything they are supposed to be against. This just seems phoney and ridiculous to me. It makes me embarassed for them. They aren't "bringing souls to the lord" - they're just perpetuating a "corrupt" system. It's counter-productive to their agenda.

If you really stand for something different - be yourself and let that "truth" be seen.

"I want to praise you like a Jesus.
I want to worship from the inside.
I want to praise you like a Jesus.
My whole existance is flawed.
You get me closer to God."

Hey, it works! Wrong nails, though.
:rolleyes:

Another completely different thing (don't mix this with my last post!) that irks me is: taking a very spiritual 70s song, and simply re-recording it by a "Christian" artist, not even changing the words or anything, and then acting like "now it's a family-friendly song with a good message."

What the hell do you think the message was in the first place ???

Quick, somebody record "Onward Christian Soldiers" to the music of "War Pigs"

how sincere can they be about pursuing a righteous lifestyle if they feel like they have to copy the social posturing from a lifestyle that runs counter to their own?

Exactly, Flint. You presented the crux of the matter. And I think their posturing is entirely calculated.

As for Iggy, he's the man. I saw him when he was in his bloodletting phase. The Stooges are a seminal rock band.

You know I've sipped a lot of wine
O' Lord, I've downed a lot of host
But I never did nothing
That would rile the Holy Gost

You know I've seen a lot of people walkin' round
With Heaven in their eyes
But the preacher don't care
As long as you're baptized.

God Bless...the Preacher.

Jesus healed lepers!
Jamming good with John and Matthew
&the twelve desciples
He was a special man, and we are Jesus fans!

Jesus really prayed, jewish beard and stringy hairdo
Like some cat from Is'rel, he could heal 'em by smiling
He was left to hang
Came on christmas day..
er, I cant think of anything for "well-hung and snow-white tan"

Nothing new. ;)

PB's metal mood got a lot of buzz when it came out. From the little I heard of the album it wasn't so bad; more like it was so bad that it was kinda good, if ya know what I mean.:neutral:

I am thoroughly entertained by you talking about Iggy Pop. I know it isn't me, but still. :D

Oh, and I agree with flint about the christian rock backs. I mean, please people. You aren't fooling anyone but the ignorant.

Iggy wrote:

Oh, and I agree with flint about the christian rock backs. I mean, please people. You aren't fooling anyone but the ignorant.

I agree, and it's only slightly worse than those pre-pubescent white supremacist "singers." :mad:

I know this is not going to be a popular view, but... this argument makes no more sense than the idiot youth pastors and paranoid parents that say "rock music is from the devil! it's stealing our childrens' souls..."

music is just music. do a few words either for or against God make a 6 strings and a drum beat satanic or christian. people write lyrics about things that are either A) important in their lives, B) sure to be popular and make them $$$, C) just as filler to make their instrumental passion more accessible to the masses.

anyway, the bands you've listed suck. but they'd suck whether they were christians or not - their music sucks. just like MOST musical acts. there are relatively few genuinely good musical acts out there in my opinion. but if a certain demographic is willing to line up and hand their money over to a mediocre act then i say good for the artist, whether that is Superchick or jessica simpson.

i don't have any allegiance to christian vs non-christian artists - i go for music that i enjoy. BUT here are a few bands made up of christians that have found their way into my rotation over the years. while you may not like them they are all respected within their respective genres. remember if it is about the music - then what they are talking about should be irrelevant, right?

The Crucified (late 80's early 90's. old school thrash stuff)
The Blamed (90's punk)
Stavesacre (post-hardcore)
Six Feet Deep (hardcore)
Focused (hardcore)
Anberlin (indie/emo)

anyway, just thought i'd throw a viewpoint out that hadn't received any attention in this thread.

It's ALL pop music. Created to make money like everything else is on the radio. It all sounds the same although I listended to a couple of alternative groups for about two weeks once. To me the original hymns are the only good christain music. Contemporary christian music is the same as all the other trendy pop. The music industry needs more creative expression and less record labels l miss the 60s and 70.s Even the 80s is looking good.

Anyway, there are so many positions on it. That was my position. It sucks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contemporary_Christian_music

My kinda' Rock n' Roll...

I wonder how many "Christian Performers" didn't know they were, until their "Label" told them they were? :eyebrow:

i'm sure there are some bruce, but i've spent 17 years of my life involved in the punk/hardcore scene to varying degrees. i can tell you that in my experience most of the bands just want to make music and hopefully make enough money to break even. they write songs about things that are happening in their lives or they feel are relevant - just like most musicians. the bands that are after the money are rarely ever accepted in the scene that theoretically spawned them.

as big and established (and overhyped and cheesy IMO) as Tooth and Nail records is now, i remember when brandon put out his first album. the only goal was to get some decent production values into underground christian music. it was great. for the first 8 years or so it was just a lot of fun with most of the bands knowing each other and that type of thing. Now he makes a bunch of money and has a lot of corny bands on the roster, but other labels have spawned that still keep the legitimate underground scene alive.

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

I wonder how many "Christian Performers" didn't know they were, until their "Label" told them they were? :eyebrow:

Evanescence, for one. They have apparently just told their label that they were not, in fact, a Christian band now that they've become somewhat established.

Wasn't that how Creed, along with many others I'm sure, got their start?

xoxoxoBruce wrote:

I wonder how many "Christian Performers" didn't know they were, until their "Label" told them they were? :eyebrow:

The converse of that is also a possibility. There's a little band out of Ireland you might have heard of called U2. They started out as a "Christian band."

I agree with the observation that there is really little difference between "Christian" and "non-" music save the object of the affection.

I DO have to say that I, on occasion, listen to the local Christian station [plug warning], M88. My wife listens much than I do. I like some of the music. In general, it because it's more positive and/or happy than most of what's on the radio otherwise. At least the stuff of which I can actually understand the lyrics. I chose my music likes/dislikes much the same way I chose what I watch on TV or in the movies -- I chose stuff that kinda removes me from reality. I hate dramas, cuz life IS a drama and I wanna escape once in awhile.

I find it hilarious, however, how many of the "Christian" artists sound almost identical to "contempory" artists. Sometimes they're indistinguishable, and I forget which station I'm listening to until the top of the hour station ID.

ferret88 wrote:

At least the stuff of which I can actually understand the lyrics.

Like this damn song that they keep playing on a "hits" CD at work, that goes "I've been wrong, I've been down, to the bottom of every bottle. These five words in my head: <insert unintelligible gibberish> ..." What the hell are "these five words" if they are so damn important to you ??? I hate these harsh, throaty, shouting-style lyrics.

Fint, the five words are, "Are we having fun yet?"

I thought they were "Flint can't understand my vocals"

Elspode wrote:

Evanescence, for one. They have apparently just told their label that they were not, in fact, a Christian band now that they've become somewhat established.

i've known the drummer for that band for years. * he, in fact, is a christian. this band is not a christian band and never said otherwise. in most of their interviews early on they made a point of correcting the misconception, but eventually just gave up.

*not intended as an endorsement of his current cock rock project. he receives endless loads of shit for being involved with it.

There's a difference (at least in my mind) between CHRISTIAN ROCK and ROCK MADE BY CHRISTIANS. Caps used cause im too lazy to hit ctrl-i.

Christian rock is either wildly commercial crap put out to try to lure the massive christian market into buying the records, completely normal bands who say "WER A KRISCHIN BAND BY AR RECRDS LOL!!!11!1" cause they want to lure the massive christian market into buying the records, or lame, boring bands who sing about brushing your teeth for two minutes each time and not looking at the opposite sex for more than a couple seconds at a time.

lookout123 wrote:

this band is not a christian band and never said otherwise.

I sort of got the impression that their label told *them* they were a Christian band, and they didn't argue the point until they got popular.

not that i'm aware of. idiot fans labeled them that, but the members were pretty adament.

Maybe the fans labeled them that so Mom&Dad would be cool with letting the fans go see the band? :confused: