Christian Rock is the most hypocritical thing ever....

[80sU2isBest]

I just can't imagine spending that much time in the studio "re-doing" a song. Seriously he re-recorded it everytime? Or did he just re-record the dedication?

He seriously re-recorded it every single time. But it wans't just in the studio. He'd record while setting up concert stages, while - everything. One guy said he knew his was recorded during a stage steup because he could hear things falling in the background.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Isn't The Alarm the band that had/has these big fan gatherings? Or am I thinking of someone else?

That's them, although right now, only one original member, the singer, is left in the band.

 

[80sU2isBest]

If he recorded it without mistakes or breaks between songs that one song took 10 hours of studio time.

There were definitely mistakes. He got his acccoustic guitar and just played and sang.

 

[2Hearts]

It looks like this thread has turned from "Christian Rock is Hypocritical" to recommending the best Christian rock that you've heard. Fine by me, here are my picks (some have already been mentioned).

Switchfoot
Relient K
Delirious (esp. 'Mezzamorphis')
Steve Taylor/Newsboys (thanks for the link, 80s)

Kevin Max is very poetic (art rock in a sense), and I love his music. He just looks cool, esp. when he's wearing his boa.
I think Bono and Dave Gilmour may be the only other singers whose voice I like better than K Max's.

Check out kevinmax.com, some of his latest album plays in the background. Highly recommended.

I have to also mention a band called Fraction. This is SO different than your stereotypical Christian music. Their only album was made in 1971, and I had to special order it from Canada, but it was worth it. Think of a cross between Black Sabbath and The Doors, and this is what Fraction sounds like. Is 'psychodelic Christian music' an oxymoron? Not if you've heard Fraction!!

 

[cell]

i remember steve taylor. he did meltdown at madame tussauds. for those of you who don't know, i grew up in a fairly fanatical, semi-panicky church environment. secular music was not allowed. it was considered a sin, for reasons i could not explain to you now. so us pre-teens listened to artists such as steve taylor, undercover (god rules!), and stryper. (hey, we did what we could)

many posts in this thread mention U2 as a christian band, which is quite amusing to me on a very personal level because way back in 1984, i was able to convince my parents that U2 was, indeed, a christian band - thanks to articles like the one 2hearts mentioned.

for christmas that year, there was a copy of unforgettable fire under the tree.

and the rest, as they say, is history.

somewhere in storage, i still have that cassette of steve taylor. and undercover...i saw them a few years ago at a reunion show with a few other bands. undercover was pretty awesome.

oh yeah and remember the 77s? i had all the christian rock tapes. i wasn't allowed to listen to rock music back then too...but i did what i could, and i snuck it in most of the time.

and i also convinced my mother that u2 was a christian band too. then she caught on, grounded me from them for a whole year because of some lyrics she didnt like lol. that was funny...

 

[80sU2isBest]

I never saw Undercover in concert, but I have their first 4 records. My favorite song by them is "Wait A Minute". I like the "forever and ever and ever and ever..." part.

God Rules!

 

[the rockin edge]

the problem with christian rock music is that the artists are trying not to offend anyone in the US christian circles, (which is very hard when if you sneeze facing the wrong direction Dobson could very well call you a member of the antichrist or a evil liberal )


So for the most part the result is bands writing the same drivel over and over again which gets very tiresome and dull.

the difference with bands/artists who are christian but not in the christian music industry (U2 etc) is they don't care if they piss people off. I think Bono said once that you need mainstream artists to get to the truth because in the chr music scene everyones to scared to say much of anything of meaning.

You could never get songs like sunday bloody sunday, peace on earth, wake up dead man in the chr music scene. Let alone the songs about sex, mysterious ways etc


for a laugh, maybe violent rage read this review of pop by dobsons group
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/music/music/a0000740.cfm

they say in the atyclb review that its so good the band doesn't float down the dubious streams of consciousness like in pop! I dunno about you but I like being conscious

 

[80sU2isBest]

You could never get songs like sunday bloody sunday, peace on earth, wake up dead man in the chr music scene. Let alone the songs about sex, mysterious ways etc

Actually, I've heard "40" in church, as well as a song by Styx called "Show Me The Way"

But really, would you expect to hear a song about sex in church? Seeing as how church is place to read the word, pray, and praise God, what purpose would a song about sex serve?

 

[indra]

Actually, I've heard "40" in church, as well as a song by Styx called "Show Me The Way"

But really, would you expect to hear a song about sex in church? Seeing as how church is place to read the word, pray, and praise God, what purpose would a song about sex serve?

I always figured sex was a big part of being human, and if you believe humans were created by a divine being, why then would sex be a bad thing? Shouldn't that god be praised for all things given to humans, including sex?

So while I think an orgy at church (while interesting to daydream about during really boring sermons, etc.) would be very creepy, I kinda wonder if a god would wonder why people seem so ashamed of this really cool gift he/she/it gave to it's creations.

 

[80sU2isBest]

I always figured sex was a big part of being human, and if you believe humans were created by a divine being, why then would sex be a bad thing? Shouldn't that god be praised for all things given to humans, including sex?

So while I think an orgy at church (while interesting to daydream about during really boring sermons, etc.) would be very creepy, I kinda wonder if a god would wonder why people seem so ashamed of this really cool gift he/she/it gave to it's creations.

Sex in the right context is a good thing, but in church, the focus is to be completely on God, not on his creations.

 

[the rockin edge]

Actually, I've heard "40" in church, as well as a song by Styx called "Show Me The Way"

But really, would you expect to hear a song about sex in church? Seeing as how church is place to read the word, pray, and praise God, what purpose would a song about sex serve?

I didnt say anything about "40" and I'm not talking about in church I'm talking about the chriatian rock music scene not praise/worship music sung on sunday mornings at most churches

 

[the rockin edge]

So while I think an orgy at church (while interesting to daydream about during really boring sermons, etc.)

 

[Lemonfix]

So for the most part the result is bands writing the same drivel over and over again which gets very tiresome and dull.

the difference with bands/artists who are christian but not in the christian music industry (U2 etc) is they don't care if they piss people off. I think Bono said once that you need mainstream artists to get to the truth because in the chr music scene everyones to scared to say much of anything of meaning.

You could never get songs like sunday bloody sunday, peace on earth, wake up dead man in the chr music scene. Let alone the songs about sex, mysterious ways etc


for a laugh, maybe violent rage read this review of pop by dobsons group
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/music/music/a0000740.cfm

they say in the atyclb review that its so good the band doesn't float down the dubious streams of consciousness like in pop! I dunno about you but I like being conscious

I remember someone posted that FoF Pop review a few years ago. Pretty funny.

There are a lot of spiritual people and Chrisitans in mainstream music, especially in hip-hop. They are just a different type of Christian, often a sort of Christian whom many fundamentalists would consider, well, not "Christian" at all.

 

[2Hearts]

Personally, I think Sunday, Bloody Sunday would be accepted in today's Christian rock scene (unless I'm forgetting something objectionable).

Pax217 wrote a song called "What is Love" that was about the singer's wife who had been raped at some point in the past. Very powerful lyrically, and he says "You better take your eyes off of her/ They are evil, so look away/ I'm warning you, there will be hell to pay"

 

[indra]

Sex in the right context is a good thing, but in church, the focus is to be completely on God, not on his creations.

But isn't thanking that god for the gifts bestowed upon you focusing on god? Let's face it, people thank god in church all the time for various things they believe that god gave them. So, except for our squeamishness, why not a big "thanks for inventing sex!" once in a while?

I imagine any god that would create sex would appreciate it being appreciated.

 

[80sU2isBest]

But isn't thanking that god for the gifts bestowed upon you focusing on god? Let's face it, people thank god in church all the time for various things they believe that god gave them. So, except for our squeamishness, why not a big "thanks for inventing sex!" once in a while?

A married couple's "big thanks" to God for creating sex would certainly be appropriate, but not in a church setting. A song about sex would definitely distract focus from God and onto the pleasures of sexual intimacy.

 

[Doc Ocho]

Apparently, woman and men around the world do enough praising DURING sex... so, they don't need to sing about it in Church.

I have to look at some of the older folk who go to my Church... could NEVER look them in the eye again, if I heard them praising God for their Love Making skills...

Although, the idea of it is now making me laugh!

 

[nbcrusader]

But isn't thanking that god for the gifts bestowed upon you focusing on god? Let's face it, people thank god in church all the time for various things they believe that god gave them. So, except for our squeamishness, why not a big "thanks for inventing sex!" once in a while?

It is done in a respectful, dignified manner.

 

[2Hearts]

It is done in a respectful, dignified manner.

Yes, I've heard thanks given for sex at my church, and my church is pretty conservative. So there.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Yes, I've heard thanks given for sex at my church, and my church is pretty conservative. So there.

What were the words in which they said "thanks for sex", and was it in a church service, or a Bible Study? And was it a song about sex?

In my 37 years, I've attended plenty of churches, Baptist and nondenominational, and I've never heard a "thank you for sex" in a church service.

 

[Se7en]

Delirious (esp. 'Mezzamorphis')

i saw these guys last spring at a big church in lancaster county. i'm not a christian (anymore), and while their conservative overtones were a bit too blugeoningly direct for my tastes...they sounded fuckin incredible. probably one of the best sounding live bands i've ever heard.

 

[learn2kneel]

contemporary christian music
indie "christian" rock

bands/musicians such as sufjan stevens, sleeping at last, copeland, mae, further seems forever, amberlin, acceptance, cool hand luke, pedro the lion, and switchfoot (tho they're not indie anymore) are all fantastic bands.

many of them are christians and have positive messages but don't have all christian-focused lyrics. CCM on the other hand sickens me, mediocre adult christian mainstream "music" not offending any religions or denominations crap gives christian music a bad name.

 

[80sU2isBest]

i'm not a christian (anymore

You're not a Christian anymore? I don't understand that.

 

[2Hearts]

What were the words in which they said "thanks for sex", and was it in a church service, or a Bible Study? And was it a song about sex?

In my 37 years, I've attended plenty of churches, Baptist and nondenominational, and I've never heard a "thank you for sex" in a church service.

Well, I was thinking about Bible study and Youth group meetings where sex is actually discussed in some detail. The nature/purpose of, responsibilites of, and the blessing of sex have been discussed. My group leader made it clear (in a proper way) that sex is a wonderful thing. It's not something that has been talked about a lot though.

I don't think Indra was asking if anyone has actually prayed the exact words "God, thank you for sex" at church. I have not heard it said like that!

 

[80sU2isBest]

Well, I was thinking about Bible study and Youth group meetings where sex is actually discussed in some detail. The nature/purpose of, responsibilites of, and the blessing of sex have been discussed. My group leader made it clear (in a proper way) that sex is a wonderful thing. It's not something that has been talked about a lot though.

I don't think Indra was asking if anyone has actually prayed the exact words "God, thank you for sex" at church. I have not heard it said like that!

Thank kind of talks about sex in Bible study, etc. thing is perfectly normal, and teenagers need to know that in the right context, sex is good. But what brought this up was that someone said that you'd never hear U2 songs about sex in church, and I asked "would you expect to?"

 

[Se7en]

You're not a Christian anymore? I don't understand that.

i no longer believe that jesus was the one true manifestation of the living god sent to earth as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, etc. i did, however, spend the first 19 years of my life or so believing such.

 

[mistyrose]

I don't think "Christian Rock" is hypocritical. Nor do I think it's all bad. Some of it is, just like regular ol' rock isn't all good. To each his/her own.

I find it interesting that a lot of people slag the genre just because of the word "Christian" there. And I also hate how so many acts are afraid/ashamed to say they're Christian it's like no, no, don't lump me with them. You can be a Christian and make music with a message without being preachy.