i'm fucking devastated but there are no exception
(midwest.social)
MemesChristian rock?
That's why Jesus used analogies.
Are you saying AI art...It can take me higher? To a place where blind men see?
Nah. There are a lot of bad Christian rock/metal bands, but there are quite a few good ones too.
To name some I still come back to, even though I no longer identify as a Christian:
- Skillet is an obvious one (not my thing anymore, especially everything after Awake, but can't call them bad)
- Silent Planet
- August Burns Red
- Underoath (well, they used to be)
- Fit For A King
- Wolves At The Gate (though their lyrics can be too much on the nose)
- Flyleaf (when Lacey Sturm was still on board)
- Love & Death
- Children 18:3
How did you literally forget Reliant K?
I like Half Alive
I'm just going to tack a few more on here so I can find some of yours later, but I'd like to add:
Nine Lashes, which are probably more overt than some
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, for the entirety of Don't You Fake It, and a few other songs
Red
Demon Hunter
Switchfoot, don't @ me Dare You To Move is a banger
Disciple
Pillar
Disciple is probably more overt than Nine Lashes though, no?
DH I've gotten uncomfortable with since Exile.
I just hate it when I find a new song that sounds like a tragic story of the loss of a loved one just to find out it's actually about their love for god.
It just feels so cringey to me đĽ´
Or you think it's divorced dad rock and it's actually about the devil
I liked mxpx back in the early 2000s. when I found out they were a Christan punk band I stopped listening to them.
who the fuck makes a Christan punk band?? wankers, that's who.
There are definitely exceptions. But this is often true.
I'm an atheist, but Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky" is a banger.
Otherwise yeah, this meme nails it.
I also like some religious music, I think the key is that the music needs to be interesting with zero pandering.
At the risk of turning this into a "not religious, but..." music recommendation thread:
I've enjoyed mewithoutYou for a long time now. They have a subdued art-rock sound, and I even enjoy a lot of their more overtly religious songs like "In a Sweater Poorly Knit" and "The King Beetle On A Coconut Estate."
Mewithoutyou - "Cattail Down"
Creepy though.
When I die and they lay me to rest,
I'm going to go to the place that's the best.
I actually looked up the song after I commented. Apparently Norman is Jewish and wrote the song after watching a gospel performance and said "Hey, I could do that." He then wrote the lyrics in 15 minutes....
Isn't Skillet kinda fine?.....
the key ingredient is they don't only sing about Jesus. See also: Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Mainstream audiences don't generally mind christian themes so long as that band is being true to themselves rather than making common denominator slop.
i mean⌠look at all the music that came from Motown records before 1985. not all of those musicians and acts were devoutly christian, but a lot of them were
I think you nailed it. I don't mind the Christian songs of Black Sabbath. They are just true to themselves and sing what they want to sing.
Skillet is trash, and the front man is a tool.
You misspelled fire.
It's already cringe when the youth pastor shows up with his acoustic guitar, and there's really no need to also bring electricity into this.
I have a soft spot for Creed sometimes, but it's not exactly like they disprove this statement.
Edit: huh, apparently they aren't a Christian rock band. Could've fooled me.
Scott Stapp the vocalist and lyricist is a Christian and his solo albums are outrightly spiritual in theme.
Something you would have to grow up in the church to understand is how controversial a lot of "Christian bands" actually were in Christian circles. Like the pushback against music with scream vocals was real.
It was a genuine wedge issue because churches used professional audio/lights to attract members with polished modern rock worship music. Music became so intertwined that it led to all non christian music being labeled "secular".
Bands like Creed didn't fit either label but generally was considered acceptable listening material in the church circles I grew up in. Most objections were genre based.
That's one of those where they became so mainstream that they don't want to name it, but they definitely make Christian rock.
Apparently, Higher is about lucid dreaming, but he's also dreaming of biblical Heaven:
Can you take me higher
To a place where blind men see
(Isaiah 29:18-19)
Can you take me higher
To a place with golden streets
(Revelations 21:21)
"My Sacrifice" is about Scott's struggle with alcoholism, but speaks of a person who gave him love and who he implies he repeatedly reunites with "in their mind." That's Jesus bro.
"One Last Breath" drops a capital-H "His grace" referring to God, "With Arms Wide Open" mentions praying, "What If" references Matthew 7:16-17, etc.
It seems quite a few of their songs are "actually" about something else, but totally allegorical to Christian belief. And idk what that makes you other than a Christian rock band.
I thought My Sacrifice was about the double standard of being a supposed Christian rockstar but hanging with Kid Rock and getting bjs from the groupies.
âWhen you are with me, I'm free. I'm careless, I believe. Above all the others, we'll fly. This brings tears to my eyes. My sacrifice.â
Creed is an honorary Christian rock band, which is 1000x worse than a normal one.
Alter Bridge is better
They are.
The word "intelligence" means nothing when referencing most "AI", just like the word Christian means nothing when referencing most "church-goers".
The objective was to try to get religion to appeal to youth. I knew some young 20's guys in a band who were into it circa 1998.
You mean the goal wasnât to get rock to appeal to Christians? đ˛
I believe you mean "the Devil's Music". Getting the kiddos all swinging and gyraten their hips like demons.
some of that evil pelvic sorcery, i hear
evil pelvic sorcery
When I first moved to France, I was surprised by how much English-language rock/pop music was on the radio. I was also suprised that sometimes christian rock would be played between something like Nirvana's Rape Me and Bloodhound Gang's The Bad Touch. I mentioned it to my colleagues and they were like, "wtf is Christian rock?"
Despite we having our share of weirdos, most Europeans have no clue as to how mind bogglingly insane religion has become in the US (and how normal most US people think it is).
That's fair. Basically since the 80s America has had a counterculture of Christians explicitly rejecting the secularity of society and attempting to create an alternative media landscape that will both pull secular people into the extreme Christian movement using counterculture aesthetics and concepts (ok that actually began in the 70s when they were preaching to burnt out hippies, lots of cults began with that), as well as to prevent their young people from leaving for these things.
"You don't need to go be a hippie, you can be a Jesus freak and talk about peace and love and hear how the hippie life of sex and drugs was bad." And copy and paste for rock, metal, and whatever else. So long as there was something there beyond what they consider immoral they'll do it, and it's extended to stuff like just tv.
I'm originally from Canada. Barely any christian rock made it to radio. Probably because they didn't want to be on the same station as the evil rock bands. I didn't know it was a thing until university when my neighbour tried to get me to listen to Switchfoot after hearing me listening to Skinny Puppy or something like that.
well so Jars of Clay was weirdly popular for a christian rock group. like i didn't even think about them as a christian rock group until their second, maybe third album? but they got radio play on mainstream stations.
It's a similar story with Skillet.
don't embarrass me by talking about a band i don't know yet i'm supposed to be the musician. what's the good album i want to learn them
I had no idea Skillet was Christian rock until well after highschool. I think Monster is one of their more popular songs and does a pretty good job showcasing their general vibes
Honestly, just pull up a smattering of the top songs. I don't think you need to do a whole album to get the vibe -- 2 - 4 songs should do it.
Iâve had the misfortune of having my ears raped over and over by Christian rock and metal. Can confirm: itâs horrid, empty, fake,âŚ
Taste is a real talent. Whether it comes to decor, music, apparel, etc it fucking matters. When people have really horrible highlights or facial filler, it matters. Beauty matters. Try living in a beautiful environment and then an ugly one and the ugly one hurts.
I judge people harshly on this matter and I'd be a much happier person if I didn't. I feel something close to physical pain when something is ugly.
itâs horrid, empty, fake,âŚ
Just like Christianity itself đ
There are legitimately good Christians and Christian churches, the problem is they actually practice all the "woke" bits in the new testament. They're humble, empathetic, and quiet -- so they get drown out by the human garbage that also call themselves "Christian".
There's a few Unitarian Universalism churches and their offshoots around my city that piss off the "real" Christians by speaking out against fascism and flying pride flags.
It's like if an Multi level marker made pop music.
I'm also a little irritated that pop music is so formulaic that ai kinda nails the imitation.
Catchy but stupid.
...And not the fun kind of stupid either.
One of the extremely few exceptions is Extol.
That chorus riff is unreal. Killer riffs and drumming all around.
Well yes, but they are THE exception. And by a long shot at that.
There are a few others that are worth mentioning.
But guess what=> the Christians usually donât go for those because itâs too weird or it doesnât mention Jesus overtly enough (which obviously means itâs a ploy by Satan).
100% agree. There's a lot of Christian bands but only 0.01% of them are remotely good. Extol is an absolute diamond in the roughest of rough.
Mortification are pretty solid music-wise.
silent planet is the best christian band I've ever discovered. they just have incredibly correct takes so idc if they're religious.
Stryper sounded good and was very popular outside Christian circles. I don't think most people knew unless they saw them in concert and had a bible tossed at them.
That is weirdly true.
Both are corpo-sanitized.
Itâs like averaging out anything- the temperature of your porridge is the average of all porridges, the new movie youâve been waiting for just uses the most common tropes in its writing, the quality of sex youâll have next is the average of all sex youâve already had
Ok, Iâll take the average sex. But the other stuff needs to go.
Jesus why don't you, turn off the light?
Hate AI 'art'. Love me some Icon For Hire. But they mostly sing about mental illness with pop-metal hooks, and rarely anything spiritual.
.....then....why are they relevant here?
I would not call icon for hire christian rock. You can glean they are christian, and you can draw parallels in their messaging, but at the same time it would be easy for a non christian to say and espouse the ideas in their lyrics all the same.
I don't think I've ever considered icon for hire to be Christian rock/metal.
i still like pod. lyrics suck, but the sound is still on point.
Skillet?
As someone that grew up in a Christian household and wasn't allowed to listen to non-Christian music, I listened to a LOT of Skillet as a teenager. It was one of the few bands I could listen to that I actually liked. I also liked DC Talk as a kid.
One of the more tolerable experiences. I didn't even know that they were a Christian rock band until i was well into my 20's
The only good Christian rock band is Five Iron Frenzy and that proves the redemptive power of ska
What about that one Skillet song that's good? And I want to say switchfoot?
I hadn't heard the name switchfoot in decades. I remember they had one good song but it still got creepy in the middle. New way to be human?
My sister used to be a born again Christian and I always liked Jars of Clay better than the other options.
ugh I hate that I really like some Jars of Clay songs musically even though I abhor what they're singing abiuy
used to be
So do you call her unborn again?
Nah, sheâs got the triple crown
She converted to Islam?
Nah she became the pope
agreed. i just posted above it took me a few albums to figure it out (i wasn't paying attention to their lyrics, i was makin out with the pastor's daughter)
cries in Fireflight
Sobs in RED
God damnit. You just ruined the one song of their's that I liked.
Almost real.
More like K-Pop.
everyone knows kpop is the immortal enemy of Christians.
K-pop is actually good, christian rock is just crappy mushed copies of copies of bad rock
Perfectly valid subjective taste. For me personally k-pop looks and sounds like a marketing and dance ai glued together everything that "works" but has no soul or any identifiable bits.
POD was awesome tho
I kinda hate how well their best single aged đŤ¤
Last day of the rest of my life đ˘
I think back to those early hillsong albums. All the moshpits and everything.
Did hillsong expect all those people in the mosh pit to be sober?
Christian mosher: *hits incense burner / spills ritual wine*
Yup, phoney
Gospel is crying in the corner
I'm trying to imagine how something can look like something sounds.
Try to come up with an outfit that looks the way a murmuration of birds sounds.
Paint a mural that looks the way your favorite song sounds.
Itâs one of those âyou had to be thereâ kind of things. Christian media is one of those rabbit holes that outsiders often donât quite grasp at first.
It's the same bland emptiness that AI art has, because in both cases, the art is being created by something that doesn't understand.
In the case of Christian rock music, they've created something that sounds like rock on the surface, but have taken away everything that makes it what it is.
Sounds like AI prompts lets go new genre of art discovered
In general this is super accurate. Doopiidoo is the only exception I know of, but no other music videos have envisioned hell with more clarity so... Exception that proves the rule I guess.
