Listening To Christian Rock...

[Guest like WOAH its Mia!]

So last night I went to this concert called The Comatose Tour. It had three christian rock bands: Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Decyfer Down. Even though I'm not a christian anymore I still love those bands. Well, while I was there (headbanging, moshing, and screaming lol), there was this moment when Skillet was up there and it was right after the whole crowd had been jumping up and down acting crazy, the frontman was like: "will you worship with me?" and they just played music for like 5 minutes while everyone raised their hands. I was totally into it, too, raising my hands and rocking out.

 

That got me to thinking...I wonder, if the christian rock/punk/goth scene didn't exist, would I have even considered becoming a christian? I'm a rock fanatic, so I'm naturally drawn to wherever the music is. When I met "cool" christians and found out there was a "christian rock scene" I was suprised. I mean, I guess I thought christians just sang hyms and what not lol. My point is, I think there's this new generations of young christians because of this music scene. I don't think alot of teenagers would be so hardcore about being christian without the music scene. I mean, it would be BORING. Going to church every sunday is boring for the average teenager, but when you get to go see a christian rock band and everyone's jumping up and down and moshing to lyrics about starting a revolution and not caring what the "world" thinks of you...it's easy to get into it. I remember when I was a hardcore christian. I actually believed I was "slamdancing for christ" lol. Seriously. It wasn't until I actually read the bible and started looking outside the christian punk scene, that I started realizing things didn't make sense.

 

After my deconversion, though, I still apreciate these christian rock artists. I can go and rock out, even raise my hands during the "worship" part. But this time around, I felt like I was connecting; not go the christian god, but to people, and somehow, to the whole WORLD. I felt united with my fellow young adults just rocking out and appreciating the music.

 

Did any of you guys have the same experience? What I mean is, did having good christian music make it easier to be christian, or make you more "drawn" to the christian "lifestyle"?

[Robbobrob]

Still waiting for proof of this thing you call "good" Christian rock music......LOL, sorry, I could not help myself.

 

For most music its only requirement for me is does it move me. Satanist/Atheist/Christian/whatever, if I don't feel it, I tend not to like it much.

 

Lyrics can be very unimportant, if the singer puts emotion behind it, and makes me beleive he or she is feeling what tehy are singing.

[♦ nivek ♦]

Mia,

 

Cultures change.

 

Simple thing that drives the various churchie "conservatives" nuts.

 

I am old enough to remember segregated congregations while my family went to a southron baptist church service.

Unthinkable *now*, but in the early 60's was still practiced. "Gee Mom and Dad, why does Willy and his familyhave to sit in the BACK all the time? Huh, huh, huh??"

 

"Rock 'n Roll" moosik ove de bebbile!!! oMFG!One!!!!11!!!!!!! DebbiLE TuneZ! "dontchoo go lissen' too that'n thare shit boy, or ah beets the dEBbiLLe rite Outachoo!"...

 

Jeans and t-shirts in church? Women not wearing nice clothing? Kids DARING not to go to weekend and midweek indoctrination kamps?

 

THE HORRORS OF IT ALL!!!!!

 

Times, reasons, season, and people change.

 

What was in my part of the generation "normal and accepted" is "old, stogy, BORING, and totally like useless!" now.

 

Finding that you enjoy sucking up the energy and fun of a good rock concert isn't *bad*. You know the "message" is bullshit, but the crowd and fun is kickass..

 

To consider, you might be posting from herion.alleyway.mytown.fuckedup@soon.to.be.rehab.info, looking for your next major chemical jones instead of having gone to the concert and enjoying yourself for a few cool hours..

 

What you do to enjoy life is totally up to you as a woman free of their chains, fetters and superstitions.

 

Rock ON!

 

kL

[Comanche]

I don't see anything wrong with any kind of music as long as it's good. As Robbodrob said, the lyrics don't mean anything as long as the sound moves you.

 

The first rock concert I ever went to was Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a Christian Christmas-y band. I was a confirmed agnostic, but it was still a blast. It didn't have the worshippy feel you were talking about, and it was actually more on the deist side of things (they sang mostly about angels, warm fuzzy stuff, and good fortune after suffering, not Jesus and God and being saved).

 

I figure that if I were to limit my choices just because I'm an atheist, I would be no better than Christians who limit their choices because it's "evil." That said, I have special love for songs/bands that allude to atheism or any unorthodox belief. Bands that come to mind are Streetlight Manifesto, Nightwish, and some songs by Amorphis.

 

The only thing I can't stand are bands whose every song is the same overused brainwashing mantras "Save me, Lord! Fill me up! Make me your vessel! Jesus loves you!"

[Guest like WOAH its Mia!]

The only thing I can't stand are bands whose every song is the same overused brainwashing mantras "Save me, Lord! Fill me up! Make me your vessel! Jesus loves you!"

 

Ya I know what you mean. Even when I was a christian, I didn't like those "contemporary" christian bands always talking about Jesus (like Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, etc). I was always drawn to the hardcore/metal christian bands. Alot of those bands talk about god and stuff, but they don't spell it out as much, you know what I mean? Like instead of mentioning Jesus, the song may sound like they're talking about a relationship with another person; or it may be about starting a "revolution". If you were just an average person listening to it without knowing it's from a christian band, you would think they were talking about teenage rebellion or something. But for the christian teens that listen to it, they know the "hidden meaning" behind the words; revolution/rebellion against the NON christian society/satan that are trying to seperate you from "god's love", etc...

 

I have christian friends that ONLY listen to christian music. This mostly comes in two categories (that I've seen): the ones that listen to the "mellow" christian music. These are the ones that think the hardcore/metal christian bands aren't *really* christian because they tour with NON christian bands and sound just like them. Then there are the ones that love the hard stuff, BUT that's all they listen to.

 

Even tho the second group is easier to deal with, they still annoy me with their is-that-band-christian? questions. It's stupid. I end up replying that I don't listen to bands because of what religion they are, I listen to them because I like their sound. They normally leave me alone after that, but it's so ANNOYING!

 

We went to this little "retreat" a few weeks ago. And even with all the BS being taught at the seminars, there was this one guy that was pretty cool. He seemed to be more liberal, and not afraid to go where other preachers wouldn't go. I remember one time I spoke about how christians have created their own little "subculture". They've got their own music, restaurants, even CANDY (everybody laughed so hard at that lol). He said this has made it so easy for christians to go their whole lives without meeting one person that's NOT a christian. So basically he was telling everybody they needed to be more like jesus and not to be afraid of hanging out with non christians. He said jesus said for his disciples to "go out into the world", and that the church should be ashamed of itself for become so defensive and not allowing anyone to get past it's barriers...

 

woah i'm ranting lol. ANYWAY, my point is...I think that for young people, it's easy to promote ANY belief if there's good music behind it lol. I think that wihout the christian rock scene, I wouldn't be a christian right now. Hmmm, that tells you something about a religion doesn't it?

[Guest like WOAH its Mia!]

We went to this little "retreat" a few weeks ago. And even with all the BS being taught at the seminars, there was this one guy that was pretty cool. He seemed to be more liberal, and not afraid to go where other preachers wouldn't go. I remember one time I spoke about how christians have created their own little "subculture". They've got their own music, restaurants, even CANDY (everybody laughed so hard at that lol). He said this has made it so easy for christians to go their whole lives without meeting one person that's NOT a christian. So basically he was telling everybody they needed to be more like jesus and not to be afraid of hanging out with non christians. He said jesus said for his disciples to "go out into the world", and that the church should be ashamed of itself for become so defensive and not allowing anyone to get past it's barriers...

 

I meant "*He* spoke about how christians have created their own little "subculture". Not *I* lol.

[gradstu09]

I was raised on old songs and have always hated contemporary (aka not organ-produced) christian music.

[Comanche]

I have christian friends that ONLY listen to christian music. This mostly comes in two categories (that I've seen): the ones that listen to the "mellow" christian music. These are the ones that think the hardcore/metal christian bands aren't *really* christian because they tour with NON christian bands and sound just like them. Then there are the ones that love the hard stuff, BUT that's all they listen to.

 

I hear you there. One of my fundie pals once complained that they don't play enough "Christian" music at school dances. Same girl once made a comment about how ebil and of the debbil Panic at the Disco was...not a fan of them, but I'm not going to get on their case just because they sing about things that many Christians would find pretty damn offensive (I Write Sins Not Tragedies comes to mind).

 

To each their own, in any case. I don't mind stuff that's covertly religious. I'll listen to whatever I want and interpret it however I want. In the end, it's not the band's job to decide what the music should mean to you.

[Eric_PK]

I'm old enough (44 last week) to have been listening music when christian rock was a new and novel thing, and at that time there were a lot of christian rock bands who who went that way because they were unsuccessful in the secular rock world.

 

At that time, I was a christian - though not a particularly strong one, despite being the son of a minister - but all of the xtian rock I listened to, in a word, sucked. The lyrics were laughable, the arrangements were poor, and the skill level was barely adequate. I was listening to the Police, Van Halen, AC/DC, Rush, and a bunch of other late 70s/early 80s bands, so there was a high bar there.

 

Not to mention the whole sex/drugs/rock-n-roll vibe (okay, as a teenager, the first one is hard to get, the second one never had much allure to me, but I could really enjoy the third).

 

Of all the guy I knew, only a few of them admitted to listening to christian rock, and those that did were mercilously teased for their bad taste. You would never get teased for your belief or for going to church (which the majority of us did), but bad taste in music was always okay to make fun of. Not to mention that it did nothing for your rep with the ladies - you could be cool and listen to the current stuff, cool if you listened to harder stuff or weirder stuff, but the only girls who were attracted to guys who listened to christian rock were the heavy christian ones, which somewhat limited your extracurricular options.

 

I do understand the power of the concert, and when it comes to music, whatever you enjoy is fine with me. During the holidays we listen to a lot of carols, and a fair number of them are religious in nature. I don't agree with the lyrics, but I still really like the music.

[PandaPirate]

So last night I went to this concert called The Comatose Tour. It had three christian rock bands: Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Decyfer Down. Even though I'm not a christian anymore I still love those bands. Well, while I was there (headbanging, moshing, and screaming lol), there was this moment when Skillet was up there and it was right after the whole crowd had been jumping up and down acting crazy, the frontman was like: "will you worship with me?" and they just played music for like 5 minutes while everyone raised their hands. I was totally into it, too, raising my hands and rocking out.

 

That got me to thinking...I wonder, if the christian rock/punk/goth scene didn't exist, would I have even considered becoming a christian? I'm a rock fanatic, so I'm naturally drawn to wherever the music is. When I met "cool" christians and found out there was a "christian rock scene" I was suprised. I mean, I guess I thought christians just sang hyms and what not lol. My point is, I think there's this new generations of young christians because of this music scene. I don't think alot of teenagers would be so hardcore about being christian without the music scene. I mean, it would be BORING. Going to church every sunday is boring for the average teenager, but when you get to go see a christian rock band and everyone's jumping up and down and moshing to lyrics about starting a revolution and not caring what the "world" thinks of you...it's easy to get into it. I remember when I was a hardcore christian. I actually believed I was "slamdancing for christ" lol. Seriously. It wasn't until I actually read the bible and started looking outside the christian punk scene, that I started realizing things didn't make sense.

 

After my deconversion, though, I still apreciate these christian rock artists. I can go and rock out, even raise my hands during the "worship" part. But this time around, I felt like I was connecting; not go the christian god, but to people, and somehow, to the whole WORLD. I felt united with my fellow young adults just rocking out and appreciating the music.

 

Did any of you guys have the same experience? What I mean is, did having good christian music make it easier to be christian, or make you more "drawn" to the christian "lifestyle"?

 

Hey, even though I'm not Christian anymore, Thousand Foot Krutch and Skillet are freakin awesome.

 

You make very valid points. The church I used to go to was called Harvest Bible Chapel. They hold services at the local RAVE THEATRE. (A movie theatre). They have a rock band that covers popular Christian rock. There are a lot of teens there. The messages are relevant to today's issues. I still consider going sometimes, just to get a positive boost but I don't end up going because I don't want to get brainwashed again. Poor kids.

[hereticzero]

Contemporary christian music makes me want to vomit. I bet the prisons pipe that stuff into death row. After two weeks of it, you'll be begging to die. I can't stand the christian rock and roll either. They don't make hearing protection well enough to block out all the noise.

[MonolithTMA]

I hear you there. One of my fundie pals once complained that they don't play enough "Christian" music at school dances. Same girl once made a comment about how ebil and of the debbil Panic at the Disco was...not a fan of them, but I'm not going to get on their case just because they sing about things that many Christians would find pretty damn offensive (I Write Sins Not Tragedies comes to mind).

 

It's funny, one of my Christian friends (I was still a Christian at the time too) is the one who turned me on to Panic! At The Disco. I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV/VH1 so I don't get bombarded with the new music. Aside from the use of "God damn" I didn't see anything offensive about the song I Write Sins Not Tragedies, I always thought the whole point of the song was telling the bride's maid to not be such a rude bitch.

 

Panic! At The Disco, to me, was one of the freshest sounds I had heard in a long time. Sadly, they tend to suck live, so they are more of a studio band. YMMV

 

I'll be 39 next month so I got to experience Christian rock in it's infancy and a large portion of it has been utter crap, but there have been a few artists that were actually talented that snuck through the door. I will still listen to the artists I like, regardless of lyrical content. I listen to just about everything, but Polka.

[Grandpa Harley]

I have an extensive collection of Rock by a Christian (Alice Cooper) and have actually bothered to find nearly all the Evanescence rarities on the web... and Amy Lee is nice to look at on the covers...

[Guest Marty]

Stryper.

 

'Nuff said...

 

[Guest eejay]

Contemporary christian music makes me want to vomit. I bet the prisons pipe that stuff into death row. After two weeks of it, you'll be begging to die. I can't stand the christian rock and roll either. They don't make hearing protection well enough to block out all the noise.

I'm with you HZ. My sentiments exactly.

[Kuroikaze]

 

I liked Skillet back when I was a believer, they were a pretty good band. Haven't listened to them in years though.

 

By the way, who is that a picture of in your Signature, he looks familiar to me, but I can' quite place it.

[Guest eejay]

In my opinion, a loud nasty fart sounds much better than 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of all overtly Christian music I have heard. I am still looking for the rest....have not found it yet....sooooooo........I keep an open mind....LOL....

Ahhh! A loud nasty fart also sounds much better than the sermons I've heard also. BTW, I really enjoy that Silent Night fart rendition that I've heard. Could not stop laughing.

[Ouroboros]

Christian Rock music!?! Oh, noes!@@!1 Da's from the Deevil. Evil Satan made dat music! Don't listenened 2 it, u go blind & go to hel!

[twincats]

Contemporary christian music makes me want to vomit. I bet the prisons pipe that stuff into death row. After two weeks of it, you'll be begging to die. I can't stand the christian rock and roll either. They don't make hearing protection well enough to block out all the noise.

I'm with you HZ. My sentiments exactly.

 

Oh, how I hate to admit it, but I'm* with you two!

 

Even when I was a teenager, I HATED guitar services at church (the music at which consisted of mainly folk music, which I don't much like.) I started hearing about xtian rock while in the service and had no difficulty avoiding and/or ignoring it. My take on it is: Why ruin perfectly good rock music with god/jesus/holy spirit lyrics? That just makes it LAME!

 

*Disclaimer: I am 47, and a former Lutheran who never had any trouble differentiating my church life from my REAL life.

[Vendredie]

I never liked Christian music even when I WAS a Christian. It always seemed cheesy to me. either it would be blatant God-praising lyrics, which sounded silly to me (a hymn set to metal???) or it would sound like a love song (I HATE love songs!) It was just a cheesy attempt to reach my religious part through "secular" music, when the words would have been enough.

 

I got a lot of crap for listening to "secular" music, but the Christian music said the same music over and over, the lyrics weren't any fun.

[Alan Bragg]

I think its very cheap to associate god with the sheer ferver and atmosphere of a live gig. Hell, if a band at a good gig starts asking for money to be chucked at them then it will happen, i've seen videos of The Who where they managed to get bills chucked onstage. You can get people to really open up, but to call that magic a relationship with god is cheap, and cheating, but it always amazes me who manages to get sucked into it.

[Eponymic]

So last night I went to this concert called The Comatose Tour. It had three christian rock bands: Skillet, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Decyfer Down. Even though I'm not a christian anymore I still love those bands.

 

Hey, good music is good music.

 

I still listen to Michael Jackson even though he's not en vogue anymore.

I still listen to En Vogue even though they're not en vogue.

[Vomit Comet]

Some of the bands are genuinely good.

 

For instance, Zao. They're considered one of the founding bands of metalcore. Metalcore is probably the wildest, most controversial subgenre of metal around. Nordic metal purists despise it, mainstream hard music fans are frightened off by it just as they would be by grindcore or noisecore, and professional musician types think it's the best shit ever. Zao deserves immense props for that alone.

 

Starflyer 59 is also really good in their own right. Prayer Chain was good. Stavesacre was good at times. I remember really digging Project 86 when "nu metal" was just getting big. The music of these groups was anything but derivative.

 

The one thing they had in common: they were independent musicians that went for originality over convention.

[L.B.]

To the OP'er: When you said you felt like you were connecting to the crowd and, by extension, to the world, you hit upon something... you WERE. Music has a power to help us transcend the limitations of self-centeredness and make us feel as though we are all sharing a common existece. The only problem with it is that it is transient, and makes us wish for that experience over and over. Hence the power of banal xtian 'choruses' that repeat emotional and god-is-my-girlfriend lyrics over and over. They're guaranteed to make at least a few in a crowd feel as though they shared a 'real' worship time together... sniff, sniff... it's just beautiful, man.

 

[MesaGman]

My most memorable memory of Christian rock, was at world Youth day 2002, there was this Catholic rock band called "Sheep", their logo was a Generation Y looking Sheep! their motto to the crowd was "When we say Sheep you say "Baaaaaaaaaaa"......