History Main / ChristianRock

Compare NotChristianRock, when music seems as though it could be Christian Rock, but isn't. Keep in mind TheTheoremOfNarrowInterests.

Concerts are often different from regular rock or metal concerts, for a number of reasons. First, because a band is Christian, parents will allow younger children to go to their concerts, and because young children may be at their concerts, certain rules must be in play that otherwise would not be. Specifically, they're almost always much quieter than your average rock concerts. Mosh pits are essentially unheard of, both because of the fact that young children are present, and because the controversy and aggression associated with moshing aren't something that lend it to this type of music.

** 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.

* Christcore, a subgenre of {{Hard Core Punk}} or {{Metalcore}}, is getting pretty huge. Bands often included in it, officially or unofficially, include Music/TheDevilWearsPrada, August Burns Red, Mychildren Mybride, As I Lay Dying, Oh Sleeper, Underoath, Zao, Norma Jean, Attack Attack!, and Haste the Day, among others. It's becoming so mainstream that Norma Jean is playing at Mayhem 2010 with, for example, the decidedly non-Christian {{Lamb of God}}. Its fans are still just as likely to try to break your face in the pit as any other hardcore fans, though.

* 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 from sounding like {{Kansas}} to being a heavy metal band). 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}}s to their accusers in response.

** Christian [[http://www.dailyping.com/archive/2007/09/13/ Death Metal]].
*** However, it's worth noting that most metalheads would not call this band death metal. It's labelled {{metalcore}}, which is a subgenre full of Christian bands.

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

*** Look at nearly any lyrics from their first two, pre-Atlantic records albums. Especially the song Preach.

*** However,it's worth noting that most metalheads would not call this band death metal. It's labelled {{metalcore}}, which is a subgenre full of Christian bands.

Some people believe that songs in this genre are watered down imitations of popular genres, that they have low production values, and that they just shoehorn Christianity into the lyrics to get played on gospel stations.

The reality is quite different. Christian Rock is less TheMoralSubstitute than is popularly believed. As with any genre, production values and talent vary greatly between bands, but it's no more derivative than any of the bands playing on mainstream radio. The bands don't say, "Don't listen to Band Y, they don't mention Jesus so they must worship the Devil. Listen to X instead, they're safe". People who believe all rock music is inherently evil simply because of its genre (without regards to its lyrical content) often don't listen to Christian rock, either. Some church groups (and JackChick) believe that ''all'' rock music, including Christian rock, is something to be avoided.

* SixpenceNoneTheRicher started as a Christian Rock band before finding mainstream success in the late '90s.

** The main reason for their never getting back together is because they got involved in other things. Toby Mac launched a very successful career as a Christian Rapper, while Tate recently became the new lead for Newsboys. Which then did a cover of Jesus Freak SoYeah.

The reality is quite different. Christian Rock is less TheMoralSubstitute than is popularly believed. As with any genre, production values and talent vary greatly between bands, but it's no more derivative than any of the bands playing on mainstream radio. The bands don't say, "Don't listen to Band Y, they don't mention Jesus so they must worship the Devil. Listen to X instead, they're safe". People who believe all rock music is inherently evil simply because of its genre (without regards to its lyrical content) often don't listen to Christian rock, either. Some church groups believe that ''all'' rock music, including Christian rock, is something to be avoided.

** The main reason for their never getting back together is because they got involved in other things. Toby Mac launched a very successful career as a Christian Rapper, while Tate recently became the new lead for Newsboys.

** And they recorded an absolutely fantastic grunge song that just happened to be overtly Christian. Its name? "Jesus Freak".

**** My question is why so many people inside and outside of the church are offended or ashamed of this. Are they going to say that such eroticism is [[YouFailReligiousStudiesForever un-Biblical]]? (It would be a bit of a far cry from the mysticism of celibates, though)

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* Christian pop musician Carman. He is probably one of the biggest stars that the Christian music scene has ever produced, having sold over ten million albums and holding the records for the largest Christian concerts in history.

** It'll make a vegetarian barbeque hamster!

* Demon Hunter is an example of a relatively well known Christian {{Metalcore}} band as is {{Underoath}} (though Underoath is far more [[{{Hatedom}} despised]] than Demon Hunter for various reasons)

Some people believe that songs in this genre are watered down imitations of popular genres, that they have low production values, and that they just shoehorn Christianity into the lyrics to get played on Gospel stations.

**** The whole "You will suffer in hell!" - kind of Black Metal is pretty unheard of here in Sweden; our extreme Christian Metalbands (such as Pantokrator and Crimson Moonlight) focus more on loss, despair, philosophy and such, less preaching and more thinking, basically.

* Amy Grant started out making explicitly Christian pop music -- the albums ''Age to Age,'' ''Straight Ahead,'' ''Unguarded.'' At the end of TheEighties and the beginning of TheNineties, she left that genre for mainstream music. ''Lead Me On'' and ''Heart in Motion'' were the transitional albums with ''Heart in Motion'' containing the pop smash "Baby, Baby". She hasn't renounced the Christian music, but she's no longer specifically in that genre.

* Switchfoot is somewhat on the fence, as most of their music does not explicitly reference Christianity, but some of it makes no sense until a Christian perspective is taken on the lyrics. "Dare You To Move" from the ''Learning to Breathe'' album is a good example. Jon Foreman (the group's lead singer and usual writer) is a Christian and his work does tend to reflect that fact.

** Similarly, it's debatable whether Creed is Christian rock or simply post-grunge. If they're the former, then they're by far the most successful band the genre has ever seen.

* P.O.D. has probably had the most mainstream success of any Christian rock band (unless you count Creed within the genre). If anybody doubts that they're Christian rock, then listen to the lyrics of their hit "Alive", and get back to me. They were popular enough that, when frontman Sonny Sandovol named his daughter Nevaeh ("heaven" spelled backwards), that name quickly shot up from being unheard of to being one of the most popular baby names in the country. It's even on the page for TheRedStapler.

** Mutemath is a similar example. Their first EP was released under a Christian sub-label, so the band found a different company to sign with. They've since seen much more exposure, but their albums can still be found in Christian music stores. (Don't think they qualify as Christian rock? Go listen to "Peculiar People", read Isaiah 40:31 and get back to me.)
*** Amy Lee was quote on the other wiki as stating the Christian labeling was Ben Moody's thing. I think he left the group shortly after.

* Apologetix is a Christian parody band, a la WeirdAlYankovic. Al's drummer even played on one of their albums.

* 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 from sounding like Kansas to being a heavy metal band). 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}}s to their accusers in response.

* Jars Of Clay are easily one of the biggest bands in Christian Rock, and they also had some crossover success in the 90's with their first few albums. Initially they played acoustic rock; since then, they've been bouncing between rock and folk, re-tweaking their sound every other album or so.

* Demon Hunter is an example of a relatively well known Christian {{Metalcore}} band as is Underoath (though Underoath is far more [[{{Hatedom}} despised]] than Demon Hunter for various reasons)

* Christcore, a subgenre of {{Hard Core Punk}} or {{Metalcore}}, is getting pretty huge. Bands often included in it, officially or unofficially, include The Devil Wears Prada, August Burns Red, Mychildren Mybride, As I Lay Dying, Oh Sleeper, Underoath, Zao, Norma Jean, Attack Attack!, and Haste the Day, among others. It's becoming so mainstream that Norma Jean is playing at Mayhem 2010 with, for example, the decidedly non-Christian {{Lamb of God}}. Its fans are still just as likely to try to break your face in the pit as any other hardcore fans, though.

* During the 1990s punk resurgence, one of the bigger marquee names was a band called MxPx. They were on MTV's "120 Minutes" and everything. What hardly anyone in the secular world knew was that they were a Christian punk band. Yet they managed to fit in just fine in the same genre as Rancid and The Offspring.

*** However,it's worth noting that most metalheads would not call this band death metal. It's labelled [[metalcore]], which is a subgenre full of Christian bands.