Comments on: Why Christian Rock Sucks

By: smijer

smijer — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 21:48:11 +0000

People who are serious about making Christian music tend to work in the “Praise and Worship” genre, which is an artful blend of a variety of religious styles (including, notably, Negro Gospel and Contemporary Christian) with elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and a dash of classical orchestration.

I’m a grumpy atheist myself and I find that genre imminently listenable. Sometimes “hauntingly” so. Don’t tell my wife…

The problem with Christian Rock is that too many of its musicians start out (and continue) are in it to push an agenda through a “popular” medium. Praise and Worship artists take the opposite approach: instead of trying to sneak a message into music, they are trying to sneak music into the message. Makes all the difference.

By: greg

greg — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 16:50:48 +0000

Before you diss any other music, try Christian punk and rock, and keep an open-mind.

When I listened to a lot more pop-punk stuff, I was into a few of the bands on the Tooth & Nail label. Unless you were really paying attention, you’d be hard-pressed to find the religious messages in the work of bands like MXPX or the Huntingtons.

Since Tooth & Nail seems to be the Christian equivalent of Fat Wreck Chords, I wonder if there’s a Christian version of Sub Pop, Elephant 6, or Kindercore out there?

By: tom

tom — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 16:42:16 +0000

“Thousand Foot Crutch”? are you kidding me? there’s a band with that name? that’s hilarious… and it’s a perfect description of what christianity is.

that’s the worst name for a band i’ve heard since Russel Crowe’s bandname: 30 Odd Foot of Grunts

By: Tex

Tex — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 16:10:46 +0000

Ian, I so totally support you man. What is wrong with y’all? Fine, you can listen to any music you like, GOD PROBABLY WON’T EVEN CARE!! You act like it’s the difference between heaven and hell. Have you never listened to Relient K or Five Iron Frenzy? These guys aren’t always singing only “jesus loves you”, They are fun.

Most Christian punk and hardrock isn’t bad, in fact, most Christian bands sound exactly like secular ones. Not all Christian music is about happy lovey dovey stuff, but some is. Stop calling others hypocrites and start looking at yourselves, the ones criticizing those who simply have a different opinion and don’t like llistening to cursing, sexual references, and violence. I even like some bands who aren’t just horrible.

Before you diss any other music, try Christian punk and rock, and keep an open-mind. We are all hypocrites, but don’t make fun of us who are trying not to be.

By: stevo

stevo — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 08:45:09 +0000

I’m a pretty devout Christian but not a fanatic. I really can’t get into Christian rock either (with the exception of a few). I guess it’s mostly the cheese factor. The thing is, you atheists and agnostics can “sit back and laugh,” but to me, it’s taking something i believe in and sort of making a mockery out it.

By: diximetal1

diximetal1 — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 15:20:26 +0000

I tried listening to christian rock once it didn’t work, they constantly repeat the same shit over and over again, I mean come on, always jesus this and jesus that, jesus christ tell me how awsome your last trip with mary jane was or how you couldn’t stand to take a piss, I realize that rock ‘n’ roll is also quite redundant but rock ‘n’ roll has lyrics that speak on more than one subject ex; sex, drugs, alcohol, rock ‘n’ roll, good times, bad times, you know i’ve had my share.

By: Assamite

Assamite — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 00:54:21 +0000

You know, Creed conveyed a spiritual message in a very subtle manner. This would be of relevance if Creed didn’t suck so hard.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 20:11:50 +0000

Lately it’s gotten harder to think of a way in which Christianity doesn’t suck.

And if biblical Jesus isn’t considered subversive in today’s corporate-dominated world, it’s only because certain people and organizations think they can twist his teachings for their private benefit.

And if Christian rock sucks relatively more, and secular rock sucks relatively less, I haven’t seen or heard anything that would make the fact obvious to me.

And if I don’t shut up right now and stop beginning sentences with a conjunction, I’m gonna embarrass myself.

By: greg

greg — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:53:49 +0000

If you are open-minded, you will realize that bad music can have a good message

Four words….Rage Against The Machine.

Seriously though, if you’ve got some reccomendations for some good Christian indie-pop, lemme know.I hate 90% of mainstream music too, so I’m perfectly willing to accept that I might not be hearing the right stuff. That said, what I’ve heard on Christian music radio (“the Fish”) has made my ears bleed.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:38:50 +0000

As a Christian who is also a metalhead, I find it disappointing to hear that there is still such a large bias against Christian rock. I come from a background of listening to Megadeth, Metallica, Judas Priest, and so on, so I think I know what good rock sounds like, and I am increasingly impressed with how the quality of Christian rock has kept increasing. If you like hard rock or rapcore, I would suggest trying out Pillar or Toby Mac or Thousand Foot Crutch. If you like Ska, I think you’ll find Orange County Supertones to be everything you could expect from an excellent rock band. There is a lot of excellent Christian rock out there, if you are willing to put your prejudices aside long enough to judge the music on its own merit, rather than on its genre. If it’s just the message that offends you, then maybe you need to be offended to realize that God is talking to you. For myself, I am more offended by bands that claim to be Christian and then sing about and do things that are not representative of God. If you are open-minded, you will realize that bad music can have a good message, and good music can be ruined by a bad message.