Christian Music? Help me out! (Full Version)

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KingCrimson -> Christian Music? Help me out! (11/18/2006 2:05:54 PM)

I'm really surprised there's not a one-stop thread for this kind of thing, you would think it's a popular topic. Or maybe there is and I just missed it [8D]

Anyway, can anyone here recommend some good Christian music? Okay, that's not a very good question. Uh, kinda what I'm looking for is, if anyone here is familiar with the secular 70s band Yes, some sort of band who sounds similar to them, but with a Christian message. In other words, uplifting, well-composed progressive rock with an overtly Christian theme. Why not just listen to Yes and similar non-Christian bands, you might ask. Simply because I have burned myself out on secular music and, for whatever reason, unless a song is obviously spiritual in nature, it can really throw a wrench in my walk with God.

Does anyone know what I mean? I just find that most Christian music isn't really up my alley. I'm sure if there is a band like this, they aren't very popular, but I thought I'd try it anyway.

Speaking of which I've heard a band called Glass Hammer mentioned, supposedly they're very good Christian progressive rock. Can anyone confirm this?



MissGVL5P -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/18/2006 5:23:21 PM)

I know this isn't what you were talking about but some great Christian music is Greater Vision, Legacy Five, Perrys, Mark Trammell Trio, Gold City, Kingsmen, to name a few.



gaylel1 -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/19/2006 10:30:00 AM)

Speaking of Yes, do you know that Rick Wakeman is a committed Christian?

Anyways, there are bands like Day of Fire, and Plumb and also the Rez Band, which been there since the Jesus movement.



DaveW -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/19/2006 11:17:06 AM)

I am not familiar with any current Christian prog rock bands. I don't think that current church structure really promotes the type of virtuosity required for that style. Smitty (at one time) was an awesome keys player but when I saw him a few years back He played keyboard like a total of 30 seconds the entire show. Where are the Rick Wakemans, the Kieth Emersons, the Ian Andersons?? Not here.

We do have Phil Keaggy. But he got cut from his recording contract.... not enough sales.



willowcreek -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/19/2006 12:36:41 PM)

70s christian music

jerusalem which is a swedish band considered to be the first hard rock band to actually do christian hard rock

rex band sort of like blues meets boston

the rambos kind of pop rock

second chapter of acts phil collins meets the dobbie brothers as far as style goes more like a poppier version of the maranotha singers

petra
they got there start in the 70s and there earlier stuff to me anyway was very blues oriented but still pop rock

80s christian music here goes

stryper pop bon jovi metal with a lot of screams ala steelheart

barren cross a christianised version of iron maiden power metal

bloodgood power metal ala judas priest as far as comparisons go with a bit more speedy music

sandi patti who i love to this day maria carey meets barbara striesand
l
arnel harris basically pop music with a lot of stress on vocals

steve camp pop rock his earlier stuff sounded a lot like brian adams the man is a good guitar player

daniel amos band blues hard rock one of my favorite songs by him was denominational blues

ric cua he was formerly with the hard rock group the outlaws from the 70s his music is pretty good if you like 80s music that sounds like free

the altar boys they kind of like were the first to venture into new wave type music with a pop rock edge

acoustic shack which i think they came out with there first album in 89 so it might be a 90s thing but if you like loreena mckennit type singing with an acoustic pop sound you will love this group esspecially the first album there second album got a bit more pop with less emphasis on acoustic guitar

whitecross think of the music of ratt and the singer sounds like the singer of ratt as well but with more emphasis on faster guitar solos in the kingdom is there best album

baranabus had a female lead singer they were in the same vein as stryper as far as music goes

philadelphia were another hard rock christian group

messiah prophet another hard rock christian group

vengeance riseing are considered probably the first christian death metal band of the 80s

sacrement was a christian speed metal band with more emphasis on death metal at times as far as style goes

deliverance probably the best speed metal band out there back in the day

haven in the same vein as sandi patti but maybe a bit more pop than her not as much emphasis on the opera type vocal work patti was known for back then

of course theres amy grant

phil keggy christian pop

veil of tears rem meets depache mode with some emphasis on rock

guardian the first two albums were rock the rest like swing swang swung went into the alternative grunge type thing god only knows why

90s

i hate to admit it but i totally ignored this era of christian music because i dispised the direction musically and lyrically. when every group wonted to sound like nervana or beck but some of the groups that came out werent too bad like
savior machine kind of alternative hard rock

gethsemany misspelled that one i think they were a power metal band with a female singer

cloud 2 ground a band i absolutely adore if you like enigma meets trance meets techno type music

the prodical sons another trance techno christian group the lead singer did the nitro praise albums and sang on those alot

mciheal sweets solo work is amazeing if you like brian adams meets journey type music his later stuff like truth went back to his hard rock roots but his self titled album michael sweet is very good and his second real you could tell he had a lot of influence from u2 on that one as far as sound goes the song real sounds like a song musically off of the joshua tree

king james which is rex carrols group he played guitar for whitecross back in the 80s this group is more like pop rock its very good

mortification which is or was in the beginning a christian death metal band that prgressed to more groove thrash metal

2000 and on

its getting better now the hard rock groups are comeing back and theres a lot of christian trance and techno bands out there i think you would know this so i hope this list helps i tried to be as diversive as possible not knowing your tastes so i hope it helps



KingCrimson -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/20/2006 3:45:51 PM)

Thanks for the replies! I'll be sure to check out some of those bands and see what I like. I'm sure a lot of them won't be all that easy to find but I'll manage, heh...

Dave: I think it's because the church seems to feel that all music must serve an evangelical purpose. Prog is no longer very popular, and so a Christian prog act would not be very effective at reaching people. In my opinion if it's made to glorify God than that is justification enough - it is not necessary for it to have a utilitarian purpose, although that would be desirable. After all, hymns are not very useful for drawing in non-believers, and yet they still remain in use. To bring others to Christ is arguably our ultimate goal as Christians, but it is not the ultimate goal of worship, I don't think.

But that's just my take on the issue. I am by no means an expert.


And I had no idea Wakeman was a Christian! For how long?



flippoman -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/20/2006 3:56:21 PM)

Neil Morse formerly of Spock's Beard ( a good prog rock band) is a christian with 2 alblums, Testimony and One.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas became a Christian before the Audio Visions album, so all the songs he wrote since then have a christian theme. Kansas came out with an album with all the original members in 2000 called "Somewhere to Elsewhere"
Livgren wrote all the songs for this album and it is very good.

Phil



Rufas2000 -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/21/2006 4:21:14 PM)

quote:

haven in the same vein as sandi patti but maybe a bit more pop than her not as much emphasis on the opera type vocal work patti was known for back then


Huh?

Haven was a metal band kinda in the Fates Warning vein.

I would have a few other nits to pick but there are not that important (Barren Cross doesn't sound alot like Iron Maiden except for the singer, Bloodgood doesn't remind me of Priest but Saint does). Overall a very good job willowcreek.



Gravity -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/21/2006 4:48:46 PM)

King Crimson: if you find any good Christian prog-rock, let me know! As an ex-hippie (saved in the early seventies in the Jesus Movement), I consider prog-rock the pinnacle of the art form. Lord, I recall them well: Yes, Uriah Heep, It's a Beautiful Day, Gentle Giant, Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells), Jethro Tull (A Passion Play and Thick as a Brick being standouts), and of course, your namesake, King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King still sounds good). Ahhh, all of them very very tasty.



KingCrimson -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/21/2006 9:55:23 PM)

Gravity: I'll be sure to let you know! I've been looking for some that sound Yes-ish in particular, since while Yes isn't my favourite band, they are one of the few prog rock groups who are very uplifting. It seems to me that most of prog, for one reason or another, is quite depressing! lol Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not maybe the best frame of mind for worship, heh.

I'm checking out some of the artists mentioned, at least any of the ones that show up on Pandora. None of them are really what I'm looking for so far (big surprise [;)]) but some of them are pretty good anyway.



Gravity -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/21/2006 10:32:07 PM)

quote:

It seems to me that most of prog, for one reason or another, is quite depressing! lol Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not maybe the best frame of mind for worship, heh.


You must mean Pink Floyd [:D]. True story: back in 1971 I was playing Pink's Ummagumma album in my dorm room for some friends. When it got to the Careful With That Ax, Eugene cut, my one buddy went screaming from the room, scared witless. So yeah, PF isn't the best stuff to get one in a worshipful frame of mind [8D](oddly enough, though, in one of the first Christian novels I wrote I referenced that band, and that cut, and it made it past the CBA censors; go figure!)



gtrdave -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/22/2006 7:43:50 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gravity

King Crimson: if you find any good Christian prog-rock, let me know! As an ex-hippie (saved in the early seventies in the Jesus Movement), I consider prog-rock the pinnacle of the art form. Lord, I recall them well: Yes, Uriah Heep, It's a Beautiful Day, Gentle Giant, Mike Oldfield (Tubular Bells), Jethro Tull (A Passion Play and Thick as a Brick being standouts), and of course, your namesake, King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King still sounds good). Ahhh, all of them very very tasty.


As was mentioned above, Neal Morse is one of the more "popular" Christian prog-rock artists.
Check out his discs:
Testimony
One
?

He's got Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater on drums and a host of other guest musicians on his records.

I, too, am a fan of '70s progressive rock...ELP, Yes, Genesis, Kansas, Jethro Tull and the like and Neal's stuff is as good, imho.



uncabeeil -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/22/2006 12:34:38 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: flippoman

Neil Morse formerly of Spock's Beard ( a good prog rock band) is a christian with 2 alblums, Testimony and One.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas became a Christian before the Audio Visions album, so all the songs he wrote since then have a christian theme. Kansas came out with an album with all the original members in 2000 called "Somewhere to Elsewhere"
Livgren wrote all the songs for this album and it is very good.

Phil
Neal actually has three cd's out now, the third is titled "?" He's about as close as you're gonna come to anything like Yes in the Christian genre.

Kerry Livgren also has a couple of cd's out with a pre-Kansas band called Protokaw.

I'm not familiar with Glass Hammer, Glass Harp was Keaggy's secular band back in the early 70's. They reunited a few years ago and released some new stuff, maybe that's who you mean?

ETA: I've been looking for a Yessish Christian band for almost 10 years now and haven't come close. Good luck amigo, you'll need it.



morningmike -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/22/2006 12:54:26 PM)

The mention of Jethro Tull got me to thinking...I've always thought their music had a spiritual thread running through it. But don't count on any proselytizing! The main thing I got from JT's music was a questioning of the church's hold on mankind's spiritual life. Or, I guess a better way of putting it...questioning whether the church had screwed up man's search for and walk with God.

There's a great line in one of their songs...

"I can't believe you, you have the whole damn thing all wrong.
He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sunday."

Kinda sums it up for me...


BTW, for what it's worth...my daughters have got me listening to Barlow Girl.


Mike



Gravity -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/22/2006 12:59:34 PM)

Absolutely, Mike. I've always thought Aqualung contained some amazing spiritual insights (my editor says he heard Ian Anderson is a Christian; only God knows).



morningmike -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/22/2006 1:06:08 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gravity

Absolutely, Mike. I've always thought Aqualung contained some amazing spiritual insights (my editor says he heard Ian Anderson is a Christian; only God knows).


I have heard that too, and I wouldn't be surprised. He's certainly a seeker and a thinker.

Aqualung is an amazing album to be sure. But I can still put on "Thick as a Brick", turn off the lights, close my eyes, and go on a journey. I'm not sure whether that speaks to a wayward youth, or music appreciation...

Mike



Gravity -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/22/2006 1:18:17 PM)

Back in my misspent youth, I was a DJ (my BA is in broadcasting), and worked at the little top 40 station in our college town. It had a late night show I was pleased to host called Progression Point, where I played every prog-rock album the station had, plus some I brought from home. The dirty little secret (and you as a radio guy know this well) is that one of the beautiful parts of prog-rock was its length; put the first side of Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play, or whatever, on the turntable, and the next twenty-five minutes were yours [8D].



Parmandur -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/25/2006 10:00:21 AM)

I have been thinking about music for quite some time now and have grown more and more frustrated. The first thing that I do not understand is why music is suppose to be an evangelism tool. What I have ascertained from Holy Writ is that the use of Preaching and the use of Dialog is to be utilized for reaching souls. As for music, I can only find two purposes (worship and admonishing one another) for it which is used which is found in Col. 3:16, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The use of spiritual $ong$ has taken the fore in the times we live and the psalms and hymns seem to have taken a back seat. A good student of Church History knows that the people are more spiritually sound in times when psalms are mostly used along with the other two.
I think this is true not only because it is the scripture being sung but it falls in line with the True, the Good and the Beautiful, the three things required for something to be aesthetically pleasing. Modern or CCM may be true but is it Beautiful, can I truly be admonished by it or is it just easy to remember and sing every Sunday? Can I, indeed, show myself approved if I do not study the Word, No. Should I not then study various and more challenging forms of music in order to relieve myself and others of the melancholy of what has become the norm.
When I have children, the last thing I want them to be exposed to is modern music or CCM, for a time, rather I want them to grow up appreciating the Canon of Church Music from its inception (did early Christians utilize Dionysian/Bacchic music in order to reach people?) up through the Hymns of the Victorians and then maybe CCM. This way they can make an educated decision whether or not the Gregorian Chant, Handel, Bach and Luther should be put on the shelf for the plethora of tunes today. I, in soothe, wish that I could get my point across, yet it seems that most people do get the point but that they just do not care, it is all about preference and "What about the youth?" Last time I looked, older people in the church are suppose to be leading the younger and the younger are suppose to respect their elders (See Titus 2). I have included a link that helps explain this point in toto. Until I write again, I bid thee all farewell.



Darcyjo -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/25/2006 8:31:04 PM)

Sigh.......

I KNEW there'd be a post like that when this subject came out.....there always is! [sm=icon_smile_roll.gif]



KingCrimson -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/26/2006 5:54:16 PM)

I find the lack of Christian bands like this a little apalling. Theoretically we should be monopolizing music, both simple and complicated, should we not? In theory the top artists in each genre should be Christians. After all, we are the ones who have God's anointing. Of course this is just theory and is not reality. I suppose in that sense, all Christian music of superb quality is evangelical, regardless of style or message, since it is proclaiming God's glory to all the world. I sometimes wonder if maybe it is because we try to evangelise through our music that it has become so lackluster. Instead of writing music for God, we write music for the world. I'm curious - maybe, just maybe, writing music that glorifies God instead of trying to make Him more accessible to others would be more effective at evangelism? I'm sure this has already been discussed to death, but would anyone like to comment on this?



Parmandur -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/27/2006 1:03:32 AM)

KingCrimson, I believe that you hit the nail on the head. That is exactly what the problem is.



metallikitty -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/27/2006 3:15:08 PM)

I am not sure if it would fit the bill but Daniel Amos/DA has some great stuff, you should check it out. Horrendous Disc is a good one, I think you can get it on CD. And if you can't, PM me. I have a few Daniel Amos MP3s somewhere...



furrypurrykitty -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/27/2006 4:36:37 PM)

King, I did a Google search and found this page for a Christian prog rock band that has links to other CPR sites: http://www.ajalon.net/links.htm



KingCrimson -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/27/2006 5:37:06 PM)

Okay, so I've found a couple. I've finally managed to check out Glass Hammer, who I mentioned in my first post. They're quite good, sound a bit like the child of Yes and ELP. They're a bit Tolkienesque in their approach to Christianity, as in the music has strong Christian undertones but the message is not overt. One of their albums, Lex Rex, is the (fictional) account of a Roman centurion, searching for meaning, but is unable to find it in glory or in love. Eventually he finds it in Jesus, whose side he pierced with a spear. Their albums have concepts like that. Very Christian for those "in the know," but apparantly secular to the rest of the world.

I also checked out Neal Morse - I love his stuff! I'm going to order Testimony and hopefully One as well. Flippoman, were you aware that he has a third album, titled ? (Yes, it's title is a question mark), with a fourth one that is apparantly to be released any day now? He's also got a couple of non-prog albums, I think one is Gospel and one is standard CCM. I don't remember.



Stemics -> RE: Christian Music? Help me out! (11/29/2006 4:33:37 PM)

I've heard it all. The good the bad and the ugly.

Try glass harp, triple cd called premium jams. phil keaggeys old band. they have web site where you can listen to samples.

Phil Keaggey has a double cd of all music called stark raving jams that is fantastic if you like really great music.

Resurrection bands best stuff was in the early years. Mid Seventies, Degarmo and Keys early stuff Probably only available on LP if even that.

Daniel Amos aka DA they have progressed through every genre see there web site

John Elefonte started a band after kansas called Mastadon. (beware there is a different Mastadon out now and that aint the right mastadon.

Kerry Livegren You can probably find this stuff if you look around the web. I have a bunch of old LPs in a box somewhere, I should dust them off and burn them. for my own listening pleasure of course.



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