My wife has been listening to a christian rock radio station recently. I can’t stomach it for more than 10 seconds, but I’m hoping there’s some fans here who can chime in.
I asked her if there was any christian music that was deep and challenged the listener? Very quickly she said there was, and then she said that the music in her church was also pretty deep. Having sat through this music, I objected, clarifying, “No, I mean stuff like, ‘God, why did you give my mother cancer?’” To which she said, “Oh. Yeah, there’s stuff like that out there.”
I remain skeptical. Is there any mainstream christian rock that tackles controversial or challenging subjects, or is it all just the “Yay Jesus” stuff I’ve heard so much?
eta: And yes, upon specific recommendations I’ll try listening to some of the stuff.
Sufjan Stevens does not self-identify as a “Christian Musician” but he’s a musician who takes his Christianity seriously, and whose music is informed by that on many occasions.
His song “Casimir Pulaski Day” is a “God, why did you give my childhood sweetheart cancer?” song.
I’m not sure “deep” is right, but it’s genuinely moving.
Pedro the Lion maybe? Their lead singer, David Bazan, used to be Christian and “acceptable” in Christian music circles. Now, he’s apparently agnostic, or at least rejects his old beliefs. He’s lost a portion of a fan base because of it. Compared to other Christian music, his lyrics were “deeper.”
Also, I really like his music, philosophical underpinnings notwithstanding.
Here’s “Secret of the Easy Yoke” (from his “Christian phase”)
There is quite a bit. Saviour Machine, who are a (more or less defunct) band has quite a few songs like that, at least ones that deal with problems. They aren’t amazing all the time, but pretty decent.
I was heavy into Christian alternative music in the late 80’s and 90’s, and believe my there was plenty of deep, ponderous, angsty stuff (and plenty of deep, but playful and joyful stuff) and plenty (plenty!) of dreck.
I seem to recall hearing that most Christian radio is aimed at women, and specifically “soccer mom”-type women—who probably don’t want anything too deep (or dark or difficult or hard to digest) on the radio while they’re driving their kids to soccer practice.
And a significant portion of Christian rock is aimed at the church youth group market, who may not be mature enough to appreciate much depth and complexity.
I don’t know what’s recent or popular or mainstream in Christian rock nowadays, but I do know there’s deep (lyrically and musically), satisfying stuff available if you know where to look. I’ll post some specifics later when I get a chance.
Iona (which has some Celtic pretensions) might be what you are looking for, if you don’t automatically equate “deep” with “angtsy.” I’m not a Christian, but I have some of their stuff, if that tells you anything.
Yeah, I mean outside the internet, Christians don’t get the nice wide range of “over the air” radio stations. Therefore, the Pop-music, rather light and cheezy stuff gets the air-time.
Hey, it sells and Christian radio is a business.
Well, I think U2 falls a bit outside the Christian music market, as they do not really cater primarily to it. Having said that, I wish more Christian bands would produce their music for a wider audience. I think, in many ways, it’s just easier to sell music and concerts if you cater to a smaller group.
To be honest, I once attended a seminar called “Why Christian Music Sucks” and it went rather deep into why so much Christian music is bad. Mind you, this was presented by conservative Christians. Basically, they said that it comes down to:
Not as big a talent pool to pull from.
Not harsh enough musical criticism. There is some fear(in Christian music publications) that harshly criticizing Christian music will come off as criticizing their ministry, which seems mean-spirited.
If a Christian band hits it big, they tend to go “mainstream”.
Not sure how much truth there is to these points, but it made me think.
I do think that there is more tolerance for bad Christian music than in most other genres, because of the reluctance of critics.
A couple of years ago the Christian band Sixpence None the Richer had a few radio hits such as “Kiss Me” and a cover of Crowded House’s “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. If you listen to some of their other stuff it’s very poetic and dreamy (nicely complementing Leigh Nash’s lead vocals).
Back in the 90’s I was also a fan of Adam Again, a more urban-y alternative rock/soul/funk group. They had some tremendous albums, my favorite being Dig.
I also find the band Over the Rhine deep, sometimes to the point of pretensiousness. I don’t know if they really count as a Christian band but I’ve seen them at Christian music festivals several times so I’m gonna count them. I don’t have their more recent stuff but I’ve got their first 5 or 6 CDs and they’re great.
Which reminds me: Amberlin. Which isn’t a Christian rock band although several of their members are dedicated Christians and it happens to reference Christianity several times in their music.
Their “Miserabile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)” is a different take on the Apocalypse than the usual hellfire-and-dragons metal treatment. While it doesn’t delve too deeply subject-matter-wise, the feeling of the music is that of a struggling yet hopeful Christian hoping that there will be a better life after the struggles that will come, without either being entirely “Christ will certainly save me” nor “The Ringwraiths ride in black RAWR!*”
