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Christian rock

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Christian rock (occasionally abbreviated CR) is a form of rock music played by bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the concept of the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands. Much Christian rock has ties to the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) scene, while other bands are independent.The Christian rock genre is most popular in the United States, although some Christian bands have worldwide popularity. Related subgenres of Christian music include Christian alternative rock, Christian metal, Contemporary Christian Music, Christian punk.

History

Christian response to rock music (1950s-1960s)

Rock n roll music was not viewed favorably by most fundamentalist Christians when it attained popularity with young people beginning in the 1950s. Although early rock music was often influenced by country and both black and white forms of gospel music, it was primarily derived from African American styles such as blues. White, religious people in many regions of the United States did not want their children exposed to what was viewed as "race music", with unruly, impassioned vocals, loud guitar riffs and jarring, hypnotic rhythms. Often the music was overly sexual in nature, as in the case of Elvis Presley, who became controversial and massively popular partly for his suggestive stage antics. Individual Christians may have listened to or even performed rock music in many cases, but it was seen as anathema to conservative church establishments, particularly in the American South.

In the 1960s, rock n roll music matured artistically, attained worldwide popularity and became associated with the radical counterculture, firmly alienating many Christians. In 1966, British act The Beatles, regarded as one of the most popular and influential rock bands of their era, ran into trouble with many of their American fans when John Lennon jokingly offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now". The romantic, melodic rock songs of the band's early career had formerly been viewed as relatively inoffensive, but after the remark, churches nationwide organized Beatles records burnings and Lennon was forced to apologize. Subsequently the Beatles experimented with a more complex, psychedelic style of music and anti-establishment lyrics, while the Rolling Stones sang a song openly (sincerely or not) from the point of view of Satan.

As the decade continued, the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Paris student riots and other events served as catalysts for youth activism and political withdrawal or protest, which became associated with rock bands, whether or not they were openly political. Moreover, many saw the music as promoting a lifestyle of promiscuous "sex, drugs and rock and roll", also reflected in the behavior of many rock stars. However, there was growing recognition of the diverse musical and ideological potential of rock. Countless new bands sprang up in the mid-to-late 1960s, as rock displaced older, smoother pop styles to become the dominant form of pop music, a position it would enjoy almost continuously until the end of the 20th century, when hip-hop finally eclipsed it in sales.

Roots of "Christian rock" (1970s-1980s)

Possibly the very first documented appearance of a rock band playing in church is Mind Garage in 1967, whose Electric Liturgy was finally recorded on RCA in 1970. In the 1970s, Larry Norman was a popular Christian rock musician who challenged a view held by some conservative Christians (predominantly fundamentalists) that rock music was anti-Christian. One of his songs, "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?", summarized his attitude and his quest to pioneer Christian rock music. A cover version of his Rapture-themed "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" appears in the Evangelical Christian feature film A Thief in the Night. And appeared on Cliff Richard's Christian album 'Small Corners' along with 'Why should the Devil have All the Good Music'.

Still, Christian rock was often viewed as a marginal part of the nascent Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and contemporary gospel industry in the 1970s and '80s, though Christian folk rock artists like Bruce Cockburn and rock fusion artists like Phil Keaggy had some success and Christian-identifying hard rock acts such as Stryper gained some fame during the 1980s and even had some videos on MTV, one being "To Hell with the Devil", and even saw some airtime on mainstream radio stations with their hit song "Honestly". U2, a band composed mostly of Christians but which existed outside the Christian rock industry, became one of the most popular bands in the world by the late 1980s.

1990s-present

The 1990s saw an explosion of Christian rock, heavily inspired by the success of U2, as well as by the musical style of grunge bands such as Pearl Jam and Nirvana (which were not Christian bands). Other influences were Death Cab for Cutie and some of the Indie rock scene, along with some Britpop influence, especially from Oasis. Many of the popular '90s Christian bands were initially identified as Christian alternative rock, including dc Talk, Newsboys, Jars of Clay, Audio Adrenaline, and others. Outside anglophone countries, bands like Oficina G3 (Brazil), Rescate (Argentina) and The Kry (Quebec, Canada), have achieved considerable success. Some also incorporated rap, punk or heavy metal.

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the demise of Creed and the success of Christian-inspired acts like P.O.D. and Underoath saw a shift in the Christian rock scene. Indy rock bands on the label Tooth & Nail also gained wider influence and critical praise despite existing outside the industry.

Definitions

There are multiple definitions of what qualifies as a "Christian rock" band. Christian rock bands that explicitly state their beliefs and use religious imagery in their lyrics, like Servant, Building 429, Third Day, SONICFLOOd and Petra, tend to be considered a part of the contemporary Christian music (CCM) industry and play for a predominantly Christian market.

Other bands perform music influenced by their faith or containing Christian imagery, but see their audience as the general public. They may avoid specific mention of God or Jesus, or they may write more personal, cryptic, or humorous lyrics concerning their faith rather than direct praise songs. Such bands are sometimes rejected by the CCM rock scene and may specifically reject the CCM label, however many have been accepted as a part of the industry. Other bands may experiment with more abrasive musical styles, which until recently met with resistance from the CCM scene. However, beginning in the 1990s and 2000s there was much wider acceptance even by religious purists of Christian metal, Christian industrial and Christian punk.

Many rock artists including Creed, Evanescence, Collective Soul, and Blessid Union of Souls do not claim to be "Christian bands", but include members who openly profess to be Christians or at times may feature Christian thought, imagery, scripture or other influences in their music. Some of these bands, like Creed, played up the spiritual content of their music and were widely considered a "Christian band" by the popular media, despite their later disavowals of the label. Some bands reject the label because they do not wish to exclusively attract Christian fans, or because they have been identified with another particular music genre, such as heavy metal or indie rock, and feel more creative kinship with members of that scene.

Evangelistic goals

Many Christian bands have an explicitly evangelistic goal: they hope to use their music to attract people to their faith, though some musicians try to draw in non-Christian listeners by writing songs with an underlying Christian message. These bands include Relient K, Family Force 5, and Sixpence None the Richer.

Other bands do not necessarily call themselves Christian bands (though all the members are Christians), but have spiritual lyrics and say that their Christian faith affects their music. Bands such as Switchfoot have said they try to write music for both Christians and non-Christians alike and Evanescence, who were distributed within the Christian market on their first album.

The aims for making Christian music vary among different artists. Some Christian artists, such as Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Third Day, and By the Tree sing more explicit worship songs, incorporating lyrics that directly worship God.

Festivals

See category: Christian music festivals

The mecca of Christian Rock Festivals is the Cornerstone Festival held in Bushnell, Illinois. In the early '80's C'Fest began coordinating a summer festival in Chicago, IL. As it grew the folks at Cornerstone purchased a 500+ acre farm in Bushnell providing ministry and entertainment in the more progressive forms of Christian music, art, teachings, etc. Although there are now hundreds of regional Christian Rock Festivals all over the world, Cornerstone Festival is considered the original.

Festivals range from single day events to four day festivals that provide camping and other activities. Many events are held in Australia called Encounterfest, Jam United and EXOday. There is also a festival in Orlando, Florida called Rock the Universe, a 2-day festival at Universal which overlaps with Night of Joy at Walt Disney World. There are also many in the UK, including Greenbelt Festival, Soul Survivor, 'Ultimate Events' at Alton Towers, and 'Frenzy'Creation Fest, Woolacombe, Devon.

In Buffalo, New York, the annual Kingdom Bound festivial in Darien Lake attracts more than 2,000 Christians annually.

References

Christian rock groups Ichthus currently held in Kentucky is a three day festival that involes over 65 bands

External links



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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 15:15:41 PDT (GMT -0700)
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