Christianity Today featured a stinging article about Christian Rock music that heavily references Andrew Beaujon’s book “Body Piercing Saved My life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock.” In it are some interesting critiques about the Christian music industry. It reminds me of a Christian song from the 80’s that said, “why does the Devil have all the good music?” I don’t necessarily agree with the statement, but wish Christians could shake the reputation of putting out music that is sub par or in the very least a copy of what successful secular musicians are doing.
Here’s a quote from the article:
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Such is the tortured state of popular Christian music: It's of the world, but not in it. It exists, as Andrew Beaujon attests in his engrossing Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock, in a "parallel universe," never fully intersecting with the trendsetting sonic landscapes of mainstream or alternative rock. Christian music may approximate the sounds of popular rock, and the labels may even be owned by the same parent companies, but to many people's ears, Christian rock is just one long cover.
2 comments:
"never fully intersecting with the trendsetting sonic landscapes of mainstream or alternative rock."
Really? Despite the fact that Relient K, P.O.D., MercyMe, and especially dc Talk have all had numberous Top 40 hits on mainstream radio? What a silly statement...
Good point. Clearly this guy is over generalizing in his criticisms. There are some groups that have had recognition for accomplishment in the music industry as a whole. It might be a pipe dream on my part to think that if Christian musicians as a whole began leading the charge at musical innovation, that they would actually get recognition from the secular industry. I mean, we all know that music that glorifies Jesus Christ will be much more likely to be offensive to and mocked by the non-Christian community.
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