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Mar 7Edited
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Gordzilla's avatar

I love Iona too. 30+ years later their albums are still fantastic. I got to see then in concert once back in 1996. Musical performance wise one of the best concerts I ever went to, and also one of the most joyful. No rock star antics, just incredibly talented musicians who seemed to be completely caught up in the joy of playing music together.

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Mar 5
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Ryan Peter's avatar

Awesome! Thanks Jonathan!

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Charlie's avatar

Brilliant

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Floyd's avatar

Great walk down memory lane. I am so glad I got to see Blindside and Underoath (before they did a 180) and how they proclaimed hope to a mixed crowd.

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Ryan Peter's avatar

Didn't know Blindside also did a 180! That's disappointing!

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Daniel Bishop's avatar

I think the original commenter's syntax might have been unintentionally misleading. I think the parenthetical "before they did a 180" was only referring to Underoath, but the sentence construction makes it plausible to interpret it otherwise. As far as I know, Blindside is still solid. But I also haven't kept up with them so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ take that all with a grain of salt.

Also, there were some bands pushing it in the "worship" genre for a minute there. Ascend the Hill comes to mind and some of the other bands on the label Come and Live! (A non-profit label started by Chad Johnson, one of the AR guys from Tooth&Nail who, I believe, signed As Cities Burn). But, sadly, almost all of the guys I knew in fellow Come and Live! bands have distanced themselves from Christianity if not outright apologized for ever being associated with it. That's always bummed me out.

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Ryan Peter's avatar

Yeah we spoke offline and you're right :).

Man I didn't know about Come and Live! - I'll check that out!!

A lot of guys go "off the rails" and I think it's because pastors often don't know how to pastor them through the unique challenges of being an artist (with a certain kind of personality) and the challenges artists face, mentally, financially etc. More than that, I don't think a lot of artists appreciate the "gray" area (as you mentioned on another thread) and generally artists (and churches) don't know what to do with these guys. What they see as 'rebellious' is often the artist just being normal :).

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Mark B.'s avatar

Excellent article!

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Paul's avatar

Good rundown. I was in this scene a little earlier – Newsboys were kind of fresh new lite pop in my circles – but I remember keeping up with especially "alternative" Christian music until graduating college, losing track for a few kind of chaotic years, and then seeing just what you describe here, and not knowing quite what happened.

(I kind of just chalked it up to being out of touch after college, at the time.)

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A.J.'s avatar
Feb 7Edited

Grew up in the same era. Saw Switchfoot at the Heart and Soul Cafe in Arlington Heights in like ‘98 and helped them carry their equipment to their van because they had no roadies! And before that was the Ultimate Punk/Ska (who misses the OC Supertones?) in ‘97 at Judson college. Oh, and I still have a VHS of the Newsboys’ Down Under the Bigtop movie (directed by the one and only Steven Taylor!).

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Ryan Peter's avatar

I never got to see that movie! I should try track it down! :)

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A.J.'s avatar

It’s on YouTube as well: https://youtu.be/KxzNr54MV5s?si=357XyTOuRbD9da-b

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Ryan Peter's avatar

Thank you!!

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MaryAnne's avatar

Super tones! Loved that season of Ska.

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The Pneumanaut's avatar

I always wondered what happened to the surge of popular Christian acts in the 90s-00s. This described the phenomenon really well!

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Ryan Peter's avatar

Thank you!

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Sam's avatar

Dang, you just described the era (DC talk to Switchfoot) I came of age to, made me want to be a songwriter, took a semester in Nashville and realized all the professors were warning us to run away from the industry unless we wanted to fit a very specific cookie cutter vibe.

If there is going to be a revival of Christian music that is outward focused, it's going to take either established artists self sacrificing and intentionally going outside of algorithms, and/or some kind of infrastructure that helps those trying to be in that space. (Or better infrastructure for developing music scenes in general)

It's interesting moving to Europe (from the US). There is no Christian industry, but my former band was able to win secular film fest awards in Paris and Amsterdam for a video very directly about one of the most difficult theological problems of WWII. In some ways it was encourageing that if you make great art it can be recognized outside the church. But on the flip side, we even talked to one Christian label guy and there's really not any path for that in the broader Christian industry unless you give up all creative control to conform to a sound.

Eventually I had to quit the band and focus on the day job and our two toddlers. Still trying to plug away at home recordings of a garage rock opera set to the whole book of Micah, haha! Hope one day to find a place for it besides sharing it with my ESL students. (But maybe that's closer to my goal of turning people on to the minor prophets anyway ;) )

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Ryan Peter's avatar

This was a very interesting story and perspective. You should write more about it :). Unless you already have? I'll go scan through your Substack more!

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Sam's avatar

Haha, yeah the minor prophet rock opera lyrics are on here (How to Cure Snake Oil) but slowly I'll have to write more of my personal story.

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St. Jezzer's avatar

Yep yep yep! That's what I'm trying to do with my music (check my bio - I'm an indie Christian musician). The world isn't going to change if Christians keep marketing Christianity to Christians. I'm not convinced everyone would play my music in church, and I don't need them to. We need non-Christians to listen to the stories they can relate to, and realise Jesus is the answer. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway.

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Ryan Peter's avatar

Awesome - going to listen to this today! :)

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wayback machine's avatar

Long Live STRYPER

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Diana G's avatar

Amen!!

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K.M. Carroll's avatar

Wow, this was my teenagerhood, and it's long gone, isn't it? I was putting on some CDs from that era, like Supernatural and Jars of Clay's If I Left the Zoo, and it was just so different and vibrant. Heck, Carman remains super fun to listen to. I know there's good indie musicians out there, like Theocracy, it's just harder to find them.

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Ryan Peter's avatar

Hahaha, Carman! Ironically, that guy built a career on "copying" so many music styles and at the same time he was always his own thing. Got to appreciate that!

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Diana G's avatar

Carman was da bomb!

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Robert C Culwell's avatar

So glad that I am too Olde to have listened to hair bands…..

....terrible phase of American Rock.

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Ryan Peter's avatar

I was too young! :). By the time the 90s rolled around, hair bands were out!

Although, there are plenty of hair bands that can sometimes be a "guilty pleasure"! Won't tell you who they are though! :)

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Robert C Culwell's avatar

Thank you

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Steve's avatar

Like every other genre, there were some good ones. Ratt was good, IMO. A blues rock sound. Some of Motley Crue. Scorpions first 3 with Mercury Records. Several bands in the 80s weren’t hair metal at all, but got lumped in with them. Gun n Roses, LA Guns, Tesla. Aerosmith had a late 80s resurgence. Most of Ozzy’s solo work then was good. RJD after he left Black Sabbath. Sammy Hagar before he joined VH.

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Gordzilla's avatar

I'd add Cinderella, who became progressively more bluesy, earthy in their sound.

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Steve's avatar

Yes. Especially them. Long Cold Winter really helped me deal with my issues.

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MaryAnne's avatar

Loved them!

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Clem's avatar

Thank you AI algorithm for putting this article in my feed. And thank you sir for writing it.

I’m with you. I liked some of this music as a teenager, avoided it like the plague for a long time, came back to it recently and thought, “hey this is pretty good, I could enjoy listening to this Jesusey music when driving my car. It’s well-written, musically solid, meaningful and hopeful.”

However when I go to church it’s 18th and 19th century hymns with pipe organ for me thank you very much sir. Keep those guitars, drums and pop-idol grandstanding far away from the sanctuary. I came into church to worship God Almighty, not the band!

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Ian McKerracher's avatar

I am a 71-year-old guy who is 50 years into this Christian thing. I was a lover of music before I was a lover of Jesus, and I am committed to searching out music with an obvious quality. I want my musical artists to be true artists. That sets me apart from the cookie-cutter music of CCM.

My go-to respite from the mind-numbing CCM is in Christian blues or quality folk (trust me…there is a lot of folk that seems to miss the quality part) Over the 50 years of my walk with God, there are numerous artists who, with the magic of online searches, have returned to me for my listening pleasure. I can listen to Todd Agnew’s mix of blues and folk ballads from 20 or 25 years ago. I recently, with great joy, located a folk album by The Fisherfolk that broke through the confusion of a messed-up 21-year-old kid coming into the Light.

I am afraid the present crop doesn’t resonate. Maybe it is “old-guy syndrome”.

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Diana G's avatar

Radio Christian music is so awful that I don't even listen to the radio anymore. It's that bad.

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Jeanie Woodruff's avatar

I love the music of Bob Bennett, who is a consummate lyricist (and guitarist, and singer). His music is unlike any other, so personal, so relatable -- he is everyman, not hiding his brokenness and failures, yet celebrating Jesus's love and mercy. Definitely quality folk! It would take someone of his talent to write sn epic song about the Gadarene demoniac (which he did -- Man of the Tombs).

I also recommend the Rabbit Room artists -- Andrew Peterson, Andy Gullahorn, Jill Phillips, et al.

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Gordzilla's avatar

You should check out Mark Heard, Bill Mallonee/Vigilantes of Love, Jason Harrod/Harrod & Funck, and Buddy and Julie Miller. Also, Emmylou Harris's "Wrecking Ball", while not strictly a Christian album, has several really wonderful Christian songs on it.

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Dennis Wilson's avatar

I grew up earlier with Petra, Resurrection Band, Daniel Amos, Larry Norman, and many others. I became an adult and loved the bands you mentioned and more. My brother was in a Christian rock band with Michael Bloodgood that later formed the Christian metal band Bloodgood. I got to be backstage and meet many of my Christian rock heroes at festivals. This was a very special time in my life. My brother along with Michael Bloodgood are enjoying the presence of the Lord now. I play bass in church following my brother’s footsteps.

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Ryan Peter's avatar

Paul Roraback is a friend of mine :).

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