Hey, all. I already dedicated a thread to one of my favorite CCM artists, the rock band Skillet...but there's so many others I also enjoy. If I made a thread for each one, it would probably clog up this section of the forum and tick off the mods...so I figured this might be a safe alternative. I won't go into the historical details of these performers, as I did with Skillet, but its my hope that you still enjoy their work, or at least find it interesting. So hang on to your seats, and enjoy the ride!
I didn't realize in my first post, that there was a limit to how many links would display properly as videos. So, I'm re-adding them properly, here and below. Enjoy.
As an atheist, there are a couple christian bands I actually like. They tend not to go with direct religious lyrics, but more theme-y stuff. I tend to just avoid the really overtly religious stuff. Impellitteri (not listed as christian metal) and Stryper in the metal vein and Kerry Livgren/AD are good bands. Actually Kansas with Kerry writing and the later stuff with the Elefante brothers was fairly religious oriented, but Kansas has always been a favorite band of mine.
Actually, that's an older video of him. He sadly passed away 3 years ago at age 65, due to complications from a hernia surgery. But from 1980 to 2021, he released 31 albums, including studio recordings and compilations. Of all the songs he did through his career, "The Champion" was arguably his signature. He first released it as a single in 1986, and performed it live on a regular basis.
In my opinion, this song rides a finer line between the terms "traditional" and "contemporary", but since it was written in 1982 versus the 50s or 60s, I figure its safe to post here. I first heard it sang by evangelist Kenneth Copeland, (seen below), but country and gospel singer Betty Jean Robinson (1933-2021) was the original writer. During her career, she crafted more than 600 songs and released 36 albums. I hope you like this.
I thought a lot of Bob Dylan's late 70s-early 80s "Born Again" period music was quite listenable (to the extent one finds Dylan listenable at all; your mileage may vary).
Progressive Christian music is harder to come by as it's a smaller pool to fish in anyway and suffers from occasionally, well, being shite. I do enjoy Todd Agnew though: Five Iron Frenzy are worth checking out, goofy (on purpose) and a bit Americentric in their political references for us foreigners but I enjoy it. For those with a slightly more metal bent, Liturgy are well worth a listen - affirming Christian and experimental.
I personally really enjoy Five Iron Frenzy and a friend of mine got to see them live in high school. The live album he picked up was well worn by college.
Just wondering how wide the range is for this topic? Like, does hip hop fall into that category? (i.e. not dc Talk but rather from Lecrae and ANdy Mineo all the way back to the Gospel Gangstas and SFC) Also, some of my favorites are from 30 years ago (Rich Mullins, steve Taylor)
From an historical perspective, what's now known as "contemporary Christian" music really began to take off in the late 1970s...so anything from that point on would seem applicable, as long as the lyrics honor Jesus.
According to Wikipedia, they were actually formed in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia in 1985, by Peter Furler and his schoolmate George Perdikis.
It was just announced that Mandisa went home to be with the Lord. No cause was immediately known. She was only 47
Yeah, I posted about this too, in the Classic/Retro/Pop Culture music thread. From the little I read, she had a pretty tough life. Hopefully, she's at peace now.
For those who kept up with Christian movies around the turn of the millennium, there was a short-lived film series called Left Behind, based on a very popular 16-book anthology. The first three movies, originally released between 2000 and 2005, received a very mixed response at the time. Eventually, another attempt was made in 2014, resulting in two more pictures. But from the little I've read, they weren't appreciated much, either. I personally think there's many reasons for this, but that's not why I've written this post. The soundtrack for the first effort contained a song that quickly became a minor hit in its own right, performed by artists Bryan Duncan and SHINEmk. The lyrics reference paying attention to "the signs of the times", alluding to the disappearance of millions from the Earth, known in some Christian circles as "the Rapture". Here's the song itself; I hope you enjoy it.
Here's a song by a CCM band simply called "Jake", consisting of members Josh, Marty, and Toby Penner. The track itself is called "Believer", and it was also featured on the soundtrack to the first Left Behind movie. Its a very good song on its own though, even without that connection. Another great tune I first heard as a child is known as "The Coloring Song", by the band Petra. As the title implies, the lyrics use various colors to explain the different attributes of God and Jesus.