Why is Christian rock so terrible and why is hard rock that is rather devilish so good?

Answer 1

Christian rock, as other people have pointed out, is an oxymoron, and as such it can't win. Rock and roll was born out of the blues, and often, too, the power of gospel church music. The first breakout rock and roll acts talked about youth and what it craved - fun, experimentation, and gradually rebellion, as young people sought the opportunity for more than what their parents had - something beyond the "niceness" of a structured society, something that broke boundaries.

Every successive generation of rockers has been forced to push that rebellious envelope to connect with the next generation of young people - from Jerry Lee "The Killer" Lewis and Elvis "The Pelvis" Presley, through Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, to Twisted Sister and Marilyn Manson...the themes that fit the music and the audience are transgressive themes - sex and drugs and rock and roll - because they address the continually evolving aspirations of young people for something more and utterly different to what their parents have or had.

Christian rock is shackled by a doctrine of niceness, and so even when performed by young people that are qually passionate about God and rock, it simply "feels" wrong, because the message is conformist and the music is transgressive, so there's a clash in the brain that just registers the result as "terrible". At least with devilish rock you know what you're getting and it's powerful and purposeful and good for what it is.

If it's any consolation, this is not strictly a Christian rock phenomenon. It works whenever you get that confusion of lyrical purpose and musical edge - I had the misfortune recently to listen to "Twisted Christmas" - an album of Christmas songs covered by Twister Sister. Again, the combination of "safe" lyrics and rock and roll music made it grind in my mind and the result was terrible.

Answer 2

Most "Christian" rock sucks because it's phony,it's Christians posing as what they are not in order to draw a certain crowd. Many Christians have however started very successful mainstream bands without ever making their faith an issue in it's promotion,their messages end up being the same but they do a much better job of it because it's not contrived and is also based in real world experience rather than being what is essentially a hymn set to hard rock music.

AD

Answer 3

Actually, I can't take much of either one, and I'm a musician with 40 years experience in a wide range of musical genres.

I like good, solid, loud rock if the musicianship and vocal work is quality. I can't take a steady diet of Nickelback or death metal, any more than I could stand working in the machine shop without hearing protection; it just gets on your nerves after a while.

And as regards Christian rock, I find the message so "same-ish." I mean, what can they find to sing about except,"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." I can appreciate their joy, really I can, but I find a steady diet of Christian rock to be rather boring.

I'm not putting down either one - to each their own.

Rock on.

Answer 4

That actually isn't true. I know plenty of 'devilish' loud rock acts that stink, and there are some Christian rock acts that are very impressive. (Shadow Gallery or Galactic Cowboys, for instance.)

The one thing I will say about Christian rock is it is heavily dependent on the lyrics. In the hands of a poor lyricist, Christian rock is capable of making me cringe.

Answer 5

The term Christian rock is sort of an oxymoron. Rock is rebellious in nature, and Christianity is one of the things it commonly rebels against. Also, the songs in christian rock are all the same stuff over and over again. It's like the artists are robots that were only trained to do one thing: convert people. They don't have feelings about anything else. If they did, they would write a song or 2 about them. It's like they're not human beings.

Answer 6

Hard rock draws from day-to-day life and expresses strong emotions such as anger, resentment, or depression. Christian rock draws from the angst of over-privileged white suburbanites, and is usually about how "mommy and daddy don't love me enough to buy me that pony I've always wanted". So, mix a lack of real subject matter and/or lack of any real talent and *poof!* you get a band like Creed or something.

Answer 7

I don't know about Christian rock being terrible, but I will say this. The church or christians should not bring the world into it. For one it diminishes the witness a Christian has when they try to implement worldly things into the church setting. John tell us that frienship with the world is enmity towards God. that is exactly what bringing any kind of worldly thing into the church is. it is hatred towards God. Maybe the reason why it sounds terrible is because God does not want anything to do with bringing the world into his house or presence.

By World i mean it's sinfullness.

Matt

Answer 8

That's simply a matter of opinion I think. I enjoy Christian rock, especially the band Kutless. I dislike hard rock that talks about objectifying woman, using drugs, and hurting people.

Thanks Yoseph A, and to the questioner, God likes all music, He just doesn't care for all the lyrics.

Answer 9

I am not a fan of Christian music because I do not agree with the lyrical content... however... I do like some bands like Figure Four and Saviour Machine as they tend towards the dark elements... You may enjoy them... Figure Four is Hardcore and Saviour Machine is well, moreso Industrial metal than anything else.

Edit: one of the best 'spiritual' bands I would suggest is Meshuggah... haha! the best!

Answer 10

I hate bands with a message. The fact that you can strum 3 chords on a guitar doesn't qualify you to rule the world or try to convert people to your way of thinking. It's the same with political bands. It's such arrogance!