J. S. Bach

C'mon, Neo. Way to dodge the question. I know you probably like some or other Christian rock group... or at least some gospel artists. Do tell.

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Frankly, I find "Christian" rock both derivative and didactic. But I also am very ignorant of the genre beyond flicking across it on the radio accidentally.

(March 5, 2022 at 9:04 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: Frankly, I find "Christian" rock both derivative and didactic. But I also am very ignorant of the genre beyond flicking across it on the radio accidentally.

It’s definitely a genre where you gotta dig to find the gems. That’s for sure. A lot of the music can come across as campy, derivative, or try-hard at times. And a lot of CCM tends to have an adult contemporary veneer over it that’s hard to escape from. Personally I don’t mind this last bit because as long as the songwriting is good, I don’t mind a bit of AC. But that’s not for everyone.

If there's a more beautiful piece of music than the Agnus Dei III from the Missa L'Homme Armé de sexti toni of Josquin Des Prez (which starts in this video at 3:45), I assume it would kill me to hear it. Two paired canons in the four upper voices, and the two lower voices singing the same canon---one forward and the other in retrograde.

(March 3, 2022 at 12:04 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: I could jam out to creed, and I absolutely love southern gospel, and bluegrass, ofc - spent my childhood in choirs.  The music aint the problem, it's the godawful religion.

Just like centuries of extremely talented artists and craftsmen depicted the crucifixion in obscenely beautiful ways - the whole time, obsessing over how the better man was murdered so that they might gain undeserved reward from his torture and execution.

I suppose I would call Dylan's stuff in the early 1980s Gospel. Some of the lyrics are extremely beautiful, others are stupid and self-reighteious and judgmental. What I especailly like about Saved! Shot of Love and Slow Train Coming is Mark Knopfler. 





As for Bluegrass. I like that as long as it doesn't go fundamentalist Christian nonsense. Recently, for example, is Billy Strings, which you've probably heard of. Young kid with an eclectic musical influence of his father's music, flat picking like Doc Watson, and, well, naturally, Black Sabbath, Zeppelin, Allman Bros. Band and Pink Floyd. 

So . . . flat picking bluegrass jams with a psychedelic flair.  

(March 3, 2022 at 12:13 am)JairCrawford Wrote: I saw the thread about the movies and I decided why not make one about music. I, being Christian, naturally listen to a lot of Christian music, ‘yea even unto this very day’. But I also feel like around 2008 a lot of it started to sound the same… 

Anyways, like the movie thread, anyone here still find themselves reluctantly finding certain Christian songs to still be bangers?

That would be zero Christian Music for me. I don't care how good the hook, beat, riff, bridges are, once you start singing about mythological beings trying to convince yourself and others they are real, nope,  you lost me at that point.

There's discussion on whether or not this is Christian rock, but I think the themes are evident, and supported by the songwriter's conversion to born-again Christianity shortly afterward. I don't care. The lyrics are thoughtful and the music is killer.





Aside from loving the song just 'cause it slays, I like any songwriter who puts his confusion and search into words and music like this,

(June 17, 2022 at 6:19 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: There's discussion on whether or not this is Christian rock, but I think the themes are evident, and supported by the songwriter's conversion to born-again Christianity shortly afterward. I don't care. The lyrics are thoughtful and the music is killer.

Aside from loving the song just 'cause it slays, I like any songwriter who puts his confusion and search into words and music like this,

Yup, Kerry Livgren was a founding member.  He went on to form the CCM band "AD" in the 80s.  I found a couple of their records in the dollar bin a while back and grabbed them out of nostalgia, since CCM was my wheelhouse in the mid-late 80s.  Whew.  What was I thinking?  Not good....