Posted by Mark on 06-27-2005 at19:32:
DA, 77's, The Choir, Adam Again featured in new HM MagazineOne of my favorite music critics, Brian Quincy Newcomb, has a full two-page story (no pictures) in the latest issue of HM Magazine. It is their 20th Anniversary issue. Quincy's article is called "History of Christian Rock". In it he goes on to say that he loves all kinds of music, loves music that touches on spirituality, but wants real music that is good, not something sold to him that glows with warmth but has Jesus' name on it. He talks about a few albums he's reviewed over the years that suck. But he also spoke of ones he loves. Here's a couple of excerpts:
"Then, a guy in Minneapolis who was in seminary with me, asked what I thought about Christian music, and was shocked by an articulate expression of the yin-yang, love-hate relationship that I've had with Christian music since the beginning. I love and am moved by it when it works: see any album by Daniel Amos and The Choir, and half the albums by Mike Knott. And, I'm repelled when it's imitative (see any album by Petra), exploits the trust and good will of Christians (see most praise & worship albums of the last ten years), or is just plain lame (remember that boy band that was a Christian version of N'Sync). I hate any band where the best thing you can say about them is that they sound just like "so & so", but they're Christians. Usually that's a lie - they don't sound anywhere near as good as the band they're imitating - and often the band they're imitating sucked anyway, they just happened to be successful. What's Christian about stealing another artist's successful musical style, and merely inserting some bad poetry about God or Jesus into some essentially boring love song?"
"But for all my trouble with the over-comercialized, over-zealous, oversold and under thought efforts of some of Christian music's biggest sellers, I'm most proud of those times when I shined a light on a great record that was being ignored by most of the mainstream Christian press: Chase The Kangaroo by The Choir, Alarma!, Doppelganger, and Darn Floor Big Bite by DA, Ten Songs and Homeboys by Adam Again, Shaded Pain by LSU."
"And so far, it's been a bumpy, often delightful ride. Sometimes the beauty and truth in a piece of music has sent chills down my spine, and streams of tears down my face, but rarely was it one of those manipulative, conspiratorial religious efforts intended to push all the appropriate buttons. It was 77's rockin' blues-fest in a sweaty church basement. Or, Bill Mallonee singing that "Earth Has No Sorrow (That Heaven Can't Heal)" in a sleazy bar. Or Indigo Girls encoring with the hymn "This Is My Song" in delicate a cappella harmonies. Or the band at my church covering Tom Petty's "The Waiting Is The Hardest Part", because honestly, it often is."
