Bach. Anything after that’s pretty cheesy…
Addendum: https://youtu.be/KSTFKJqy9AQ
Bach rules.
Five Iron Frenzy. Christian ska band.
What other band is going to write a song about Different Strokes? FIF is still part of my regular rotation.
Also, basing a love song on a reference to Gauntlet.
I’m a former Christian, if that counts.
DC Talk - the album Jesus Freak is peak Christian Rock, but the earlier, hokey rap stuff was fun, too.
Five Iron Frenzy - ska band that I absolutely adored as a teen. Saw them live at a reunion tour a few years ago (as an atheist) and had a great time.
Audio Adrenaline - more Christian Rock, just a good all around band.
Relient K - really fun and melodic punk/alternative. Went more rock than punk over time, but always solid quality. They made one of the better Christmas albums on offer, too.
And just for fun, try singing Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan’s Island!
You just described my teens. Also Jars of Clay (I went to one of their concerts once), The News Boys, and some more obscure ones like Pillar and Paul Ruben. I also loved P.O.D… It’s really weird to hear them on secular radio these days.
Now-a-days, all of that is only for when I’m wallowing in self pity. There have been times in my life when casually mentioning a secular song around my family would make the shit hit the fan.
My first concert was Newsboys and Supertones (Newsboys was the opener, it was pretty early for them). Saw FIF a year or two later. Saw Insyderz at a smaller event a few years after that. To this day I get to say I’ve seen the three “big” Christian ska bands live.
What a wild time. Jars is still on a regular rotation for me (Flood and Liquid are both bangers, and their Christmas album is one of my favorite holiday albums).
OC Supertones and the Insyderz??? I didn’t even bother mentioning those, but hell yeah those were my absolute jam!
This also describes my teen years 😂 My first road trip after getting my license was driving to Orange County to see the OC Supertones.
Insyderz and Supertones were great, but FIF was on another level.
Jesus Freak is a true banger, coming from a life-long atheist.
Oh shit, I forgot about DC talk! I was a big fan in early middle school.
Five Iron Frenzy is awesome. Just about everything I’ve ever heard from them is great.
Sister Christian by Night Ranger. 😉
Ha
Is Skillet a Christian band? They’ve got a couple songs I like.
Monster, Hero…
“Spirit In The Sky” -by Norman Greenbaum (himself Jewish)
Depends what you call Christian music
NF got pretty big for a while, and pretty sure he never swore because of his religion and talked often about Christianity and his faith while promoting the Christian beliefs that are actually in the Bible and admitting his own struggles and overcoming them thru faith and hard work.
That is Christian music to me.
I mean, it’s not even really debatable, he’s signed to a label exclusively for Christian musical acts.
But music that is explicitly all about Jesus is usually just cashgrabs with zero meaning behind it. It’s playing to the low denominator for things where “safe” is the most important part of music.
So, TLDR:
NF
I used to get down with some Collective Soul.
I always respected that they refused to identify as a Christian rock band. From what I recall their response was something like “We’re a rock band, that happens to be Christian.”
August burns red
The devil wears prada
Underoath
Silent planet
Texas in july
Wolves at the gate
Memphis may fire (some lyrics are cringey though)Quite a lot of folk hymnals absolutely slap.
Check the soundtrack for O Brother Where Art Thou?
Skillet has made some cool stuff, Future of Forestry has made some good Christmas music, and I guess Owl City counts as a Christian band now
Starflyer 59!!
Black gospel music has often been the only Christian-oriented music that really did it for me. A lot of blues, soul, etc was created by folks who got their start in black gospel music, and used what they learned there in secular genres. Hugely influential in so many different types of music.
Carol of the Bells
