Original Desmond

The 2 standouts for me are Amy Grant and U2

I'm not an avid church goer or anything but one of my favourite albums to listen to when i want to think and reflect is Amy Grant's Age to Age. Then she kinda went mainstream and hit it big with her album Heart in Motion

superspeck

My one and only favorite "Christian" band was a Heavy Metal group out of Chicago called Trouble. Even when they toned down the religion they never hit it big. A shame, they're one of the best bands I ever heard!

Giantrobo

P.O.D.

Drexl

When was U2 considered a Christian rock group?

RaMMaR

King's X

atlantamoi

I listen to everything from the Ramones to Sade, from Ennio Morricone to Massive Attack. But the most music I listen to is Christian music. What I mean by that is music mainly released on a "Christian" label. There are some incredible bands out there who get ignored because of the subject matter. Not all Christian music is happy and sappy... there are some who certainly ask questions and lament. But, as a Christian, I find hope in most of this music and ulitmately that is what I like.

What makes a band "go" secular? I think I understand what you mean. You are talking about a band that might have been sold only to the Christian market and then purposefully released a song that is very ambiguous in content. Like "Baby Baby" by Amy Grant or "Kiss Me" from Sixpence None the Richer. I don't know much about Amy's reasons because I don't like her music, but I really don't think Sixpence ever sat down and said, "Let's make a "secular" recording instead of a Christian recording". Same with Jars of Clay. To me, these are musicians who still write strongly from a faith perspective and just happen to be embraced by radio.

I can think of some great bands that probably know they aren't going to be very popular just because of what they are singing about. I give them credit for sticking to their guns. Bands like Switchfoot, All Star United, Burlap to Cashmere, Chevelle, Beanbag, Common Children. I could go on and on. If any of these bands had a hit on normal rock/alternative radio I would not think that all of a sudden they went secular. Just like I don't think a band becomes a "sell out" just because they went from playing clubs to making some big bucks.

GuessWho

Check out their episode of "Legends" on VH-1 (it's like BTM but saved for a select group of artists)

According to the program, U2 was VERY close to breaking up after the first album because 3 out of 4 of them thought there would be too many temtation of sin when on the road touring.

Original Desmond

when i was very young i went to a Church organised 'adventure camp'. It was very cool. at the camp all the older boys were listening to and raving about a new album, U2's Under a Blood Red sky

From that album, correct me if i'm wrong, the song '40' is about Psalm 40, New years day is about the second coming of Christ and there were some other 'Christian' related themes in the other song. That's why i always thought U2 started off as a Christian band.

Eddyhazkel

I wouldnt consider P.O.D to be an answer to the original question. Have they really changed? They just seem to be kind of stuck in the middle.

raithen

As far as I'm aware, the band started off (whether unwittingly or not) as a punk act. While there may be Christian themes in many of their songs, I've always viewed them as more of a political oriented band than anything - at least, in the 80s.

Cheers,

-matt

Deftones

P.O.D. is probably as far Christian as you can get. Despite the tattoos and piercings, those guys are all about religion.

Ky-Fi

It's been pretty well documented that a lot of the conflicts in U2 since the early days have revolved around Bono, Edge and Larry being pretty serious Christians, and Adam not.

I wouldn't argue that U2 has gone from Christian to secular, though. Certainly, "October" was their most explicitly religious album, but although maybe the Christian themes aren't out in the forefront all the time, they're still the cornerstone of a lot of the groups music, IMO. (Anybody catch the cartoon Bono holding a copy of C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters in the "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" video?). I think some people who associate Christianity with intolerant fundamentalism tend to not notice where U2's coming from with that vibe, but I think it's definitely there. I saw Bono on a Charlie Rose interview the other day, and he talked quite a bit about his values and his outlook on the world.

But, I don't mean to say that all their songs are about God, or that they're always trying to proselytize--just that they're approaching a lot of their subjects from a Christian perspective.

codefree

Didn't Stryper ditch their yellow and black stripes in favor of a more normal look on their last album. It was an attempt at commercialism that bombed.

Eddyhazkel

I agree 100% I was just trying to say that they havent changed their style of music at all, they havent tried to become secular.

atlantamoi

Ky-Fi, I agree with what you said about U2. I think EVERY album they have released contains songs written from the point of view of someone who is serious about their faith. From joyous songs like "A Celebration" (an early single) to hardcore questioning like "Wake Up Dead Man". "Grace" on the new albums is obvious. There are many songs. It really is key that they are not trying to shove religion down anyone's throat. However, because of where they are coming from I find their music even more attractive.

RaMMaR

Isn't that the one that covered "Shinng Star"?

Josh-da-man

Yeah. I think the album was called "Against the Law," or something like that. They ditched more than the goofy spandex -- they also secularized quite a bit.

Stryper was the butt of many jokes made by fans of "true metal" (myself included). I think their core audience was mostly Christians, though they did some pop crossover with other glam metal bands back in the day.

Remember when all of those "metal" ballads were crawling all over the Top-40?

DodgingCars

MxPx .. They took God and religion out of most of their lyrics. Although, it looks like they are signed on to some Christian music festivals this year.

Giantrobo

((((shudders))))

RaMMaR

Tuan Jim

Exactly, the music is the same, they're just on a major label now vs. the original indie release.

Tuan Jim

Gdrlv

How about the opposite approach...

Members of the North Mississippi Allstars and Medeski Martin & Wood (two very secular bands who still have more in common with Phish and the Grateful Dead than any Christian band) joined with Robert Randolph, an amazing pedal steel player who had never played outside of a church before in his life, and formed the Word. They released an album of instrumental gospel music this year and have justly been receiving rave reviews. The Word is probably my favorite album of 2001 and manages to breathe new life into a genre that not even Christian music fans listen to much. Listen and be moved...

Burnt Alive

Sixpence None The Richer

DodgingCars

Did Sixpence really go secular though? I don't own their last album but I've been told they still sing about God and Christian themes... they've also been recently involved in the City on a Hill (rock worship) albums.

big whoppa

Odd that not one person has mentioned Creed.