Christian Rock

Christian band P.O.D.

Ever since Elvis jumped onto the music scene, rock 'n' roll has been an American pastime. In its early days rock 'n' roll was shunned by many religious people and was said to be "the devil's music." Much to their dismay, however, young people of every persuasion liked it anyway and rock's popularity continued to grow.

These days, rock doesn't have quite the scandalous image it had in its early days, and it's no longer frowned upon by many religious people as the "devil's music." Not only do many Christians listen to rock, but some Christian musicians have begun using it as a way to spread the word about their faith. Over the last 15 years the Christian rock genre has been "blessed" with impressive record sales and new audiences.

Crossing Over

		"Alive" by P.O.D. And now that I know you I can never turn my back away and now that I see you I could never look away and now that I know you I could never turn my back away and now that I see you I'll believe you no matter what they say Now the lead singer either has a crush or conviction. From the lyrics, one may think the song is definitely about God, but in the video, the lead singer is making out with an apparent love interest. Hmmm.

The Christian rock scene has attracted a large following, and in the same way that underground punk and hip hop bands will blow up and hit the mainstream, many Christian rock bands are outgrowing the underground Christian rock scene and are beginning to cross over into the mainstream.

In 1997, for example, the Florida Christian rock band Creed entered the mainstream with their debut album, "My Own Prison." Two years later, they released "Human Clay," which appeared on the Billboard charts at #1 and was accompanied by a slick, Matrix-style video on MTV. Creed's lyrics are typical to Christian rock; they are ambiguous at first but obviously religious once you know the artists are Christian. In their #1 smash single, "Higher," for example, Scott Stapp sings:

Can you take me higher?

To a place where blind men see

Can you take me higher?

To a place with golden streets

Creed

At first some listeners may have assumed they were talking about drugs. Or a new girlfriend? But, there are plenty of clues (like the biblical reference to blind men) and if you pay attention, you'll soon figure out that they're talking about heaven and addressing God. For some listeners it was kosher, for others it was confusing. "How can a band be so popular and be singing about God?" people wondered.

Set the calendar back 13 years before Creed and you have Stryper. Dressed in yellow and black spandex, this mid-80s metal band was known for throwing out Bibles at their concerts and for their catchy Christian-friendly songs. Stryper was openly and proudly Christian, and although they experienced commercial success (their second full-length album, "To Hell With The Devil," went platinum), they weren't considered cool by many metal fans. Stryper was always known as "that Christian metal band."

But the nineties were a different story. Christian bands became wiser to the forces of marketing and PR. Not content to stay within the Christian music market -- and wanting secular validation -- many bands began making the leap into the mainstream. Now they're taking cues from Stryper on what not to do; they're downplaying their Christianity.

P.O.D. (short for Payable on Death) is just one of the many bands that have followed in Creed's footsteps. In the '90s they sold 40,000 copies of their first three albums on Rescue Records. Atlantic Records signed them in 1998 and soon P.O.D.'s videos "Youth of a Nation," "Boom," and "Alive" were being played on MTV.

As with Creed, P.O.D.'s Christianity isn't obvious. There's no direct mention of God, church or prayer on their website, and you only pick up hints of their religion in their lyrics. They don't carry around Bibles, they rock hard, and they, well, don't exactly look like church-goers. But then again, what are church-goers supposed to look like?