Bach. Anything after that's pretty cheesy...
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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!
I did not know P.O.D. was a Christian band. I saw one of their music videos at a Hard Rock Cafe.
Right?
I remember the local contemporary Christian station would sometimes play P.O.D., but only late at night. It was too "hard" or something for during the day when I guess kids might be listening or whatever. The DJ even chastised listeners once for requesting P.O.D. during the day.
Jesus Freak is a true banger, coming from a life-long atheist.
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.
Is Skillet a Christian band? They've got a couple songs I like.
Monster, Hero...
It's not technically a Christian band but Creed has a couple banger songs that are very clearly about God/religion.
If a song slaps a song slaps. I don't care if it slaps while it talkes about something I don't personally believe in. I still listen to all kinds of hardcore rap and I have never done any drugs harder than shrooms or shot anybody.
WITH AHHHHMS WIDE OPEN~~~
Can you take meeee hiiigherrrrr (banawanylanaoooo)
"Spirit In The Sky" -by Norman Greenbaum (himself Jewish)
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."
Carol of the Bells
P.O.D. - Satellite and earlier albums.
Seeking the Wise still makes it onto my rock playlists.
Came here to say that, man satellite is a banger of an album. I don't go out of my way to listen to them anymore, but when they pop up I'm not gonna skip it and the volume may get turned up a few notches.
I too came here to mention P.O.D.
Youth of the Nation is definitely on the list of best songs ever made in my opinion.
I wasn't religious at this point but my brother in-law who listened to Skillet and 12 Stones and they had some catchy songs.
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.
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?
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
Amazing Grace is always a good one. The story behind it helps with the impact, IMO; it was written by a former slave trader who had an epiphany and realized just how irredeemably evil he was, and was doing his best to turn it around.
I'm also a big enjoyer of Simple Gifts. It's a Shaker song and I find it very soothing.
If you're into heavier stuff, Christian metal is generally really fucking good.
As is the theme of the thread, a lot of these bands don't consider themselves "Christian bands", but hey.
August Burns Red - pretty popular, their music has a wide variety of influences in terms of sound but every album but their very first is very solid and consistent imo. Their drums and breakdowns kick ass; listen to "Defender" and "Bloodletter".
Devil Wears Prada - also relatively popular, their style changed a little bit in the more recent years but there are songs on almost every album of theirs that I enjoy. "Sassafras" is a good older song, "Salt" is a good new one.
Silent Planet - probably the most thought out and intentional lyrics you'll find in metal. A majority of their songs include footnotes to every line, indicating what historical event, biblical passage, or other artist's work they're referencing. "Panic Room" and "Northern Fires" are great examples of their sound and message.
Starflyer 59!!
MXPX started out as a Christian punk band, but the members grew out of the religion and kept making music. —Punk Rawk Show, I’m Ok/You’re Ok, Chick Magnet, Move to Bremerton. All bangers.
Different vibe, but Pedro the Lion, same deal- started out Christian, then rethought his world view. Slowcore/90s emo. — Of Up and Coming Monarchs, Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives, Big Trucks, Rapture, Backwoods Nation.
Pedro the Lion (like Priests And Paramedics and A Simple Plan), the Sixpence None The Richer album This Beautiful Mess particularly Love, Salvation, the Fear of Death, some of Rich Mullins like much of A Liturgy, a Legacy, & a Ragamuffin Band.
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
I'm less of a former Christian and more of a thinks-outside-the-box Christian, but I think Mat Kearney is pretty solid regardless of what you believe. Sufjan Stevens is awesome too, but a bit of an aquired taste.
Gregorian chant can be very relaxing in the right moment.
Slayer, Demon Hunter, Celldweller.
"Collapsing" by Demon Hunter slaps. Thank you, Killing Floor 2, for introducing me.
Haha yep, same.
Not christian music per se, but I love Andre Antunes' metal renditions of evangelical preacher speeches. For example:
I Demand with Kenneth Copeland
Bonus: Alex Jones and Rage Against The Vaccine
Honestly some straight up hymns are amazing. The Icelandic Hear Me Smith of Heaven and Russian Do Not Reject Me In My Old Age are my favourites
Piling on, my favorite Russian one is Spaseniye Sodelal (salvation is created): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8BwsZqTyr0
Shivers every time
A while back I found a cool song about space on Pandora that's apparently by a Christian band but that song didn't give any evidence of that
Erica Campbell - I Luh God https://youtu.be/4G5BAQhLzMw
Plus, the entire gospel genre.
Extol's "Burial" is one of the greatest metal albums of all time, IMO
Antestor is another killer Christian metal band.