Poll: Christian hard rock

[farouk]

Not sure what the term ''hard'' means?

It refers to a subgenre of rock. According to wikipedia, it's loosely defined. "It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards."~wikipedia article

questdriven:

Yes, good definition.

And then of course some cities have Hard Rock Cafes...

(I wonder if any folk have been motivated to form a Christian Hard Rock Cafe? )

Blessings.

Hm! Imagine that'd be a good witness opportunity.

questdriven:

So is it the sort of place that you would want to frequent / hang out?

Depends on how 'Christian' is was, I suppose.

Blessings.

 

[George Muller]

Not sure what the term ''hard'' means?

It refers to a subgenre of rock. According to wikipedia, it's loosely defined. "It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards."~wikipedia article

I know many would consider Casting Crowns "hard rock"? I would not, although, they very well might match much of wikipedia definition?

 

[evenifigoalone]

Not sure what the term ''hard'' means?

It refers to a subgenre of rock. According to wikipedia, it's loosely defined. "It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards."~wikipedia article

I know many would consider Casting Crowns "hard rock"? I would not, although, they very well might match much of wikipedia definition?

No, not at all. Most of their songs are toned down, probably on the higher end of "soft rock" at most. They do have a few really up-tempo ones. One I thought sounded like Charlie Daniels' form of rock, but that's rare.

 

[evenifigoalone]

questdriven:

Yes, good definition.

And then of course some cities have Hard Rock Cafes...

(I wonder if any folk have been motivated to form a Christian Hard Rock Cafe? )

Blessings.

Hm! Imagine that'd be a good witness opportunity.

questdriven:

So is it the sort of place that you would want to frequent / hand out?

Depends on how 'Christian' is was, I suppose.

Blessings.

Possibly.
If there was one in my area, I'd want to work there.

 

[farouk]

Possibly.
If there was one in my area, I'd want to work there.

questdriven:

Well, I must say, friend, that you seem very dedicated to both Christian witness and to hard rock culture. Sounds like you've grown up and discovered yourself, in a sense, if I can say that.

Blessings.

 

[George Muller]

Not sure what the term ''hard'' means?

It refers to a subgenre of rock. According to wikipedia, it's loosely defined. "It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards."~wikipedia article


ETA: @George Muller Third Day is great. If you like them, you might like Casting Crowns, too. They're mostly soft rock and contemporary.

I have heard alot of their stuff, and really have enjoyed that which I have heard. I would not account them as "hard" but I know many who would. I have heard some of that that I would consider "hard" and did not enjoy it at all.

 

[farouk]

Not sure what the term ''hard'' means?

It refers to a subgenre of rock. According to wikipedia, it's loosely defined. "It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, and often accompanied with pianos and keyboards."~wikipedia article


ETA: @George Muller Third Day is great. If you like them, you might like Casting Crowns, too. They're mostly soft rock and contemporary.

I have heard alot of their stuff, and really have enjoyed that which I have heard. I would not account them as "hard" but I know many who would. I have heard some of that that I would consider "hard" and did not enjoy it at all.

I gues 'hard' simply refers to something specific about the accompaniment, as per the definition [MENTION=89910]questdriven[/MENTION] gave, really.

 

[farouk]

[MENTION=89910]questdriven[/MENTION] :

I suppose if people did get hired at a Christian Hard Rock Cafe, there would be the enjoyable task of selecting good Christian hard rock tracks to play continuously on the music system. Also I guess there would be good Christian tracts available. Also people that worked there would be expected to have a sort of blue jeans or leathers dress code (rather than a more formal one). Whatever. Sounds like you'd enjoy working in such a place and having opportunities to talk to other young people about the Lord.

Blessings.

 

[farouk]

Hard rock used to have the motto " worship at full volumn!" ...

When applied specifically to Christian hard rock, this is an interesting definition!

(True worship does have to be inward and spiritual, of course, and not really about volume.)

Blessings.

 

[Whiteshield]

I listen to rock music, but I wouldn't recommend Christians listening to it though. I always felt that listening to Christian rock music defeats the point in listening to Christian music at all. My two cents there.

 

[farouk]

I listen to rock music, but I wouldn't recommend Christians listening to it though. I always felt that listening to Christian rock music defeats the point in listening to Christian music at all. My two cents there.

[MENTION=96484]Whiteshield[/MENTION]:

Hi there; would you care to elaborate?

(Just to say, also, a track such as Disciple's Battle Lines, for example, is outstandingly good, and full of challenging Scripture references. Two cents'.)

 

[Whiteshield]

Well for one, rock music they say is worldly isn't it? Yes, I know I sound hypocritical for saying I listen to rock music, but don't listen to Christian rock, yet here it is. I just don't like to mix Christianity with the world if I can, even though our best deeds are just filthy rags before the Lord. I hope I didn't offend anyone, and if I did, apologies.

 

[farouk]

Well for one, rock music they say is worldly isn't it? Yes, I know I sound hypocritical for saying I listen to rock music, but don't listen to Christian rock, yet here it is. I just don't like to mix Christianity with the world if I can, even though our best deeds are just filthy rags before the Lord. I hope I didn't offend anyone, and if I did, apologies.

Whiteshield:

No prob. and I respect your thoughts. Just wondered if I could describe this. Stainer's Crucifixion is regarded as a classical piece of music and might well be performed at a concert by men in tuxedos and women in off the shoulder dresses: typical for a classical concert. The piece itself is full of challenging Scripture references, and is very moving.

Disciple's Battle Lines is a hard rock piece; if performed at a concert it might be by people in blue jeans and leathers. The piece itself is full of challenging Scripture references, and is very moving.

I'm not sure I feel free to say that one style is right and the other wrong, that one is good and the other bad. IMHO I would just say they are both good, really. Blessings.

 

[Whiteshield]

I never really heard about those bands you're talking about, sorry

 

[farouk]

I never really heard about those bands you're talking about, sorry

W:

Fine, one is a well known piece of classical music anyway, and I was just comparing its features with a piece of Christian hard rock.

Blessings.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Well for one, rock music they say is worldly isn't it? Yes, I know I sound hypocritical for saying I listen to rock music, but don't listen to Christian rock, yet here it is. I just don't like to mix Christianity with the world if I can, even though our best deeds are just filthy rags before the Lord. I hope I didn't offend anyone, and if I did, apologies.

Well, ultimately we all come to our own conclusions. But I see music itself as neutral and look to the lyrics to decide whether or not it's something I should or should not listen to. The Bible really makes little to no comment on music itself. Instruments are mentioned in the Psalms in the context of praising God (which, we use modern equivalents of those instruments today), but we are given no instructions on what music to use or what to avoid--which, to me, says it's not important.

Probably the most common argument against modern music is that it's worldly. So, basically, they are interpreting the Bible to say that anything that's popular must be avoided. That would mean movies, and many other things, are to be avoided to, too. (And there are some who do take this view, so I'll keep that in mind.) The Amish take this so far that they don't even have electricity or modern technology.
But, that doesn't make much logical sense to me. I think the verse is more about not assuming the attitudes of the world, not loving sin, not living in sin, don't do things that are sinful, etc. Be different from the world in our attitude so that they know there's something different about us.
But if being different from the world is to be defined as avoiding something just because it's popular--that really doesn't say much, does it?

Some might say that because rock music is often used to present wrong messages, that we need to avoid it--I guess in context of avoiding the appearance of evil? But no one's going to think you're a druggie or anything like that just because you listen to rock music, so personally it doesn't appear that there's any danger of appearing to be "evil".


And then there are those who claim that studies say rock music is unhealthy--mentioning a study where it said that rock music kills plants and stuff. I don't remember what I read because it's been a while, but when I looked a little further into this I saw they had skewed the truth to some degree. It seems that any source with a clear agenda will do this. I recently had someone tell me that some studies say that the beat in rock encourages violence because it brings out the baser instincts--I haven't looked into this, but it honestly doesn't make much sense to me. I have seen no evidence of this, and if it is true, it doesn't appear to be so to the extent that it's actually dangerous.
If anyone wants to look more into this for themselves, look at lots of sources. Take the ones who appear to have an agenda with a grain of salt. You rarely get the truth just by looking at one source, or just ones you agree with. You may not get the complete truth anyway, but you'll at least be more informed.


Since the Bible really doesn't say much about music, all we can really do is speculate about this issue. Both sides have good points to consider, and maybe it's because I come from a family who raised me to not listen to rock music that I try to be careful to examine the types of messages that the songs are giving.
Anyways, that's just my opinion. You may disagree, and that's cool. I'd never learn anything if everyone agreed with me all the time.

 

[farouk]

...no one's going to think you're a druggie or anything like that just because you listen to rock music.

@questdriven :

Well, exactly.

Or think you're a witchdoctor, either (to refer to an analogy suggested rather tenuously on another thread)!

I strongly believe in the Biblical principles of sanctification and separation. But I don't believe in using tactics that seem basically to try to scare people, without being about to demonstrate them from the Scriptures. (One must respect the people, but question the tactics.)

Blessings.

 

[farouk]

I have heard alot of their stuff, and really have enjoyed that which I have heard. I would not account them as "hard" but I know many who would. I have heard some of that that I would consider "hard" and did not enjoy it at all.

[MENTION=96503]George Muller[/MENTION]:

If you're referring to Casting Crowns, I think they would be regarded as soft rock.

Blessings.

 

[George Muller]

I have heard alot of their stuff, and really have enjoyed that which I have heard. I would not account them as "hard" but I know many who would. I have heard some of that that I would consider "hard" and did not enjoy it at all.

[MENTION=96503]George Muller[/MENTION]:

If you're referring to Casting Crowns, I think they would be regarded as soft rock.

Blessings.

Yea, I kinda seperate these things into sub-groups also.

 

[evenifigoalone]

...no one's going to think you're a druggie or anything like that just because you listen to rock music.

@questdriven :

Well, exactly.

Or think you're a witchdoctor, either

Witchdoctor, eh?............................................... .........
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[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmjrTcYMqBM[/video]

Not a big fan of this type of music, but I used to love the Chipmunks so much. (Mostly the '80s incarnation. The pictures in this video are late 50s.)