J
johnny5dm
New member
I personally love seeing where this thread is roaming to and from (theological debates included), but I thought I might chime in here with some thoughts on the whole CC music debate.
First of all, terminology - CC to me means the majority of the music coming out of Nashville, which I personally don't find interesting or inspiring for the most part. Plenty of people do, which I'm fine with; but to me a lot of it lacks originality and honest expression.
Second, a note distinguishing music intended to be praise and music intended to be missional, so to speak - praise music is generally very open about using religious terms, speaking directly about/to God, etc. Missional music is often much more subtle. Each has their place to a certain degree - praise music is usually very accessible and easy to sing; it's meant to be used in some form of corporate worship. Missional music is what you hear when you listen to any number of bands in the secular market - Sufjan Stevens, Lifehouse, Creed, Mat Kearney, Sleeping at Last, Switchfoot, etc (with the noted point that those are quite the varied group of artists, so please don't group them into the "Creed Sucks" genre). The majority of praise music tends to come from the "CC" genre (my terminology). Some is good, some is not, but it's the major source of that sort of music.
The interesting thing is that "CC" music tends to blend Praise and Missional styles, and because of that, often isn't so good at either one. That, and the demand from modern-day Christians for "safe" music, increases the amount of music that is available. To meet that demand, bands that wouldn't make it in the secular marketplace enter into the Christian marketplace, thus bringing the average quality down. When a band in the secular marketplace tries to make it, they have one thing to offer (musically - concerts/etc. aside): their music and lyrics. A "CC" band gets a bump up on the demand scale simply by labeling their music as Christian. Therefore, the cutoff for what you hear is typically lower in terms of quality - many Christians tend to sacrifice on the quality of music in order to have a "Christian" album. Now, this is NOT to say that there isn't some really good CC music out there - just in general, the average quality of what you hear is lower. But I used to really like Michael W. Smith (I'm not quite sure why - can't stand it now), DC Talk, Jars of Clay - they put out some pretty good stuff in their days.
I think my goal in expressing all of this is my general disappointment with "CC" music as a whole. Fortunately, there are bands that are breaking out of that box - David Crowder Band manages to write both missional and praise music that is modern, innovative, exciting, and deeply meaningful at the same time. That band, to me, is the best example of what someone writing praise music can do creatively. I'm also continually impressed by some of the new bands out there that are in the secular marketplace. Mat Kearney has a new feel that I've not heard before (in my somewhat limited exposure, anyway); Switchfoot has managed to blend high-energy pop-rock with a very positive message for teenagers and young adults; Sleeping At Last (still small, but AMAZING) takes emo rock to a whole new level (thanks, in part, to Billy Corgan's mentoring); Sufjan Stevens has a sound that's quite extraordinary... I could certainly go on.
Oh, and it's worth mentioning that there are still places where music - good music - is being created in the church. Mars Hill Church in Seattle is one such place. Check it out - it is Seattle, so it's a bit darker, but still quite good.
Ok. You can all continue discussing now.
First of all, terminology - CC to me means the majority of the music coming out of Nashville, which I personally don't find interesting or inspiring for the most part. Plenty of people do, which I'm fine with; but to me a lot of it lacks originality and honest expression.
Second, a note distinguishing music intended to be praise and music intended to be missional, so to speak - praise music is generally very open about using religious terms, speaking directly about/to God, etc. Missional music is often much more subtle. Each has their place to a certain degree - praise music is usually very accessible and easy to sing; it's meant to be used in some form of corporate worship. Missional music is what you hear when you listen to any number of bands in the secular market - Sufjan Stevens, Lifehouse, Creed, Mat Kearney, Sleeping at Last, Switchfoot, etc (with the noted point that those are quite the varied group of artists, so please don't group them into the "Creed Sucks" genre). The majority of praise music tends to come from the "CC" genre (my terminology). Some is good, some is not, but it's the major source of that sort of music.
The interesting thing is that "CC" music tends to blend Praise and Missional styles, and because of that, often isn't so good at either one. That, and the demand from modern-day Christians for "safe" music, increases the amount of music that is available. To meet that demand, bands that wouldn't make it in the secular marketplace enter into the Christian marketplace, thus bringing the average quality down. When a band in the secular marketplace tries to make it, they have one thing to offer (musically - concerts/etc. aside): their music and lyrics. A "CC" band gets a bump up on the demand scale simply by labeling their music as Christian. Therefore, the cutoff for what you hear is typically lower in terms of quality - many Christians tend to sacrifice on the quality of music in order to have a "Christian" album. Now, this is NOT to say that there isn't some really good CC music out there - just in general, the average quality of what you hear is lower. But I used to really like Michael W. Smith (I'm not quite sure why - can't stand it now), DC Talk, Jars of Clay - they put out some pretty good stuff in their days.
I think my goal in expressing all of this is my general disappointment with "CC" music as a whole. Fortunately, there are bands that are breaking out of that box - David Crowder Band manages to write both missional and praise music that is modern, innovative, exciting, and deeply meaningful at the same time. That band, to me, is the best example of what someone writing praise music can do creatively. I'm also continually impressed by some of the new bands out there that are in the secular marketplace. Mat Kearney has a new feel that I've not heard before (in my somewhat limited exposure, anyway); Switchfoot has managed to blend high-energy pop-rock with a very positive message for teenagers and young adults; Sleeping At Last (still small, but AMAZING) takes emo rock to a whole new level (thanks, in part, to Billy Corgan's mentoring); Sufjan Stevens has a sound that's quite extraordinary... I could certainly go on.
Oh, and it's worth mentioning that there are still places where music - good music - is being created in the church. Mars Hill Church in Seattle is one such place. Check it out - it is Seattle, so it's a bit darker, but still quite good.
Ok. You can all continue discussing now.
