Okay, so, as a Christian who tries to be at least somewhat conscientious about what's in the music he listens to, I sometimes find myself stuck on whether a band is appropriate or not. I figure I can't be the only one, so I thought I'd start a thread where we could ask about bands we are unsure of, in the hopes that someone more knowledgeable would be able to help us. I also figured we could use this as a space to recommend bands that are 'Christian-friendly'. Or just flat-out Christian bands. Whatever floats your boat. Anyway, I'll start:
Bands I'm unsure of:
Anubis Gate -- I really like these guys, but after reading an interview with their first vocalist concerning the first album (and after checking out the lyrics of their second album), I'm a bit unsure of how to take them. Nothing in their lyrics seems blatantly anti-Christian, per se, but there are small things. Their third and fourth albums are concept albums, so there's not much to worry about there (I don't typically search for multiple meanings within concept albums, unless the additional meanings are fairly blatant), but I wonder if they're a band that should be considered 'okay' for a Christian to listen to or not.
Pagan's Mind
Three -- Another band where I'm not sure how to take some of the songs. Nothing seems particularly anti-Christian, but some lyrics leave me scratching my head and wondering. Also, linked because there is an 80's band by the same name.
Iron Maiden -- Flame shield, engage!
Bands I'd recommend (feel free to disagree with me if you have reason to... I don't pretend to have the final say in what is and isn't appropriate):
Blind Guardian -- As far as I can tell, most of their music seems to be about mythology and fantasy literature. Admittedly, the bands original name makes me a bit uneasy, but they never released anything under that name.
The Sword -- Another band whose lyrics seem to be mainly inspired by mythology and fantasy lit. I will say, though, that I don't listen to them a lot. In fact, the only song I can name off the top of my head by them is 'To Take The Black', and that's because it's inspired by George R.R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire', of which I am a huge fan. That being said, it's possible my assessment of the band could be off.
Coheed and Cambria -- Admittedly, these guys do have some language in their songs (or in the case of Good Apollo Volume 1, throughout the album), so I guess it depends on how you feel about that. If you don't realize that all of their albums are part of a concept, then you may initially feel uneasy about their references to God, until you realize that, within the context of their concept, 'god' is actually a mentally unstable writer living in some fictional world between our real world and the sci-fi world and who has essentially gone insane, taken advice from a talking ten speed bicycle, and found a way to physically enter the sci-fi world he has created to bring about its destruction. Um... yeah... so there's that.
Chiodos -- I'll at least recommend their first two albums. I haven't listened to the third album a lot, apart from the first three songs, so I'll leave that out of my opinion. The first two albums don't seem to have any anti-Christian sentiments in them, though some of the lyrical themes can be a bit dark.
Killswitch Engage -- Most of their lyrics are fairly positive, if you like metalcore
Times of Grace
Sinbreed
Christian bands:
For Today
Demon Hunter
Becoming the Archetype
Third Day
Flyleaf (hey, I like them, at least)
Blessthefall (their first album, anyway)
Theocracy
Pillar (flame shield, again!)
Granted, there are certainly more bands I could have listed all around, but it's late and I have to be up for work in about six hours, so I don't feel like thinking too much. I'm sure I'll be back with more. In the meantime, I look forward to feedback on what I've posted here, and to seeing what others ask about/suggest.
Bands I'm unsure of:
Anubis Gate -- I really like these guys, but after reading an interview with their first vocalist concerning the first album (and after checking out the lyrics of their second album), I'm a bit unsure of how to take them. Nothing in their lyrics seems blatantly anti-Christian, per se, but there are small things. Their third and fourth albums are concept albums, so there's not much to worry about there (I don't typically search for multiple meanings within concept albums, unless the additional meanings are fairly blatant), but I wonder if they're a band that should be considered 'okay' for a Christian to listen to or not.
Pagan's Mind
Three -- Another band where I'm not sure how to take some of the songs. Nothing seems particularly anti-Christian, but some lyrics leave me scratching my head and wondering. Also, linked because there is an 80's band by the same name.
Iron Maiden -- Flame shield, engage!
Bands I'd recommend (feel free to disagree with me if you have reason to... I don't pretend to have the final say in what is and isn't appropriate):
Blind Guardian -- As far as I can tell, most of their music seems to be about mythology and fantasy literature. Admittedly, the bands original name makes me a bit uneasy, but they never released anything under that name.
The Sword -- Another band whose lyrics seem to be mainly inspired by mythology and fantasy lit. I will say, though, that I don't listen to them a lot. In fact, the only song I can name off the top of my head by them is 'To Take The Black', and that's because it's inspired by George R.R. Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire', of which I am a huge fan. That being said, it's possible my assessment of the band could be off.
Coheed and Cambria -- Admittedly, these guys do have some language in their songs (or in the case of Good Apollo Volume 1, throughout the album), so I guess it depends on how you feel about that. If you don't realize that all of their albums are part of a concept, then you may initially feel uneasy about their references to God, until you realize that, within the context of their concept, 'god' is actually a mentally unstable writer living in some fictional world between our real world and the sci-fi world and who has essentially gone insane, taken advice from a talking ten speed bicycle, and found a way to physically enter the sci-fi world he has created to bring about its destruction. Um... yeah... so there's that.
Chiodos -- I'll at least recommend their first two albums. I haven't listened to the third album a lot, apart from the first three songs, so I'll leave that out of my opinion. The first two albums don't seem to have any anti-Christian sentiments in them, though some of the lyrical themes can be a bit dark.
Killswitch Engage -- Most of their lyrics are fairly positive, if you like metalcore
Times of Grace
Sinbreed
Christian bands:
For Today
Demon Hunter
Becoming the Archetype
Third Day
Flyleaf (hey, I like them, at least)
Blessthefall (their first album, anyway)
Theocracy
Pillar (flame shield, again!)
Granted, there are certainly more bands I could have listed all around, but it's late and I have to be up for work in about six hours, so I don't feel like thinking too much. I'm sure I'll be back with more. In the meantime, I look forward to feedback on what I've posted here, and to seeing what others ask about/suggest.
