Faith, God and Rock & Roll: How People of Faith Are Transforming American Popular Music

by Mark Joseph, Dave Mustaine (Foreword by)

The world of popular secular music, embraced by so many youth, is too often marked by purposeless rhetoric. On the other hand, some Contemporary Christian Music can seem overly-optimistic and disconnected from the lives of younger Christians who have grown up in a culture that breeds cynicism. But there is a middle ground, and Mark Joseph has found it. In Faith, God, and Rock & Roll, this entertainment expert profiles the surprisingly long list of bands and artists who signed with secular labels but still make music that speaks of faith in God. Among the topflight acts he writes about are Jars of Clay, Lenny Kravitz, U2, Creed, Lauryn Hill, Sixpence None the Richer, Destiny's Child, Lifehouse, and P.O.D. This book is sure to be a favorite of Christian music lovers who don't want to limit their music libraries to the CCM market, parents who want to give their children alternatives to much of the secular music that is available to them, and anyone interested in the backgrounds and unique stories of popular music artists in America today.

Genres: Music, Christian Living, Pop Culture

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Mark Joseph producer and author of:
"Wild Card: The Promise and Peril of Sarah Palin "
"Sarah Barracuda: The Rise of Sarah Palin"
"Faith, God, and Rock 'n' Roll"
"The Rock & Roll Rebellion"

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contemporary Christian music has been a big part of my life for quite a while. Not only was dc Talk my first favorite band--and they're still among my favorites to this day--but I have seen several CCM acts in concert, ranging from Superchick to Sonicflood to Mark Lowry to the Newsboys to Rachael Lampa to even ApologetiX. Though I have music of all kinds on my various Apple devices, Christian acts have dominated my playlists for years. Even the secular artists and bands that are on my iPod are ones known for being largely, if not entirely, clean in their lyrics: Josh Groban, Hilary Duff, Michael Ball, A*Teens, Westlife, Electric Light Orchestra, etc.

So, as both a Christian and a longtime music lover, this book was right up my alley; I bought it as soon as I saw it at a local garage sale. It was a great look at the faith of many mainstream artists and bands, some of which I'm unfamiliar with; though I've had several U2 albums in my collection for quite a while, I've never heard anything by Pedro the Lion. I think I'll check them out sometime.

However, the end chapters were a bit annoying; they were rather short and didn't really say anything, which made them seem like filler.

[Carla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Supposed to be a book about people of faith transforming American Popular Music. While I was impressed with some chapters featuring folks such as indie artist Pedro the Lion, there were WAY too many stretches in this book... featuring other "artists of faith" like Brittany Spears and Alice Cooper, leading me to annoyance and eventual giving up on the last few chapters.
However, I did appreciate the thesis that a musician of faith is not a "bad Christian" should he/she choose to get into the mainstream music scene rather than sign with CCM. The book outlines some very relevant issues involved on each side of the industry, but seems like a big fat stretch of an author trying way too hard to make a point.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but somewhat dated

A lot of the information is pulled from past interviews and articles. Some things have changed since they were written.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
...sometimes as imbalanced as the fundies he critiques, September 20, 2004


This book has its merits. Mark Joseph loves rock music and has some great insights and biographical gems on the bands (some famous, some less well-known). As a result of reading this book I think I added about 10 albums to my wish list.

Joseph's central thesis is also well-argued: Christian musicians are better off remaining in the mainstream of teh musical culture, rather than allowing themslves to be exiled to the ghetto of "Christian music." Once they are labeled CCM, they lose most of their potential aduience, they lose the freedoms to be creative, and they are now subject to the whims of a sub-culture that is even more banal and artless than that of secular pop music. Joseph makes a good case for this.

Baker has packaged the book decently enough too, though it suffers from a lack of an index.

Where this book disappointed me:
1. The writing. While at times Joseph shows the ability to soar, most of the time its pretty cliched and workmanlike. His style on its own did not keep you reading.

2. At times Joseph is just as one-dimensional as the fundamentalists he (rightly) critiques. For example, his loyalty to rock is such that he is unable to serious grapple with critiques like those of folsk like Charles Colson or Nancy Pearcey, who wonder whether the music's style inherantly appeals to the emotions over reason and thus has some limitations. Joseph seems incapable of both loving the music and at the same time acknowledging its potential weaknesses.

Another example of this -- Joseph is eager to defend certain musicians' right (against ham-handed fundy's condemnations) to be less than orthodox and ask questions in their music. But can he not do that while also critiquing their theology. So Joseph will celebrate such-and-such musicians' proclamation that the God they celebrate in their songs is not the Christian God or a Muslim god or any other god, but the 'god I see when I look in my child's eyes, the god of nature...' It seems to me that Joseph is not taking these bands seriously enough in sometimes being uncritically affirming of all they say and do.

Anyway, this was an enjoyable, thought-provoking read, even though I found it a little disappointing.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about Christian musicians who aren't in the contemporary Christian music field. Tells the stories of many musicians who have found a way in the secular market to share Christ in different ways.

[J Crossley · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book the author looks at rock bands that present a Christian view. It may be the central focus of the group, or it may be lyrics in songs. A variety of bands are explored.