Late Night Music Bowl Season Edition Part 120........"Christian Bands"
You can believe whatever religion you want. You can even believe as much or as little about Christianity as you choose to. This list is not about that. This list has nothing to do with trying to push my personal religious beliefs. This list is simply about the very talented Christian bands out there that sometimes fly under the radar for the simple reason that they are Christian bands. Contrary to popular belief, Christian bands don't "suck", as most of the time you wouldn't even know it was a Christian band unless someone told you. I've always respected the super talented artists in this genre, as most of them dedicate their lives to a cause and a ministry rather than focusing on fame.
In order to be considered in this category, the band had to be self proclaimed as a "Christian" band, on a Christian label at the time of the release or performed at Christian music festivals. U2 and Creed were disqualified for this reason. Petra and Stryker were left off the list just because they are so dang cheesy. No solo artists were considered for this category. Also receiving votes in this category were. "Sincerely" by Nevertheless, "Aware" by Salvador, "Come Undone" by Jackson Waters, and "Superfly" by the OC Supertones.
"Death Bed" - Relient K. In 2007, Relient K was gaining popularity from their album "Mmhmm", which included an appearance on "The Tonight Show". Their much anticipated follow up "Five Score and Seven Years Ago" released in 2007, debuted at #6 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart. Almost immediately, the band released "Must Have Done Something Right" which peaked at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the most intriguing song on the album is the nearly 11 minute epic which chronicles a man's first hand perception of his life as he lay dying on his deathbed. This song, while never released as a single, is a common song to close Relient K and has been a fan favorite ever since. The song also features a closing by Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egl8yQvnkqs
"All Around Me"- Flyleaf. In 2007, Flyleaf re-released their debut self titled album in order to reinvigorate the buzz behind a great album. This single fueled the fire as it hit #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, and hit #1 on the Christian charts. This video's push by Fuse and Yahoo! music helped push the album to over 1 million copies sold, making it one of the best selling Christian albums of all time. Lacey Sturm is an unreal lead singer- she's so passionate and freaking OWNS this song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN0FFK8JSYE
"The Unwinding Cable Car"- Anberlin. In 2007, Florida's Anberlin released their critically acclaimed "Cities", which peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. Included was this single, which was the band's first ever slow song, and in a great case of music irony, this very inspiring song was included on the soundtrack for the 2008 horror film "House". Like most "off topic" slow songs by rock bands, this song was actually two songs that came together into one. Ever since I've known that I feel like I'm listening to a mashup. This video has always been one of my favorite on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ei1-vWL-t0
"Everything"- Lifehouse. In 2002, Lifehouse took America by storm with their debut album "No Name Face", which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart and "Hanging By A Moment" shot all the way #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 that summer, making Lifehouse one of the top acts in the world. However, the song that closes out the album, was Jason Wade's most personal and intimate song is this one here, which has been featured in churches and youth center all over the world with its famous skit. The popularity of the song with fans led to it being included on the soundtrack of the television series "Smallville". Unbelievable live performance here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnB4ewmfdXo
"Innocent"- Stellar Kart. Stellar Kart made everyone think they were an 80's band with this video to accompany their fan favorite single from their hit album "Expect The Impossible" in 2008. This hilarious video shows how funny Stellar Kart really is as a band. Is it just me, or does the manager in this video look like Mike McQueary from Penn State? These guys remind me so much of Blink 182 it's not even funny. Still can't help but love Stellar Kart's sound. "Expect The Impossible" peaked at #66 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxMrGDd1cos
"Beautiful Love"- The Afters. This theme song to MTV's "8th and Ocean" climbed to #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006, and remained one of the most downloaded songs on iTunes during the show's initial run on MTV. Not bad for a band's debut single from their debut album "I Wish We All Could Win".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX9h4PPx41I
"Say This Sooner"- The Almost. In 2007, Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie released the debut album for his "side project" The Almost, "Southern Weather". The album was very similar to Dave Grohl's production of the Foo Fighters' debut self titled album, as Gillespie played virtually all instruments and performed all vocals on the album. The band was not added until the The Almost began touring in 2007 and the video was filmed. This video received significant play on Fuse and MySpace. The album debuted at #39 on the Billboard Hot 200 Album Charts, and would spawn a follow up album in 2009 "Monster Monster". Gillespie has yet to return to Underoath......hmmmm I wonder why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8x_1xSEsL4
"New Day"- Robbie Seay Band. What a fantastic song! This has to be my favorite song on this list! This song from Houston-based worship band Robbie Seay Band was included on their second album "Give Yourself Away". Robbie Seay Band has primarily found their following in churches and have received little airplay/mainstream promotion, but I still think they are one of the most talented bands out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owsap4Zs7bg
"Pierced"- Audio Adrenaline. Man! What another amazing song! This song from Audio Adrenaline's 2003 album "Worldwide" should have been a single......I'm just saying. Audio Adrenaline never quite matched their success of the mid-to-late 90's, but this album did crack the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart, and hit #4 on the Christian charts. Still one of the best bands I ever saw live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M79PZunrNkg
"Zero"- Hawk Nelson. In 2006, Hawk Nelson was one of the biggest Christian bands around partially due to their video for "The One Thing I Have Left" hitting the #1 spot on VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown. This single from their album "Smile, It's The End Of The World". This song about suicide recovery is one of the band's more well known songs, and helped build them momentum for their widely popular follow up album "Hawk Nelson Is My Friend" released in 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFO7T2VPwdA
"The Ocean" - Mae. Man, what a fantastic album! Mae's debut album "Destination: Beautiful" has got to be one of my all time favorite albums. The album never got the play that "The Everglow" and "Singularity" got, but it's grassroots to the very core and is an unbelievably put together album in every sense of the word. I was sick when Mae announced their disbanding, as they will always be, in my opinion, one of the best Christian bands of all time. Unbelievable song here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvW9ctkWd88
"Monster" - Skillet. Skillet has got to be the only Christian band I've ever heard of charting in Japan, which is exactly what this song did in 2009. After the worldwide success of their debut album "Comatose", their follow up album "Awake" DEBUTED at #2 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums when it was released in 2009. The song has been widely used by WWE since it release, being featured on NBC's presentation of Wrestlemania XXV, and also used as the theme song for 2010's PPV "Hell In A Cell".......irony?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mjlM_RnsVE
"Paradigm" - All Together Separate. Man another awesome song! All Together Separate always kept a cult following until their disbanding in 2003. I have to say that I have actually heard this song performed in a church service. Oh yeah, lead singer Dex Alexander looks like Trevor Penick from O-Town.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hC92PjTDg8
"Faith My Eyes"- Caedmon's Call. This was the hardest band to pick a song from. Caedmon's Call has flown under the radar for so many years. This song from their critically acclaimed album "40 Acres" is just simply amazing. Just listen to it. Caedmon's Call would see even bigger success in 2007 when their song "10,000 Angels" was featured on an episode of "Grey's Anatomy".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOm6b-8_1Nk
"Homesick" - MercyMe. Wow what a great live performance here from Mercy Me's live DVD of their tour to accompany their 2004 album "Undone". This song peaked at #9 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart and was written about the band's heartache over losing 9 family members and friends in a period of just a few short weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhrPMJe8LE
"Courageous" - Casting Crowns. This theme song to the Sherwood Pictures feature film of the same name from earlier this year is yet another great Casting Crowns song. This song from their most recent album "Come To The Well" peaked at #23 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. Casting Crowns has one of the better stories of any band, as they began as a youth group worship band in Daytona Beach to become one of the biggest acts in Christian music history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkM-gDcmJeM
"Love Liberty Disco" - Newsboys. What a hilarious video! This Australian band always found a way to be entertaining. After being one of the bigger acts in the genre in mid 90's, peaking with 1996's "Take Me To Your Leader", this 1999 disco concept album failed to gain the momentum of previous albums by Newsboys. Despite that, we were still given an unbelievably hilarious video to accompany the title track from that album. Newsboys has gone through so many lineup changes in recent years, they have completely reinvented themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylyM-_vHKEA
"Consume Me" - dc Talk. Speaking of the devil! Former dc Talk member Michael Tait is now the lead singer of Newsboys. This song and unbelievably creative video would turn out to be the last for dc Talk. After their 1998 album "Supernatural" DEBUTED at #4 on the Billboard Hot 200 Charts, this video and single was released. However, dc Talk would disband in 2000. In 1995, dc Talk released "Jesus Freak", one of the best selling Christian albums of all time, which went double platinum and spawned the hit "Between You and Me" which went to #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Supernatural" did well in its own right going platinum on the heels of "Jesus Freak".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVlod4SdLD8
"By Your Side"- Tenth Avenue North. This single from Tenth Avenue North's debut album "Over And Underneath". This song written from the perspective of Jesus Christ, won the GMA Dove Award for Song of the Year in 2008. The first time I heard this song I thought it was Switchfoot.........speaking of Switchfoot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHgNCj4DU_M
"Dare You To Move"- Switchfoot. I LOVE THIS SONG! This single from Switchfoot's 2003 album "The Beautiful Letdown" peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. This widely popular song was featured on "One Tree Hill" and this video reached #2 on the VH1's Top 20 countdown. Jon Foreman is a very underrated front man. The dang guy just looks like he's 12 years old. This video is 100% serious, but watching it just now, all I could think about was "dang they were smart to be in the shade".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOTcr9wKC-o
"Crazy Times"- Jars Of Clay. After taking the world by storm with their double platinum debut self titled album, Jars Of Clay, mainly on the heels of their worldwide hit "Flood" which peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was featured in the movie "Hard Rain" as well as heavy video rotation on MTV, followed it up with 1997's "Much Afraid". This album also went platinum itself. This was the lead single from the album, and it picked right up where Jars Of Clay left off as far as sound and mood of the song. This song went to #38 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart. Pretty cool video here as well, just makes me think I'm watching Smashing Pumpkins or something- why did everyone in the 90's do the same thing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXzMNCkduy4
Flyleaf
Tenth Avenue North
Mae
In order to be considered in this category, the band had to be self proclaimed as a "Christian" band, on a Christian label at the time of the release or performed at Christian music festivals. U2 and Creed were disqualified for this reason. Petra and Stryker were left off the list just because they are so dang cheesy. No solo artists were considered for this category. Also receiving votes in this category were. "Sincerely" by Nevertheless, "Aware" by Salvador, "Come Undone" by Jackson Waters, and "Superfly" by the OC Supertones.
"Death Bed" - Relient K. In 2007, Relient K was gaining popularity from their album "Mmhmm", which included an appearance on "The Tonight Show". Their much anticipated follow up "Five Score and Seven Years Ago" released in 2007, debuted at #6 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart. Almost immediately, the band released "Must Have Done Something Right" which peaked at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the most intriguing song on the album is the nearly 11 minute epic which chronicles a man's first hand perception of his life as he lay dying on his deathbed. This song, while never released as a single, is a common song to close Relient K and has been a fan favorite ever since. The song also features a closing by Switchfoot lead singer Jon Foreman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egl8yQvnkqs
"All Around Me"- Flyleaf. In 2007, Flyleaf re-released their debut self titled album in order to reinvigorate the buzz behind a great album. This single fueled the fire as it hit #40 on the Billboard Hot 100, and hit #1 on the Christian charts. This video's push by Fuse and Yahoo! music helped push the album to over 1 million copies sold, making it one of the best selling Christian albums of all time. Lacey Sturm is an unreal lead singer- she's so passionate and freaking OWNS this song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN0FFK8JSYE
"The Unwinding Cable Car"- Anberlin. In 2007, Florida's Anberlin released their critically acclaimed "Cities", which peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 200 albums chart. Included was this single, which was the band's first ever slow song, and in a great case of music irony, this very inspiring song was included on the soundtrack for the 2008 horror film "House". Like most "off topic" slow songs by rock bands, this song was actually two songs that came together into one. Ever since I've known that I feel like I'm listening to a mashup. This video has always been one of my favorite on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ei1-vWL-t0
"Everything"- Lifehouse. In 2002, Lifehouse took America by storm with their debut album "No Name Face", which peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart and "Hanging By A Moment" shot all the way #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 that summer, making Lifehouse one of the top acts in the world. However, the song that closes out the album, was Jason Wade's most personal and intimate song is this one here, which has been featured in churches and youth center all over the world with its famous skit. The popularity of the song with fans led to it being included on the soundtrack of the television series "Smallville". Unbelievable live performance here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnB4ewmfdXo
"Innocent"- Stellar Kart. Stellar Kart made everyone think they were an 80's band with this video to accompany their fan favorite single from their hit album "Expect The Impossible" in 2008. This hilarious video shows how funny Stellar Kart really is as a band. Is it just me, or does the manager in this video look like Mike McQueary from Penn State? These guys remind me so much of Blink 182 it's not even funny. Still can't help but love Stellar Kart's sound. "Expect The Impossible" peaked at #66 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxMrGDd1cos
"Beautiful Love"- The Afters. This theme song to MTV's "8th and Ocean" climbed to #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006, and remained one of the most downloaded songs on iTunes during the show's initial run on MTV. Not bad for a band's debut single from their debut album "I Wish We All Could Win".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX9h4PPx41I
"Say This Sooner"- The Almost. In 2007, Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie released the debut album for his "side project" The Almost, "Southern Weather". The album was very similar to Dave Grohl's production of the Foo Fighters' debut self titled album, as Gillespie played virtually all instruments and performed all vocals on the album. The band was not added until the The Almost began touring in 2007 and the video was filmed. This video received significant play on Fuse and MySpace. The album debuted at #39 on the Billboard Hot 200 Album Charts, and would spawn a follow up album in 2009 "Monster Monster". Gillespie has yet to return to Underoath......hmmmm I wonder why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8x_1xSEsL4
"New Day"- Robbie Seay Band. What a fantastic song! This has to be my favorite song on this list! This song from Houston-based worship band Robbie Seay Band was included on their second album "Give Yourself Away". Robbie Seay Band has primarily found their following in churches and have received little airplay/mainstream promotion, but I still think they are one of the most talented bands out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owsap4Zs7bg
"Pierced"- Audio Adrenaline. Man! What another amazing song! This song from Audio Adrenaline's 2003 album "Worldwide" should have been a single......I'm just saying. Audio Adrenaline never quite matched their success of the mid-to-late 90's, but this album did crack the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart, and hit #4 on the Christian charts. Still one of the best bands I ever saw live.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M79PZunrNkg
"Zero"- Hawk Nelson. In 2006, Hawk Nelson was one of the biggest Christian bands around partially due to their video for "The One Thing I Have Left" hitting the #1 spot on VH1's Top 20 Video Countdown. This single from their album "Smile, It's The End Of The World". This song about suicide recovery is one of the band's more well known songs, and helped build them momentum for their widely popular follow up album "Hawk Nelson Is My Friend" released in 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFO7T2VPwdA
"The Ocean" - Mae. Man, what a fantastic album! Mae's debut album "Destination: Beautiful" has got to be one of my all time favorite albums. The album never got the play that "The Everglow" and "Singularity" got, but it's grassroots to the very core and is an unbelievably put together album in every sense of the word. I was sick when Mae announced their disbanding, as they will always be, in my opinion, one of the best Christian bands of all time. Unbelievable song here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvW9ctkWd88
"Monster" - Skillet. Skillet has got to be the only Christian band I've ever heard of charting in Japan, which is exactly what this song did in 2009. After the worldwide success of their debut album "Comatose", their follow up album "Awake" DEBUTED at #2 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums when it was released in 2009. The song has been widely used by WWE since it release, being featured on NBC's presentation of Wrestlemania XXV, and also used as the theme song for 2010's PPV "Hell In A Cell".......irony?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mjlM_RnsVE
"Paradigm" - All Together Separate. Man another awesome song! All Together Separate always kept a cult following until their disbanding in 2003. I have to say that I have actually heard this song performed in a church service. Oh yeah, lead singer Dex Alexander looks like Trevor Penick from O-Town.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hC92PjTDg8
"Faith My Eyes"- Caedmon's Call. This was the hardest band to pick a song from. Caedmon's Call has flown under the radar for so many years. This song from their critically acclaimed album "40 Acres" is just simply amazing. Just listen to it. Caedmon's Call would see even bigger success in 2007 when their song "10,000 Angels" was featured on an episode of "Grey's Anatomy".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOm6b-8_1Nk
"Homesick" - MercyMe. Wow what a great live performance here from Mercy Me's live DVD of their tour to accompany their 2004 album "Undone". This song peaked at #9 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart and was written about the band's heartache over losing 9 family members and friends in a period of just a few short weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhrPMJe8LE
"Courageous" - Casting Crowns. This theme song to the Sherwood Pictures feature film of the same name from earlier this year is yet another great Casting Crowns song. This song from their most recent album "Come To The Well" peaked at #23 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. Casting Crowns has one of the better stories of any band, as they began as a youth group worship band in Daytona Beach to become one of the biggest acts in Christian music history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkM-gDcmJeM
"Love Liberty Disco" - Newsboys. What a hilarious video! This Australian band always found a way to be entertaining. After being one of the bigger acts in the genre in mid 90's, peaking with 1996's "Take Me To Your Leader", this 1999 disco concept album failed to gain the momentum of previous albums by Newsboys. Despite that, we were still given an unbelievably hilarious video to accompany the title track from that album. Newsboys has gone through so many lineup changes in recent years, they have completely reinvented themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylyM-_vHKEA
"Consume Me" - dc Talk. Speaking of the devil! Former dc Talk member Michael Tait is now the lead singer of Newsboys. This song and unbelievably creative video would turn out to be the last for dc Talk. After their 1998 album "Supernatural" DEBUTED at #4 on the Billboard Hot 200 Charts, this video and single was released. However, dc Talk would disband in 2000. In 1995, dc Talk released "Jesus Freak", one of the best selling Christian albums of all time, which went double platinum and spawned the hit "Between You and Me" which went to #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Supernatural" did well in its own right going platinum on the heels of "Jesus Freak".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVlod4SdLD8
"By Your Side"- Tenth Avenue North. This single from Tenth Avenue North's debut album "Over And Underneath". This song written from the perspective of Jesus Christ, won the GMA Dove Award for Song of the Year in 2008. The first time I heard this song I thought it was Switchfoot.........speaking of Switchfoot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHgNCj4DU_M
"Dare You To Move"- Switchfoot. I LOVE THIS SONG! This single from Switchfoot's 2003 album "The Beautiful Letdown" peaked at #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. This widely popular song was featured on "One Tree Hill" and this video reached #2 on the VH1's Top 20 countdown. Jon Foreman is a very underrated front man. The dang guy just looks like he's 12 years old. This video is 100% serious, but watching it just now, all I could think about was "dang they were smart to be in the shade".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOTcr9wKC-o
"Crazy Times"- Jars Of Clay. After taking the world by storm with their double platinum debut self titled album, Jars Of Clay, mainly on the heels of their worldwide hit "Flood" which peaked at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was featured in the movie "Hard Rain" as well as heavy video rotation on MTV, followed it up with 1997's "Much Afraid". This album also went platinum itself. This was the lead single from the album, and it picked right up where Jars Of Clay left off as far as sound and mood of the song. This song went to #38 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart. Pretty cool video here as well, just makes me think I'm watching Smashing Pumpkins or something- why did everyone in the 90's do the same thing?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXzMNCkduy4
FlyleafTenth Avenue NorthMae
posted by General 5A Pigott at 12:09 AM
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