What’s God got to do with it?
I have been very dismissive of Christian rock and pop but this is not, by any stretch of the lexicon, a religious bias. I am a huge Gospel fan. But I dislike the watered down spirituals of Christian pop and dislike even more the distasteful smug stupidity of Christian rock. From Creed to Hillsong, this is simply not good rock and not good religion. Christian country is all over the place, but it is as great as the George Jones (or Elvis Presley) singing it.
But modern day Christian music is just not good. Sure there’s POD I can’t think of one Christian rock or popstar I admire.
Except, maybe Amy Grant, who is performing at Irving Plaza August 23rd, and whose new album How Mercy Looks From Here is somewhat on the unspeakable side. And David Crowder, who isn’t playing locally but whose The Essential Collection lives up to its name.
Amy Grant didn’t invent Christian pop yet she still perfected a meeting ground with the secular. Her skills as a tunesmith are real and her success is huge She is simply the biggest and for once it is because she is simply the best. From 1991’s breakthrough, the excellent in any idiom “Baby, Baby” all the way to 2011’s “Better Than A Hallelujah”, the current album has guest stars galore but the songs are about as slack as Amy is capable of writing. Still, the opportunity to see Amy live in the tiny iriving Plaza is really big and while Amy can fall into MOR spirituals with the best of them, there is something of the pop star about her. She is big time.
The David Crowder Band have broken into two, Crowder going solo and the rest forming The Digital Age, so this hits collections is something of a farewell to, with, as always, the exception of POD, easily the best Christian rock band of all time. They have the muso-isms of a Dave Matthews and the bombast of a U2 and the rhythm department of a middling funk band, put it all together and you have a really unique sound that needs no real ghetto spiritual tags to signify.
DCB played locally around two years ago and I blew it off thinking I would catch em the next time, but now there is no next time so I am crankin’ the Hits instead. I won’t make that mistake with Amy Grant!
The David Crowder Band Essential Collection – A
How Mercy Looks From Here – Amy Grant – C-