Christian alternative rock is a form of
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
music that is lyrically grounded in a
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
worldview. Some critics have suggested that unlike
CCM and older
Christian rock, Christian alternative rock generally emphasizes musical style over lyrical content as a defining genre characteristic,
though the degree to which the faith appears in the music varies from artist to artist.
History
Christian alternative music has its roots in the early 1980s, as the earliest efforts at
Christian punk and
new wave were recorded by artists like Andy McCarroll and Moral Support,
Undercover,
the 77s
The 77s (alternatively spelled the Seventy Sevens, the 77's, or simply 77's) is an American rock band consisting of Michael Roe on vocals/guitar, Mark Harmon on bass guitar, and Bruce Spencer on drums.
History
The group was "formed at a ch ...
,
Steve Scott,
Adam Again,
Quickflight,
Daniel Amos, Youth Choir (later renamed
the Choir),
Lifesavers Underground,
Michael Knott,
the Prayer Chain,
Altar Boys,
Breakfast with Amy
Breakfast with Amy was an American Christian alternative rock band, formed in 1986 in La Habra, California at the La Habra Four-Square church. At that time, the band consisted of vocalist David Koval, bassist Jeff "Tennessee Beans" Beahn, guitar ...
,
Steve Taylor,
4-4-1, David Edwards and
Vector
Vector most often refers to:
* Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction
* Disease vector, an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism
Vector may also refer to:
Mathematics a ...
. Early labels, most now-defunct, included
Blonde Vinyl,
Frontline,
Exit, and
Refuge.
By the 1990s, many of these bands and artists had disbanded, were no longer performing, or were being carried by independent labels because their music tended to be more lyrically complex (and often more controversial) than mainstream
Christian pop. The modern market is currently supported by labels such as
Tooth & Nail,
Gotee and
Floodgate. These companies are often children of, or partially owned, by general market labels such as
Warner,
EMI, and
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
, giving successful artists an opportunity to "cross over" into mainstream markets.
See also
*
7ball
*
HM: The Hard Music Magazine
*
True Tunes News
References
External links
God Save the Teens: Local Kids Seek a New Kind of Church Through Hardcore and Hip-Hopby Lauren Sandler in ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' May 30 to June 5, 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Alternative Rock
20th-century music genres
Alternative rock genres
Alternative