Critical Mass is a Canadian

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...

music group from

Waterloo Region The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...

. The band is heavily influenced by its Catholic roots. They have produced and released seven albums. Their songs have appeared on albums that have sold more than 60,000 copies, making this band one of Canada's most successful independent artists.

Meaning of the name

The name has a double meaning. It is both a reference to the

Liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

and a reference to

critical mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fissi ...

in the physical sense. "Critical mass" is symbolically a reference to there being enough young people enthusiastic about their Catholic faith to cause a spiritual explosion.

History of the band

Critical Mass started in 1997 by David Wang as a way to introduce Catholic youth to

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

. Initially the group focused on leading worship at youth events and Masses. The original group members were Matt and Tim Devine, Eric Kubica, Tom and Sharon Pawelko, Matthew Bierschbach, Lorraine Adams, and David and Jodie Wang. The band wrote original music influenced by their

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith. Their first album was a demo recording, ''Faith Looks Up'' and received positive reviews. The album went on to win the band ''Best International Group and Best Modern Rock/Alternative album'' from the United Catholic Music and Video Association. One of the songs, ''I'll Be Fine'' topped the spiritual rock charts at mp3.com. Lorraine Adams left the band in 1999. Their second album ''Completely'' was produced by Andrew Horrocks and had a more professional sound than the debut demo release. The album immediately garnered the ''Best Album of the Year'' at the Canadian Gospel Music Association's

Covenant Awards The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in Ca ...

. The song ''Humility'' was finalist for ''Rock Song of the Year'' as well. The Canadian Gospel Music Association and their

are the equivalent of the prestigious

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Award ...

in the United States. The success of ''Completely'' resulted in the group being invited to be one of the major two bands involved in the larger liturgical celebrations at

World Youth Day 2002 The 17th World Youth Day 2002 (french: Journées mondiales de la jeunesse 2002) was a Catholic youth festival held July 23 to 28, 2002, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. World Youth Day is a celebration of faith begun by Pope Saint John Paul II held ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. The band was given the honor of performing at both the Papal Welcoming Ceremony and at the Papal

Vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' (Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become genera ...

, the latter of which was seen by the 600,000 in attendance and on international television. Except for David Wang, the members of the band then left to pursue other projects. Tim Devine has since entered the priesthood with the

Companions of the Cross , image = , image_size = 25px , abbreviation = C.C. , motto = , formation = , founder = Rev. Robert 'Bob' Bedard, CC , type = Roman Catholic Society of Apostol ...

. David Wang and new band members Scott McKendrick, Luke Kupczyk, Tracey Doyle, Paul Kieffer, Lawrence Lam and assisted by Harvey Armoogan continued the mission of Critical Mass with the album ''Grasping for Hope in the Darkness'' which was released on September 11, 2004. It too, won ''Best Rock Album'' honours at the Covenant Awards. Their cover of the

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

classic, ''

Carry On Wayward Son "Carry On Wayward Son" is a song by American rock band Kansas, released from the band's fourth studio album ''Leftoverture'' (1976). Written by guitarist Kerry Livgren, the song became the band's first Top 40 single, reaching No. 11 on the US ' ...

'' also was nominated for ''Best Rock Song''. Over the next two years, Critical Mass extended its reach into the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with touring and retreats. In October 2006, the band again received ''International Group of the Year'' honours from the ''United Catholic Music and Video Association''. About the same time the band was joined by new member Dave Flitton. In 2007, Critical Mass released a live praise and worship effort called ''Celebrate'', which includes covers of popular worship songs as well as some remakes of songs from the album ''Completely''. This album was nominated for 6 United Catholic Music and Video Association Awards. In 2009, Critical Mass released "Body Language", an album based on Pope John Paul II's

Theology of the Body ''Theology of the Body'' is the topic of a series of 129 lectures given by Pope John Paul II during his Wednesday audiences in St. Peter's Square and the Paul VI Audience Hall between September 5, 1979, and November 28, 1984. It constitutes an a ...

. This is one of the first Christian rock albums to ever deal so explicitly with the topics of sex, love and communion, in a Catholic Christian context. Critical Mass marked 2012 with the release of ''15 (1997-2012)'', a compilation album with three new songs along with 12 other songs from their catalog. In 2021, Critical Mass ended a 9 year absence from the music scene with the release of Serenity, a concept album that followed lead singer David Wang's journey from separation, divorce, mental health, parental alienation to faith, hope and love. In addition to performing, founder David Wang influences the direction of the

contemporary Catholic music Contemporary Catholic liturgical music encompasses a comprehensive variety of styles of music for Catholic liturgy that grew both before and after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II). The dominant style in English-speaking Canad ...

scene as a music

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...

for the ''

Catholic Register ''The Catholic Register'' is a Canadian weekly newspaper published by the Archdiocese of Toronto. Founded in 1893, it is the oldest English-language Catholic publication in Canada. Based in Toronto, Ontario, and circulated nationally, it is publ ...

'', a position he has held since 1995. Critical Mass has had a part to play in a recent return by the youth to more traditional Catholicism When asked if they would ever consider signing with a major record label they stated that they "are an independent band and very proud of it".

Members

*Dave Wang - vocals *April Philpotts - keyboard *Luke Kupczyk - guitar *Scott McKendrick - bass *Dave Flitton - keyboard, guitar *Kevin Dupuis - guitar *Adam Dupuis - drums *Paul Kieffer - drums (past) *Tracey Doyle - percussion (past) *Lawrence Lam - keyboard (past)

Television appearances

Critical Mass has been featured in two 1 hour music specials on

Salt + Light Television Salt + Light Television is a Canadian multi-lingual Category B television channel owned by the not-for-profit Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and based in Toronto, Ontario. The channel broadcasts faith-based programming for Roman Cath ...

and has been featured on the CBC and

Vision TV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia, a company ...

, among others.

Discography

Albums

* ''Faith Looks Up'' (1997, Producer Ron Roy) * ''Broken Records Sampler'' (1998, Critical Mass contributed one song, "Wisdom") * ''Completely'' (2000, Producer Andrew Horrocks) * ''Light of the World/Lumiere du Monde'' (2002, Official CD of World Youth Day 2002, Critical Mass contributed the song "Share it with the World") * ''Grasping For Hope in the Darkness'' (2004, Producer Andrew Horrocks) * ''Celebrate'' (2006, Producer Andrew Horrocks) * ''Gift of God'' (2007, a compilation CD for the Eucharistic Congress in 2008, Critical Mass contributed 2 songs to this compilation: "Reverend Larebil" and "Body and Blood", while David Wang was the executive producer for the CD) * ''Catholic Music 2007'' (2007, a very successful collection by SpiritWing Records. Critical Mass contributed the song "Dorian Gray") * ''Catholic Music 2008'' ( Critical Mass contributed the song "Body and Blood") * ''Rocking Romans- Best of new Catholic Music 2008'' (Critical Mass contributed the song "Body and Blood") * ''Body Language'' (2009, Producer Andrew Horrocks) * ''15 (1997-2012)'' (2012, Producer Andrew Horrocks) * ''Serenity'' (2021, Producer Andrew Horrocks)

Music videos

* ''I'll Be Fine'', 1998, directed by

Ray Lyell Ray Lyell (born 1962 in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and vocal coach. Career Ray Lyell came to prominence with his band, the Storm, in the late 1980s. Ray Lyell and the Storm released their self-titled debut album in 1989. ...

* ''Body and Blood'', 1998, directed by Ray Lyell * ''Kephas'', 1997, directed by Ray Lyell * ''Mary's Song'', 2003, produced b
Salt and Light Television
(notable for featuring scenes from

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...

The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary M ...

and, for copyright reasons, has never been made publicly available except for Salt and Light Television) * ''Set Me Free'', 2003, directed by David Wang, promotional video only * ''Your Mysterious Ways'', 2005, directed by David Wang, promotional video only * ''Dorian Gray'', 2005, concept by David Wang, live footage fro
Salt and Light Television
* ''War'', 2013, concept and editing by David Wang * ''O Canada'', 2017, filmed and directed by David Wang, nominated for Canadian Gospel Music Association Best Video Award 2017 * ''Be Not Afraid'' by Catholic Artists from Home, 200520, participation of David Wang * ''Misery My Friend'', 2020, created and directed by David Wang * ''Serenity'', 2021, created and directed by David Wang * ''Leaving Town'', 2021, directed by David Wang, Official selection: Fillum International Storical & Short Film Festival, First Time Filmmaker Sessions, Lift-Off Sessions, Finalist: Sweden Film Awards * ''AlieNation'', 2021, directed by David Wang

Songs on compilations

* ''Gift Of God: Célébrons'', "Reverend Larebil", "Body And Blood (Adoremus Version)" (2007)

Awards

GMA Canada Covenant Awards

* 2000 Rock Album Of The Year: ''Completely'' * 2005 Rock Album Of The Year: ''Grasping For Hope In The Darkness''

GMA Canada Covenant Award Nominations

* 1997 Rock Album of the Year: ''Faith Looks Up'' * 2000 Rock Song of the Year: ''Humility'' * 2005 Rock Song of the Year: ''Carry On Wayward Son'' * 2007 Special Events Album of the Year ''Gift of God'' * 2012 Special Events Album of the Year ''15 (1997-2012)'' * 2017 Music Video of the Year ''O Canada''

United Catholic Music and Video Association Unity Awards

* 2000 International Group of the year * 2000 Modern Rock/ Alternative Album of the Year: '' Faith Looks Up'' * 2006 International Group of the year

Rocking Romans International Catholic Music Competition

* 2007 Band of the Year

References

External links

criticalmassmusic.org

United Catholic Music and Video Association

Canadian Gospel Music Association

Catholic Register

Salt + Light

rockingromans.com

catholicmusicnetwork.com

katholicus.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Critical Mass Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups from the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Canadian Christian rock groups 1996 establishments in Ontario