Older bands recently discovered

rockerVu2 wrote:

Xid, have I understood it well?
That you opened before Gideon's Army?

Not Gideon's Army but rather The Reach.  I didn't realize I missed a few posts and should have quoted the original post.

Xid wrote:

Not Gideon's Army but rather The Reach.  I didn't realize I missed a few posts and should have quoted the original post.

I understood what you meant. ;o)

I would love to have that debut album by The Reach, but it's pretty hard to find for a decent price. I have The Waterline by In Reach and the following album by Brett Williams And In Reach. Pretty decent AOR/Softrock

Rylore wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

All three of the Gideon' Army releases are now available through Retroactive Records.

I checked out Retroactive Records and they had nothing for selection. They had 55 albums under "Retroactive Records," 9 albums under "Born Twice Records," and 30 albums under "Bombworks."

The Retroactive Records website is notorious for not being updated.  Like them on Facebook and message the owner Matt Hunt.  He will set you up.  That's where I got mine from.

alldatndensum wrote:

Rylore wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:

All three of the Gideon' Army releases are now available through Retroactive Records.

I checked out Retroactive Records and they had nothing for selection. They had 55 albums under "Retroactive Records," 9 albums under "Born Twice Records," and 30 albums under "Bombworks."

The Retroactive Records website is notorious for not being updated.  Like them on Facebook and message the owner Matt Hunt.  He will set you up.  That's where I got mine from.

I don't have Facebook. I tried it out several years ago for nearly a year until they changed their privacy settings and I no longer had full control over what others could do to my stuff. I used to have every option turned off so that it was "Look, but don't touch." So I terminated it. It was completely useless anyway.

The whole "Like" thing on all these social sites is narcissistic anyway. I know people who upload photos and such to their profiles and if they don't get a certain number of "Likes," they delete them. They're looking for validation from everyone else around them, including strangers. Real psychologists (not the dime-a-dozen frauds churned out these days who find a way of making excuses for these people and placing the blame elsewhere) would have a hay day with all these people. This is society as a whole.

You can set up Facebook the same way.  It is all your choice, though.

Do you use Amazon or eBay?  On Amazon, look for the Gideon's Army releases through brutalplanetpromotions or something like that.  It is Matt Hunt.  If you buy new through Amazon, those albums are again being sold by Matt Hunt (user name Boone's Overstock).  If you don't like those, try searching through Boone's Overstock's webstore as that is owned by Matt Hunt.  Matt Hunt IS Retroactive Records.  He goes to great lengths to procure the legal rights to reissue music.

It'd be nice to be able to look through what albums he's been able to re-issue. There are some rare, hard to find albums I've had to download illegally in order to add to my collection, and I'd really like a better copy of those albums with the CD in my collection.

With Facebook, you can make your profile public or private. You can also choose who can and cannot see certain stuff you upload. However, none of that means a thing if I can't control what you can/cannot do with MY content. In the past, you couldn't post on my Wall, you couldn't "Like" any of the stuff I uploaded, you couldn't comment on anything I uploaded, and you couldn't link people in my photographs to their Facebook profiles. I turned all of those options off (they had like 50 options). Then, when they changed their privacy settings, you could no longer do any of that. I could still choose who can and cannot see certain stuff, but I could NOT prevent them from "Liking," commenting, or linking people in photos. I don't know if they finally smartened up and remedied that back the way it used to be, but it doesn't matter because I find Facebook utterly useless.  Wastes too much time in a person's life. I could list 101 problems with it (and every other social website) and the people who use it, such as addictiveness, drama, the #1 cause of adultery/divorce in America (fools looking up old flames from years past), etc. The only positive thing that comes from Facebook is that you get to see the real person, not the person they pretend to be in your presence. By what they speak (type), how they behave, and what they upload, you can see the REAL them, which often reveals false converts among professing "Christians." But I digress.

You know, it's sad. I have over 1100 Christian artists/bands in my music collection and 99% of those artists/bands 99% of the people in the church I attend have never heard of. I try to introduce them to some of that music, but it's hard to talk about the music because there's nobody I can talk to. The only person I'm able to talk to about the music and share music back and forth with by introducing artists/bands we've never heard of personally is a guy I met online who lives the next closest city to me. He has the same love of music that I have. My collection has music from the Jesus Music era and CCM, falling in all sorts of categories: rock, rap, country, metal, blues, folk, pop, industrial, instrumental, etc. I have a wide variety of eclectic taste when it comes to music. I wish I could find other Christians nearby who share that same interest and love so we could get together for coffee and chat about it. If I do that with 99% of the people in my church, they look at me like a deer caught in headlights.

Most of us have that same issue.  Even if it is radio friendly pop, most of the folks my age and younger just ignore Christian music.  Of course, some of the stuff that comes out today that is just the same sound and lyrical approach regurgitated over and over I don't blame people for ignoring.

That, and ridiculous so-called "worship" lyrics depicting disturbing romance written about our God (not that you can actually tell, since they rarely mention God or Jesus).

-- "...a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest" - How He Loves Me by John Mark McMillan
-- "As I feel your touch you bring a freedom to all that's within" - Pour Out My Heart by Craig Musseau
-- "Lay back against you and breathe, hear your heart beat, this love is so deep, it's more than I can stand" - The More I Seek You by Kari Jobe
-- "You call me child and I'll call you Father, kisses from heaven of joy and laughter . . . I want to lavish my love on you, Jesus"

This garbage isn't new, however. The Moravians, from the 1700s, did the same thing, but put it on warp speed and made it downright gross.

-- "O dear Lord Jesus Christ! Kiss, kiss, o kiss me please, pass through me nuptially. Make me hot through and through, O hole! O Kyrie Eleis[on]." - Nikolaus Renatus von Zinzendorf
-- Another hymn described: The wounds of Jesus provide nourishment for the soul. The wounds are described as a warm and soft bed in which to lie. The worshiper says, "I like lying calm, gentle, and quiet and warm. What shall I do? I crawl to you." The believer longs to return to the womb, to crawl inside the "deep wounds of Jesus" and lie there safe and protected. The brothers and sisters joined the "many thousand kinds of sinners" who sat in the "treasure hoard" of the "cavernous wounds of Jesus."
-- "Little side hole! Little side hole! Little side hole, thou art mine: most dear little side hole, I wish myself entirely inside. Ah, my little side hole!"

From the mid-90s onward, with few exceptions, it's like Christian music entered a Laodicean phase. Most the stuff prior was really decent lyrically, while some of the current stuff is fairly decent lyrically. From the Jesus Music era to early CCM, you used to be able to hear and see the love for and worship of Jesus in their music. Then certain artists got a love for the world and were ashamed to speak of Jesus because they wanted to be approved of and accepted by the world. I still prefer the older music (much of it before my time) because it allows me to worship at the same time I'm having a rockin' good time. It convicts me, it encourages me, it lifts me up, and it drives me into His presence.

^There's a pretty great episode of South Park (though NOT for the easily offended...) in which the kids start a Christian rock band by taking popular songs and switching the lyrics of "baby" or "honey" or whatever to "Jesus."

But with regards to the original topic, I don't know what constitutes as "old" but I recently picked up a couple of Morphia's albums which I've been really enjoying a lot!  (Their last album was released 11 years ago so not super old...)  They play melodic and symphonic doom/death metal and while they're not a "Christian band" I don't think, they've got some Christian themes.

Quote :

From the mid-90s onward, with few exceptions, it's like Christian music entered a Laodicean phase. Most the stuff prior was really decent lyrically, while some of the current stuff is fairly decent lyrically. From the Jesus Music era to early CCM, you used to be able to hear and see the love for and worship of Jesus in their music. Then certain artists got a love for the world and were ashamed to speak of Jesus because they wanted to be approved of and accepted by the world. I still prefer the older music (much of it before my time) because it allows me to worship at the same time I'm having a rockin' good time. It convicts me, it encourages me, it lifts me up, and it drives me into His presence.

You have to be careful with that broad brush.  While I think you have hit a good description of the CCM industry as a whole, there are many artists who you would be judging without knowing their heart, their mission, etc.  Not every band that doesn't have their JPM (Jesus Per Minute) meter running is trying to be worldly.  Some are actually trying to be more poetic so that their message goes down a little easier.  Think of it as baby steps towards Jesus.  Be careful not to judge improperly as we don't know everything about each artist and what they are trying to do.  I've fallen into that trap myself.  It is an easy slope to slide on towards becoming more and more legalistic.

I'm sorry, but there's nothing legalistic about it. Scripture clearly states, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" (Rom. 10:14), and, "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). Their music is their ministry. If they never mention Jesus or explain the Gospel in their music, they are blind in thinking the lost will ever find, let alone come to, Jesus. The message needs to be clear and precise. Those are not the only passages in Scripture that state this. Whatever our ministry, our message needs to be clear and precise. Not obscure and hidden. Good intentions don't count for squat. We need to be obedient to the Word. Too many people are trying to do it their own way and create their own methods when God clearly laid out His way and His method, which seems foolish to many people. Including professing Christians.

Not too long ago somewhere in the US, a pastor decided to put a pulpit up on stage and to wear a suit Sunday mornings. Previously, he'd just wander back and forth on the stage and wore regular clothing. His style of preaching didn't change. His message didn't change. He merely stood behind a pulpit and wore a suit. Families started leaving his church in droves, some accusing him of becoming a false teacher. Why? He didn't change what he was preaching or how he was preaching it. He only added a pulpit and wore a suit. The reason people started to leave? Because the pulpit and a suit shows a kind of authority. It proclaims, "Thus says the Lord." The people started to HEAR what he was preaching rather than passively listening while distracted by watching him wander the stage. The Gospel IS offensive and NOTHING we do is going to change that. Did Jesus ever water down the Gospel and try making it more palatable for the goats? No! Neither should we. The Gospel will NEVER go down easier for those who are perishing because they HATE God. Trying to make it do so will only create false converts. Holiness is not legalism, nor is obedience. It is a command. "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16).

The purpose of Christian music is three-fold:
1. To exalt (glorify) God,
2. To edify (build up) the believers, and
3. To evangelize the lost.

Sadly, it looks like we won't be able to finish this conversation. I had hoped to discuss this a bit more, but I guess Rylore took his toys and went home.

Bummer

Staybrite wrote:

I can't believe you never heard that Lex Rex.  I had their first album on my trade list for over a year (never could get into them).

I had never heard them until 2013.  I've finally tracked down a CD of "Beat The Heat" which is awesome to these ears.  I still would like to track down a better copy of their "The Devil's Nightmare" cassette only release.  I have some poor quality 128 kbps MP3s.

Glad I'm not the only person who has never heard of Lex Rex.
How do they sound?

I totally dig that Lex Rex album... never found one for my collection, but I do have an mp3 rip of it and think it's well done !

Thanks for sharing this.
It's cool.