Synopsis
The soundtrack of a movement.
A political documentary that tells the stories of over 25 artists who give depictions of the controversy surrounding Christian Rock in the 70's.
The Jesus Music
2021 Directed by Jon Erwin, Andrew Erwin
Cast
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Consider this my personal "Summer of Soul". The way so many people in 2021 have raved about the importance of that documentary, I feel that way about "The Jesus Music." In charting the history of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), a genre of music (and magazine) that defined my childhood and young adult years and greatly impacted my relationship with Christ, this film goes all the way back to the hippie years of the 70's and explains how rockers who loved Jesus slowly began putting "Jesus lyrics" to their music and created something entirely new. From there it travels through the decades hitting style changes and confronting industry-level changes and struggles along the way.
I absolutely love that there are dozens…
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Genuinely blown away. Aside from the nostalgia, there was a lot that I didn’t know about the origins of CCM, LONG before the dcTalk/Audio-A days (my era). A lot of it made me sad by the way they were treated by the “church”, and I remember seeing some of it growing up. And I’m even sadder because I feel like I have even less hope of the greatest Christian rock band ever finally getting back together… still have a small glimmer of hope, but not much.
Another thing I didn’t know was how instrumental Billy Graham was in all of it. The man was truly one of the greatest visionaries of our time, and have a feeling that he was smiling from heaven when this film was first screened. Probably my favorite film of the year thus far, and I don’t know if it will be topped.
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Only a foolish man/woman would underestimate the power of a song or a voice to lift people spirits and renew their faith in a one true powerful force no matter the religious orientation. An insightful if ultimately by the numbers musical documentary that traces the evolution of Christian contemporary music. The pioneers, biggest superstars, and other artists that have build the genre into a billion dollar industry and sold out stadium concerts around the world that are have been enjoyed by millions and many more in the certain future. I understand that some out there will not share the beliefs and thoughts that the lineup of subjects offer through interviews accompanied with archival footage but one thing that can’t be…
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The poster and marketing materials for The Jesus Music, an essential new documentary about the history of Contemporary Christian Music, touts that it's "the soundtrack to a movement," and that lofty description is surprisingly accurate. The filmmakers, who have previously brought faith-based films such as I Still Believe and I Can Only Imagine, have left no stone unturned and have spoken to seemingly every mover and shaker in the 50-year-old Christian music scene. The all-stars and heavy hitters are here: Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, all three members of D.C. Talk, Steven Curtis Chapman, Kirk Franklin, and members of bands as diverse as Stryper, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, Third Day, and Jars of Clay, plus loads more.
Full disclosure, I grew…
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Jesus Freak by DC Talk still slaps to this day.
The world expects Christians to be perfect and name call after we make mistakes. I know this is what non-believers think when they watch this. But what the world needs to know is we're flawed sinful human beings just like them. Only difference is we've accepted that Jesus Christ is the son of God, who died on the cross for our sins, who took the wrath of God upon himself, all to save wretched human beings like you and me.
I will glorify him, I will follow him, I will obey his commandments. He is my savior, my God. If one of my followers is reading this, this is what… -
Idk man, like the rise of Contemporary Christian Music is definitely an interesting phenomenon, and I always love to see my boys in Stryper (even though they're pretty conservative and evangelical and I don't even like metal music anymore), and it's cool to see the ways that various churches and church leaders condemned the intriduction of modern rock music into Christian music because they thought it would be a corrupting influence - and how, in some cases, they were actually right!
It's fascinating in some respects, but also, as a guy raised protestant myself (Church of Christ, to be specific), I just get so annoyed when these Christian music dudes (or Christians in general) consider themselves like these real rebels…
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I’m actually very pleasantly surprised! The movie did a good job of cataloguing the rise of Christian music while still seeming objective in its history and controversies.
Although, at times the documentary felt sort of scatterbrained and pushing too hard for emotion. Also, it was kind of funny because they forgot to put a bunch of people they interviewed in the actual meat, so they just pushed them all to like the last 30 seconds?
it was pretty good though, thanks for taking
us to see it, mom -
I wish a non-secular person would have made a documentary on it but this was surprisingly honest in places so that was refreshing.
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It's more critical and introspective then I expected, but it also mentions two lightning rods- Billy Graham and Hillsong Church - as just passing mentions on their influence, without talking the negative associated with both.
Cripes, the most controversial it gets is the cancellation of Amy Grant following her divorce with Vince Gill and people wanting her not to perform with bigger name bands of the time.
But it is interesting to look at the music's early start, the different types of music it inspired, and the artists that eventually broke big with one or two songs before that type of fame burned them out again.
Still, it's inoffensive enough and you can't deny the impact some of these songwriters and musicians have had in their careers.