Kahn's Top 10: Christian Rock

Today I’m going to change things up a little bit a do a list that a lot of my readers might not be familiar with.  The top-40 radio station in Rochester has a program on Sunday mornings called Straight from the Heart.  It’s really geared toward teens, but they play popular Christian rock songs during this program.  I started listening to this a couple of years ago and realized that there is a ton of great music that I hadn’t tapped into yet.  After listening to the same classic rock songs for 15 years, and not being a big fan of most top-40 pop music, I was excited to stumble across some music that really sounded good, and made me feel good as well.  So here we go with my list of favorite Christian rock bands and artists.

1. Kutless – This band has only been around for a few years, but have three excellent albums under their belts already.  Their Sea of Faces album is my favorite, and I highly recommend it.  I can’t exactly lay my finger on why, but Kutless is my favorite band in this genre.  I just really enjoy the guitar riffs, harmonies, and catchy choruses in their songs. 
2. Jeremy Camp – He has some great heavier rock songs, but also some touching ballads.  For a good feel of his lighter side, listen to Jeremy Camp: Live Unplugged.  Jeremy’s only in his mid-20’s, but has already been through a lot in his life.  His first wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer shortly after they were married, and died just a few months later.  With that in mind, the lyrics of his songs are much more powerful.   
3. Audio Adrenaline – Their best-of collection,  Hit Parade, introduced me to the band and I loved what I heard.  It’s hard to categorize their musical style because they have used quite a few different ones.  Most of their stuff is pretty much like pop-rock, but they have an element of funk in a lot of their songs that makes for some pretty cool guitar riffs. 
4. Third Day – They have a southern rock style, and their lead singer, Mac Powell has a great raspy baritone voice.  Their part live, part studio albums, Offerings, and Offerings II are excellent introductions to their music.  When I checked their website I saw they are in Minneapolis on 2/25, and in Ames on 2/26, touring to promote their new album Wherever You Are, which is also very good.
5. DC Talk – It’s too bad I only recently started listening to DC Talk’s music.  They had been around for years, but split up for solo careers in about 2000.  DC Talk started in more of an R&B style, but evolved into more of a rock band in their later albums.  I’m a bigger fan of their later stuff, and their song “Jesus Freak” is one of my favorites.  Their Intermission: The Greatest Hits album is a good introduction to the band.  I can’t help but remember a guy that I went to middle school with, who had a DC Talk wrist watch.  We would always ask him if it talked, which of course it didn’t, but we thought we were funny.
6. Switchfoot – They crossed over to mainstream rock with their 2003 The Beautiful Letdown album, which contained the hits “Meant to Live” and “Dare you to Move.”  That was the first I’d heard of Switchfoot too, but they actually have been around since 1997 and had three previous albums.  I highly recommend The Beautiful Letdown.  It’s one of those rare albums where none of the tracks are skip-worthy.
7. Falling Up – These guys are pretty new, and just released their second album, Dawn Escapes, last year.  I like their sophomore album, as a whole, better than their first album.  Their big hit from their first album was a song called “Escalates,” and that song got me interested in the band.  It’s worth an iTunes purchase for those of you who use that. 
8. Hawk Nelson – They are also new to the scene and just have one album released so far, but it’s a good one.  Hawk Nelson has a pop/punk sound that kind of reminds me of Good Charlotte and Simple Plan.  Their songs have very catchy hooks and were quick to grow on me. 
9. Skillet – This band is a little heavier, and has kind of an industrial sound on some of their albums.  The interesting thing is that Skillet consists of two guys and two girls.  You don’t see that too often in a hard rock band. 
10. The O.C. Supertones – Their style is mostly ska, and I’ve always liked ska music.  I guess I enjoy the horns that ska music usually has, and it makes me think back to my trumpet playing days.  The O.C. Supertones have a lot of energy and very catchy songs.  Their album, Hi-Fi Revival is probably my favorite of theirs. 

A lot of these artists can be found on the X compilation CDs.  If you’re interested, I would recommend the X 2004 album, for a good sampling of these artists.