Favorite Albums of 2005

[Brwn_eyes0511]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

So were a ton of other mainstream artists, a point which you seem unable to address. Look at Johnny Cash's last big hit, 2003's "Hurt." Since it was originally a Nine Inch Nails song, I have a really hard time calling this country, but Mr. Cash was the type of guy who could cross all kind of musical boundaries. The song itself wasn't necessarily religious (originally, it was about the angst of wanting to beat heroin), but the video featured lots of footage of a movie about the life of Jesus that Mr. Cash produced himself. The result was a visual that suggested a man who was close to death calling out for Jesus. How Christian is that? That's the type of thing that is religious, crosses all kinds of musical genres, and was able to earn the respect of critics, consumers, and musicians. If anything, this one song probably earned him MORE fans. It was art at its purist, and deeply honest. There was no backlash.

All great examples and I stand corrected about that.

Which is a point I made when I said: "They're using the almighty as a marketing tool to raise money. Hopefully, the money is being raised for some credible ministry..."

There ministry is to sing and witness to people, it has nothing to do with money. They have to make a living too...

Labels are about making money. The only reason there might be a "Christian" label is because they are able to focus their marketing on a certain segment of society. Even the prized "indy" label is out to turn a profit. So, this point hold absolutely no weight as far as I'm concerned.

A Christian label is a Christian label...I mean I don't know what to say here except "those are the facts"

I don't think he was referring to sales potential. He was referring to creative potential. Look at Amy Grant. She was a superstar on the Christian music scene, but had to leave it once it started limiting her.

I don't think Amy ever "left" the Christian Music Industry...but it can be a very limiting thing at times! She described it as "scratching someone’s back in the same place over and over...pretty soon the person is either going to tell you to stop or move to a different area." And she did feel as a songwriter that she needed to explore other things...which she does.

But you don't understand, because you are not a listener of Christian music (so I take it). Christian artist DO sing about other things, like Amy. So I don't understand what you are trying to say? The reason that a lot of them don't hit mainstream is not because they or their labels don't want them to...it's mostly because they are with independent labels. Most Contemporary Christian artists write better and more intriguing material than half of the secular pop world out there now.