Re: Evanescence / Christian Band thing

["Bruce Lachey" <b_lachey at hotmail_com>]

Peter wrote:
>FWIW, that article was written by Chris Willman, who I believe used
>to be a staff writer with CCM magazine.  If I'm not mistaken, he's
>even written the liner notes to a Christian album or two in the last
>several years.
>
>Today's edition of ChristianityToday.com's Weblog has some stuff on
>this controversy and the band's "Christian" background, too.

In one of the surer signs of an impending apocalypse (along with the 
recapture of Babylon by our forces, and those pesky four horsemen/lawn 
service providers outside my condo window this morning), I rooted around 
that Christian website after getting this.  To spare the rest of y'all, 
here's the article:

. Evanescence interview leads to removal from Christian radio
. In the wake of having a hit song on the Daredevil movie
. soundtrack, Arkansas goth-rock band Evanescence quickly gained
. national attention. The sudden popularity of the single drove
. the group's first full-length album, Fallen, to debut seventh on
. the Billboard 200 album chart. In its fourth week, it's still in
. the top ten. In addition to wide mainstream radio play, the band
. also found a growing audience in Christian radio and bookstores.
.
. The dark hard rock group is signed to Wind-up Records along with
. Creed and 12 Stones, bands that, like Evanescence, explore spiritual
. questions in their lyrics. The label works with major Christian music
. distributor Provident. According to Rolling Stone, the group grew up
. through the underground Christian rock circuit. On Fallen's thank you
. list, guitarist Ben Moody lists Jesus Christ first, saying, "All the
. life left in me is you."
.
. It is surprising, then, that in a recent Entertainment Weekly
. interview (available online only with subscription), Moody
. says, "We're actually high on the Christian charts, and I'm
. like, 'What the f--- are we even doing there?'" The interview with
. Moody and lead singer Amy Lee is strewn with obscene language and
. taking of the Lord's name in vain.
.
. Because of the interview, Wind-up records is pulling Fallen from
. Christian radio and retail. In a statement dated April 10, label
. chairman Alan Meltzer wrote, "Despite having roots within the
. Christian community prior to the release of Fallen, recent statements
. by band members have made it abundantly clear that Evanescence is a
. secular band, and as such view their music as entertainment. No more,
. no less. As such we strongly feel that they no longer belong in
. Christian retail outlets."
.
. But did they belong there in the first place? Moody says no: "I
. guarantee that if the Christian bookstore owners listened to some of
. those songs, they wouldn't sell the CD." Several Christian music
. reviewers however have listened to the album and reviewed it
. favorably. Weblog owns the album and while it asks hard spiritual
. questions about wrestling with sin and confronting despair, it
. contains little that would make Christian booksellers squirm. It is
. an honest, thought-provoking, and seeking album. An sample of the
. lyrics: "I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming/Am I too lost to
. be saved?/Am I too lost?/My God, my tourniquet/Return me to
. salvation."
.
. Nevertheless, singer Lee says that religious perceptions of the band
. are not accurate. "There are people hell-bent on the idea that we're
. a Christian band in disguise, and that we have some secret message,"
. she says. "We have no spiritual affiliation with this music."
.
. Moody also says: "I'm not ashamed of my spiritual beliefs, but I in
. no way incorporate them into this band."
.
. Hmmm. That's odd, considering Moody's statement in a 2000 interview
. with Stranger Things Magazine: "The message we as a band want to
. convey more than anything is simple—God is Love. He is a just God,
. but a gracious God."
.
. He added in that interview: "We hope to express in our music that
. Christianity is not a rigid list of rules to follow only out of fear
. of an unseen deity who will strike you down at any given moment if
. you fail. I am a Christian. I still have fears. I still have pain. I
. still have sorrow. I wouldn't be alive if I didn't. The beautiful
. thing about my relationship with God is that he understands all that
. and he has shown me what life is really for. We write songs about
. things that happen in life. All of our songs are not about rainbows
. and sunshine. Sometimes it rains. Who can we help if we won't even
. talk about it?"
.
. Wind-up's Meltzer also notices a change in Evanescence's rhetoric.
. He says the band once wanted the album in the Christian market,
. despite Moody's apparent surprise that it is there. "The decision to
. release Fallen into the Christian market was made subsequent to
. discussions with and approval by the artist," Meltzer wrote in his
. statement. "Obviously the band has had a change in their perspective,
. as well as changes within the band itself as it relates to new band
. members. Wind-up deeply regrets this situation."


Huh.  I feel bad for Ben - he can't win in this situation.  You got your 
fans that buy your CDs in Christian joints ready for a CD-burning, and the 
radio/Daredevil fans' heads are spinning on the news that they liked some 
borderling Christian act.

No wonder K+L answer questions on this so delicately.  It's likely a 
lose-lose if answered in the slightest off-kilter.

Happy and free,
B

_________________________________________________________________
STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

---------------
Unsubscribe by going to http://www.actwin.com/OtR/