Skillet

One aspect that I analyzed in country music was the presence of religion. This is an issue that many sociologists choose to analyze because of its relation to organizations and groups. In country music there is a strong Christian presence and although it didn’t occur considerably in the songs I analyzed, it tends to be the only religion associated with country music. Religion “Plays a key role in developing people’s ideas about right and wrong” (2015; 75). This sole reason can be a major influence in many country lyrics, as well as the culture of country music.

“If you came here to see spandex and big hair, this ain’t your band”, Metallica’s “war cry” throughout the early eighties. While the rest of the hard rock bands wanted to get rich and a lot of women, Metallica, as in the words of former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, “Our hole existence pretty much was guitar, dominating the world and getting liquored up”.

In a time where the majority of music is about making money, doing drugs, or having sex, it is complicated for music concerning other topics to gain attention. However, there are always a few jewels that beat the odds. Lecrae, the stage name of a Christian lyricist who piously centers his music around the teachings of Jesus Christ, is one of those jewels. In all of his songs there are explicit references that all of his energy is channeled into doing the will of God. Typically Lecrae’s genre of music is overlooked by the majority population because it lacks the pizazz in the beat that popular music has. As a result of this millions of people get deprived of the content of Christian music which has the power to

In the excerpt from “Rock & Roll JIhad” by Salman Ahmad, a boy’s life is revised by his first rock band experience. Salman had shown up to a Zed Zeppelin concert completely unaware of any songs he sang. When the first song had played Salman’s spirit had been taken away with the music. The guitar player, jimmy page had put a spell on salman, the technical fingering Jimmy on the guitar had blown salams mind completely. What had felt like a split second to him had realistically been almost three hours. His soul had stayed attached to the music, that moment had drastically transformed Salman’s look on life. From that moment on He knew that he had found his passion and his purpose in life.

In the beginning, the guitar’s sound is astonishing beautiful and alluring. Because of this the entire band becomes star-struck as they gain fans and are discovered by a producer. However, Alexie

The song “Hurt” written by Trent Reznor and originally performed by his band Nine Inch Nails is a melancholy, haunting song. Nine Inch Nails’ version was recorded in 1994 and rerecorded and released by Johnny Cash in 2002. Each of the performers has a style, which some people would argue is at opposite ends of the spectrum of popular music; one is what is referred to as “Industrial Rock”, the other is country. Indeed, the musical genres are diverse; however, the song “Hurt” transcends the boundaries between old and new, hard and soft, and especially the differences and similarities between these men.

When guitarist Les Godfrey and bassist Nick Sewell left their previous project TCHORT in August of 2002, the garage-metal band of nearly 10 years had played with practically every heavy band that came through town - from the trippy sludge of KYUSS, to the shrieking metal fury of KING DIAMOND - and everyone in between. Born a week apart apart in December of 1975, Godfrey and Sewell had a vision for the new band they wished to form. Citing what would later become a mantra for the project - Godfrey coined the phrase 'Instant Gratification'

It’s been 15 years since classically trained pianist and actor Richard Greenblatt blew Toronto audiences away with "Soft Pedalling," his one-man show that toured Canada for two years; and it’s been nine years since Ted Dykstra caused a sensation at the keyboards in Paul Ledoux and David Young’s evangelical rock musical, "Fire" (though less than one since Dykstra’s exquisite rendering of oily Cousin Kevin in the Toronto production of "Tommy").

The Gospel and the Grateful Dead by The Rev. Dr. Pitman B. Potter discussed the spiritual themes present through the work of the Grateful Dead. This book went into great detail and examined the lyrics and actions of the band. The themes in this book directly reflected the spiritual and biblical values of community, and sharing, as well as the importance of thanksgiving and praise. One of the biggest messages that is present through the entire novel is the theme of community. Potter uses Brandelius’ quote, “Musical performances too were structured as community events—in some cases, dance classes—and funded on a shoestring budget with little, if any, actual profit returning to the band.”

Chapter 18 was engaging to read and discuss in class. Throughout the chapter, we were give a detailed description of two concepts that came to life during the 1960s and further on. One of these concepts was, ‘The Power Trios’ which displayed the musical capacities of many guitarists. Most of them were given double duties by playing both the rhythm and lead roles. Just like any other genre of rock and roll the influence of the power trio came from Chicago blue bands and specifically from the Muddy Waters trio. The second concept we talked about was Heavy Metal. This style of music is strongly supported by drum and bass rhythms, which were developed in Britain. This genre of music was highly criticized by social media due to the negative attention

In this article Robert Tinajero analyzes rap/hip-hop through its Christian religious ethos and the deception of how the media attempts to use rap/hip-hop for the reason why religion ethos in lyrics can change the views of young urban adults to be non-affiliated with a religion (Tinajero, 2013). Rappers use a form of religion in lyrics that have characteristics of the common suffering of Jesus and the mistrust of society with the goods and evils in urban communities.

A man once said that music is the heart and soul of a person. He was correct, because the Rolling Stones put their heart and soul into their music. It was said that in the University of California students taking musical courses learned about how the Stones changed music and its evolution (Weiner 136). The Rolling Stones put much effort in making their music, revealing the darker yet bolder side of rock and roll (“The Rolling Stones Biography” 2). In a way, the music created by the Stones had a topic of new realism, or a harsh reality. But they also wrote catchy tunes to party along and bop around with. With the title “World’s Greatest Rock Band,” (Weiner 146) the Stone’s music definitely lived up to its title.

In John Van Sloten’s The Day Metallica Came to Church, he takes a seemingly unholy, non-Christian, however you want to say it, aspect of life, in this case the band Metallica, and make an argument for why even it is God glorifying. Metallica is a very popular heavy metal band that on the surfaces seems like it has absolutely nothing to do with God or the church. Van Sloten however, finds a way to argue they have a lot more to do with God than a lot of people, even the band itself, thinks. So much so to deliver a sermon on it in his church in Calgary. This sermon and idea also lead to this book on which he extends his ideas about Metallica to several other aspects of life that we often keep separate from God. We as Christians like to live compartmentalized

Throughout this paper I will be discussing the band Nirvana and their history has a band. I will discuss how they became so popular and why. Furthermore, I will discuss how this mass popularity relates to the impact they had on the development of youth culture at the time. I have chosen two songs to discuss and compare. These songs are “Come As You Are” and “Lithium”. Both were written by Nirvana and were hits on their second album “Nevermind”.

There have been numerous events in society where heavy metal musicians have been blamed for the events that took place. Musicians have been blamed in school shootings and other events that have caused tragedy or discomfort in the world. The lyrical content of