Christian Prog. rock bands.........

[Liquid Tension]

A few posts in the past couple of days got me thinking of this. Can anyone point me to some Christian progressive rock bands? Since I started playing music again, I'm trying to listen to different bands to see how they put things together. My current library of bands (secular) I enjoy listening to are:

Dream Theater
Symphony X
Pallas
Pain of Salvation
Translantic

and of course the standard Pink Floyd, Yes, Rush, etc.

Thanks!!

[CProgPositivty]

For a list of high quality Christian Progressive Rock bands with active links, check out this page:
http://www.cprogpositivity.com/

Try before you buy! To hear Christian Progressive Rock online 24 hours a day - 7 days a week,
http://loudcaster.com/channels/674-cprogpositivity

Medium Heavy
Rob Perez
Pursuit
Revelation Project
Visual Cliff
David Walliman

Medium
Akacia
Dave Beegle
Brighteye Brison
Cruciform Soul
Divine In Sight
Fall of Echoes
Mike Florio
Glass Hammer
Kinetic Element
Kerry LIvgren
Neal Morse
Orphan Project
Proto-Kaw
Salem Hill
Fred Schendel
Syzygy
Ty Tabor
Ten Point Ten
Torman Maxt

Lite (but good and proggie!)
Ajalon
Azure
Dave Bainbridge
Everlasting Arms
Farpoint
David Fitzgerald
Iona
Jeremy
Jeff Johnson
Phil Keaggy
Music for Missions
Navigator
Charlie Peacock
Marcangelo Perricelli
Simon Apple
Soulful Terrain
Supernal Endgame
Unitopia
Vertical Alignment

Heavy
Amaseffer
Uli Jon Roth
Thrice
Vera Domine

[shepherdsword]

For a list of high quality Christian Progressive Rock bands with active links, check out this page:
http://www.cprogpositivity.com/

Try before you buy! To hear Christian Progressive Rock online 24 hours a day - 7 days a week,
http://loudcaster.com/channels/674-cprogpositivity

Medium Heavy
Rob Perez
Pursuit
Revelation Project
Visual Cliff
David Walliman

Medium
Akacia
Dave Beegle
Brighteye Brison
Cruciform Soul
Divine In Sight
Fall of Echoes
Mike Florio
Glass Hammer
Kinetic Element
Kerry LIvgren
Neal Morse
Orphan Project
Proto-Kaw
Salem Hill
Fred Schendel
Syzygy
Ty Tabor
Ten Point Ten
Torman Maxt

Lite (but good and proggie!)
Ajalon
Azure
Dave Bainbridge
Everlasting Arms
Farpoint
David Fitzgerald
Iona
Jeremy
Jeff Johnson
Phil Keaggy
Music for Missions
Navigator
Charlie Peacock
Marcangelo Perricelli
Simon Apple
Soulful Terrain
Supernal Endgame
Unitopia
Vertical Alignment

Heavy
Amaseffer
Uli Jon Roth
Thrice
Vera Domine

I have always been a progressive rock fan. I used to listen to Emerson,lake and Palmer,Yes,Kansas,Dream Theater,Rush and more some of the more obscure ones like Star Castle and Renaissance. Thanks for the link. I also noticed Kerry Livegren from Kansas(?)is in the list. Is Neal Morse any relation to Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs? The Dregs were great back in the seventies. I really loved this genre when I was in the world. It's good to see the devil doesn't have all the good music

Ps....using the streaming link in my sig

[the sound]

Thrice

1st off to call them heavy is a bit of a joke.. they are Emo at best 2nd of all they are not a Christian band, yes they have some Christian messages and images in their music but they also draw a lot from greek mythology

they are a good band none the less.

[CProgPositivty]

I have always been a progressive rock fan. I used to listen to Emerson,lake and Palmer,Yes,Kansas,Dream Theater,Rush and more some of the more obscure ones like Star Castle and Renaissance. Thanks for the link. I also noticed Kerry Livegren from Kansas(?)is in the list. Is Neal Morse any relation to Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs? The Dregs were great back in the seventies. I really loved this genre when I was in the world. It's good to see the devil doesn't have all the good music

Ps....using the streaming link in my sig

shepherdsword, thanks for the link in your signature!

Steve Morse is a fantastic guitarist and - as far as I know - a very "stand up" guy. I don't, however, know anything about his spritual beliefs.

Neal Morse was the co-founder, singer and songwriter for the ProgRock band SPOCK'S BEARD. As he grew in his relationship with the LORD, he became increasingly convinced that he needed to make his personal convictions a more central and critical element in his lyrics. His last album with SPOCK'S BEARD (titled "Snow") was - as far as I can tell - a very Christian parable. Once Neal went solo, however, his lyrics moved from the realm of interpretive imagery to that of straightforward "Testimony" about Christ. Some of his albums are very progrock. Others are more popular rock praise. For proggie material, look to see if Randy George plays bass on the album. If he does, it is probably one of the proggie ones! I highly recommend the albums "Testimony" and "One".

Here are a few more personal recommendations. (I know that bands usually don't like being compared to other bands. But it is sometimes helpful as a quick "mini-reference". So, here goes!)

If you've enjoyed music from this secular band... ELP
Then be sure to check out these Christian bands... GLASS HAMMER and KINETIC ELEMENT

If you've enjoyed music from this secular band... KANSAS
Then be sure to check out these Christian bands... PROTO-KAW (featuring Kerry Livgren) and CRYPTIC VISION

If you've enjoyed music from this secular band... RUSH
Then be sure to check out these Christian band... DIVINE IN SIGHT

[CProgPositivty]

1st off to call them heavy is a bit of a joke.. they are Emo at best 2nd of all they are not a Christian band, yes they have some Christian messages and images in their music but they also draw a lot from greek mythology

they are a good band none the less.

You bring up an interesting question about whether Thrice's music should qualify as "Christian" or not. I decided to included them in the CProgPositivity playlist because their lyricist (Dustin Kensrue) is a Christian, his lyrics often deal with important themes from a uniquely Christian perspective, and because I'm not aware of any instances in which his lyrics have been incompatible with Christianity. Not every member of their band is a believer, but on many "Christian" songs on "Christian" labels, there is work by engineers, producers, or session musicians who may not be believers too.

Descriptions like "heavy" are challenging. They beg the question "heavier than what"? How "heavy" one perceives a band to be often depends upon the listener's "frame of reference". Most of the listeners to CProgPositivity consider Thrice to sound "heavy" when compared to the rest of the music they normally listen to. But I do agree that there are far "heavier" bands out there and from your point of view, they may not seem to very heavy al all to you.

There are emo influences but also some post-hardcore and nu-metal sounds mixed in. I think perhaps they are less "heavy" now than when they first started out even though CD Universe's review claims they have "maintained every iota of their heaviness..." (See http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/.../a/Vheissu.htm)

There were so many bands in my listing, I just tried to quickly provide some type of classification so that interested music fans might at least get a general idea where to start. The links found at this website will provide much greater detail about the bands. http://sites.google.com/site/cprogrock/directory

Thanks for your feedback!

[CProgPositivty]

I just discovered another interesting Christian Progressive Rock band named TIME HORIZON. Their debut album is titled LIVING WATER. It has a very clean, crisp accessible rock sound. Imagine a Proggier version of the secular bands TOTO or perhaps BOSTON. Those comparisons are a bit unfair as this album is more progressive than the output of those bands. I only bring them up as indicators of how this musics keep one foot firmly planted in the crisp-clean vocal harmony rich and catchy melodic tradition of AOR even while being "prog rock". Their proggier side reminds me of The Flower Kings or Spock's Beard.

[cindylou]

Great thread...subscribed! I had never even heard of some of these bands. I could spend the rest of the afternoon on youtube...I wan't to but I can't!

[cindylou]

Can you suggest anything that might have a similiar sound to the secular Breaking Benjamin?

[CProgPositivty]

Can you suggest anything that might have a similiar sound to the secular Breaking Benjamin?

Hi cindylou!

Good news! There are quite a few very high quailty modern Christian rock bands that have similarities to Breaking Benjamin (IMO).

Of course, finding the ones that are "just right" for your ears will probably require some "hit and miss" listening sessions as you check them out. But that's half the fun anyway, isn't it? That makes it all the more special when you finally discover the bands and songs that really speak to you!

Here are two bands to get you started on the trek...

Red
http://redmusiconline.com/

Skillet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skillet_(band)

I hope you like these bands! Given the chance, you might be surprised at how much they grow on you.

Then again, if they aren't quite your thing, don't give up. There are many modern Christian rock bands where they came from!

Mark Stephens
Christian ProgRock Radio on-line 24/7!
http://www.cprogpositivity.com

[the sound]

You bring up an interesting question about whether Thrice's music should qualify as "Christian" or not. I decided to included them in the CProgPositivity playlist because their lyricist (Dustin Kensrue) is a Christian, his lyrics often deal with important themes from a uniquely Christian perspective, and because I'm not aware of any instances in which his lyrics have been incompatible with Christianity. Not every member of their band is a believer, but on many "Christian" songs on "Christian" labels, there is work by engineers, producers, or session musicians who may not be believers too.

Descriptions like "heavy" are challenging. They beg the question "heavier than what"? How "heavy" one perceives a band to be often depends upon the listener's "frame of reference". Most of the listeners to CProgPositivity consider Thrice to sound "heavy" when compared to the rest of the music they normally listen to. But I do agree that there are far "heavier" bands out there and from your point of view, they may not seem to very heavy al all to you.



There are emo influences but also some post-hardcore and nu-metal sounds mixed in. I think perhaps they are less "heavy" now than when they first started out even though CD Universe's review claims they have "maintained every iota of their heaviness..." (See http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/.../a/Vheissu.htm)

There were so many bands in my listing, I just tried to quickly provide some type of classification so that interested music fans might at least get a general idea where to start. The links found at this website will provide much greater detail about the bands. http://sites.google.com/site/cprogrock/directory

Thanks for your feedback!

I see what you are saying. I just think if you are looking for music that is strictly Christian Thrice would be a bit of a disappointment. When you got to their Alchemy index albums (which in my opinion is their finest work and to be a fan of theirs and ignore those discs would be a shame). I could see a small handful of Christians taking issue with pretty much the entire Air disc for example "Daedalus" is a retelling of that story where he refers to gods. But yes I agree over all I do think they have good messages.

As for music styles once again I will use the alchemy index as my example... if you buy all volumes of it (4 discs total 2 releases) and you are looking for something heavy you will be pleased with the fire discs but water, air and earth (which is completely acoustic) will let you down. I personally think there softer stuff sounds better but if you want something that sounds like Iron maiden or rush you will be let down with the other 3 discs.
If I were to compare them to any other artist they would be bands like Thursday, brand new , or taking back Sundays. Which is not a bad thing at all all those bands are good.

[the sound]

one more question for you...although it dosn't matter if it is Christian or secular do you know of any good space rock bands? somthing along the lines of HUM?

[CProgPositivty]

Thanks for the additional information on Thrice. I do see what you are saying. While many of their songs do qualify as uniquely "Christian" in content (IMO), the song "Daedalus" is indeed a retelling of the story of Icarus from Greek mythology.

For the record, I don't believe the songwriter was trying to say that Icarus or Daedalus actually existed. I don't think he was participating in idolatry or attempting to support a world-view that believes in multiple "gods". (I don't think you were suggesting or asserting that this was Thrice's intent either. I'm just seeking to clarify my own position.)

Rather, I think he was trying to use these characters metaphorically to depict some of the complexities of the relationship between a father and son - of a parent wishing for the very best for his son yet having to witness the son's disobedience culinating in tragedy.

Compartmentalization and classification becomes challenging with such bands. Based on your feedback, I'm considering removing them from the CProgPositivity playlist altogether. Then again, perhaps a "song by song" approach would be a better idea.

The following entire Thrice albums are in rotation at ProgPositivity Dot Com (the "family friendly" stream which includes non-offensive secular music along with Christian music): Beggars, The Alchemy Index: Vols. I & II: Fire & Water, The Alchemy Index: Vols. III & IV: Air & Earth, The Artist in the Ambulance, Vheissu.

[shepherdsword]

See if you can did up some old Resurrection Band,Petra,Degarmo & Key and Archangel...good stuff from the mid 70's and 80s
Archangel had a song called "nephalim" that was very good

[gringo300]

I can think of a few secular Progressive Rock bands.

Yes
Asia
GTR
Genesis
King Crimson
Emerson, Lake, And Palmer
Emerson, Lake, And Powell
Atomic Rooster
The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

Christian Progressive Rock bands? I'll have to think about that a while...