Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music [With CDROM] (Recent Releases) [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

From the sleepy title, I expected "Amy Grant" to be the hardest rocking entry, but a majority of the 1900 plus artists profiled are justifiably termed "rock": Stryper? Sam Phillips? Mortal? Deliverance? P.O.D.? MXPX? Yup. They're all here. Powell's original title was much more telling: "Parallel Universe: A Critical Guide to Popular Christian Music."

Powell is nothing if not critical. "Opinionated" was the word the store clerk used. So are all the great rock writers; so are all the great rock books, and despite its encyclopedic format, this is a great rock book. Surprisingly, the author is Professor of New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary; not surprisingly, therefore, he argues with the theology in some songs. For instance, he doesn't agree with the idea of "the rapture" popularized by Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth, and the "Left Behind" series, and prevalent in numerous Jesus Movement-era songs. Most significantly, he takes these artists and their music seriously. This gives the whole genre of gospel rock more signficance than it is often felt to warrant, and certainly more than the tag "ccm" suggests.

If rock rings true, it's because it's about real life. CCM, on the other hand, often sounds phony, stressing the ideal over the real, and marketing over the music. This has left many artists confused, angry and disenchanted. Powell deftly captures the undercurrent of alienation, and the love/hate relationships many artists have with their labels. He also graphs the rise of independent labels like Tooth'n'Nail, and the backlash against business-as-usual "corporate rock." The result is that many artists emerge as "survivors"--ground up and spit out of the music machine, but still standing; Powell's underlying conviction is that it doesn't have to be that way.

Accordingly, he doesn't sidestep the divorces and drugs, lies and lawsuits that attend real history; rather than tarnish these artists, the effect is to increase their street credibility: they emerge as real people instead of cardboard cutouts. By even greater magic of his pen, Powell makes us see all that out-of-print vinyl as a significant part of music history--far too important to relegate to the dustbin of "cookie-cutter" ccm.

Some of the short entries are too short, and many are incomplete, understandable given the mammoth scope of the project. Powell wisely chose to include brief entries when information was unavailable, rather than leave artists out. Some of the long pieces, however, are truly outstanding; the ten page Bob Dylan bio ranks among the best bits on that artist I have read. Again and again I looked up obscure artists I was sure would not be among those present: Larry Norman; After the Fire; Malcom and Alwyn; the Lead; Andy Pratt; Robin Lane; Cliff Richard--each time I was amazed to find that Powell had already been there and done that.

The hefty retail price tag may have kept the ECCM off most fan's light reading list, but Amazon's low price makes it a great gift for music lovers. Powell includes a searchable CD Rom disc and websites for bands to pump up the value, and at 1,088 pages, it's really more reading than three Harry Potter books. Professor Powell has done music fans a great service with this ground- breaking book, unearthing more than forty years of virtually unknown history--yet for all that, it's a very enjoyable read.

Christian rock is adored by a few but is generally ignored within the world of pop music at large and within most segments of Christianity (outside a little ghetto of "evangelical" Christians who sometimes think they are the only ones). Now, in one fell swoop, that has changed forever.

Mark Allan Powell is a world-famous theologian and also a professional rock critic who has worked in the secular field for over 30 years. With this book, for the first time in history, Christian rock is being taken seriously within wider parameters of both religion and culture. He didn't need to do this, and I guess he's not getting anything for it (donating royalties) but he offers it to church and society as "a gift-and as a tribute to some people (the artists) who have made (his) life more meaningful and enjoyable."

What's most important is that the book is a critical resource, not just a collection of press releases. Powell provides all the necessary info about every artist and then also summarizes major reviews of their work that have appeared in the Christian media (gripes from some reviewers about Powell being too "opinionated" fail to notice that 98% of the "opinions" are those of other critics, which he merely reports). Such attention to critical reception is absolutely essential for Christian music ever being taken seriously outside of its own little fan club.

Powell obviously loves this music and strives to put a positive spin on every artist, even those who have been trashed by other critics. Still, he is more interested in promoting Christ than any particular singer or band, much less himself or his own ideas. ....

The book is a simply incredible achievement that will be deeply appreciated by all but the most small-minded.

If you are a fan of CCM, get lots of sleep before cracking this book.

From Transformation Crusade to Tourniquet to Twila, they're all here. I was hard pressed to find a single act not given a mention here. Powell does a good job of devoting the right amount of space to acts depending on the impact and longevity.

Drawbacks:

Every now and then, Powell allows more of his commentary to come through than one would expect in an "Encyclopedia." In my opinion he was unfair to certain artists (especially Petra).

He loves to throw in comparisons to certain bands, especially U2. Comparisons are vital in such a tome and this is fine regarding say, DC Talk's "The Hardway," but seeing it with bands such as East West gets, as he would put it, tiresome.

The thorough and well-crafted writing more than makes up for these minor drawbacks, and ECCM gets an easy 5 stars for effort.

Another plus, the CD Rom is a keystroke of genius. Entries are linked with official web sites, and cross references are linked to their own entries.

The huge variety of the artists contained in this book is a testimony to the diversity within the body of Christ.