![]() ![]() ![]() In 2008, their drummer passed away from an untreatable form of cancer and remaining members soon decided to lay the band to rest, never to return to it. ![]() The Myriad sounded completely out of place, even when compared to some of CCM’s more creative acts, fusing atmospheric indie rock with fantastical tales of grandfather clocks, melting winters, polar bears and shark fins and hints towards spiritual and personal struggles.įans of Coldplay, Radiohead and Sigur Ros could easily find something to love on their sprawling 2008 LP With Arrows, With Poise and it’s a shame we’ll never find out where their adventurous musicality could’ve led. This tremendously promising indie five piece from Seattle suffered a similar fate of consistently remaining just out of the sights of the masses, but the reasons for their demise were a bit more tragic. I refuse to let this LP be forgotten so hopefully some of you might get even a fraction of what I did out of it. The line “ Don’t waste another tear / Drowning here In yesterday’s emergency / Love’s fighting for your heart to be free” could be an inspiration to anyone struggling with personal demons. Obviously it had its’ share of masterfully done worshipful moments but ‘Tears’, ‘Clouds’, ‘Thank God’ and ‘Fighting For Your Heart’ in particular bridged the gap between mainstream and religious with lyrics that were just vague enough to allow the listener to interpret their meanings for themselves. Their debut LP Hello, which turns 10 this year (not ready to accept that yet), was an explosive, joyous and creative geyser of massive rock choruses, notable pop and puk influences, electronic flourishes and some of the freshest lyrics and vocals to hit the market in years. ![]() Formed all the way back in 2001, After Edmund was one of those young bands that deserved enormous attention outside of the CCM industry but were never able to attain it. You’re looking at the definition of criminally underrated. If you don’t follow any particular religion but have ever had even the slightest curiosity about what some CCM music sounds like, here are some songs I discovered through my teenage years that could appeal to anyone from any walk of life! After Edmund – ‘Fighting For Your Heart’ By keeping the vanilla sounds of popular CCM at arm’s bay and crafting music that was unique both in its’ storytelling and stylistic influences, they found a way to pull in listeners from both religious and non-religious circles. There was an entire glut of artists that thrived right under the mainstream’s radar during the mid-2000’s and some have still managed to keep the fire burning today. You could accuse Top 40 radio of having the same problem but if a religion wants to draw younger listeners in, especially ones growing up in today’s ADD generation, you have to adapt if you want to survive.īut on to the music that was genuinely awesome. Listen to any religious radio station for about fifteen minutes and you might swear you’ve heard the same artist multiple times. This vicious cycle has clogged the creative pipes of CCM music and led to a stagnating genre that doesn’t appear to be doing much to get itself out of its’ self inflicted rut. The CCM industry has a bad habit of sticking to the same musical trends for decades on end because drawing from new, popular mainstream trends will somehow cause the music to become less religious… somehow. We were normal people living normal lives and trying to figure out how to see everyone out there as one and the same, regardless of how different their beliefs or lifestyle were.Īnd some of the music we listened to was awesome.įrom the outside looking in, many non-religious folks probably think 99% of Christian music follows a cut and paste formula of uplifting and sometimes cheesy music, consistently (sometimes to a fault) worhsipful lyrics and songs that rarely talk about anything else than God, loving God, praying to God, rinse repeat, you get the picture. Thankfully, ours wasn’t infected with the uppity, self righteous and attack-everyone-but-yourself mindset that had brought down so many other congregations and led to Christianity in general having a bad image in mainstream media. Even though those evenings are long behind me at this point, I’m still grateful for all the great memories I have of our parties, mission trips, concerts, etc. Like many of you, I grew up in a religious, Conservative family and spent practically every Sunday and Wednesday evening from the time I was in middle school to my high school graduation with my Methodist church’s youth group. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |