Making My Friend Listen to Christian Rock

If you know anything about Christian Rock...you've heard of the Newsboys. We knew we had to dig into their 36(!!!) year career early on in this podcast. But with 17 albums, where to start?!
Going Public, that's where. Their 1994 breakthrough album features one of the most beloved and longstanding CCM smash hits, "Shine." It snagged the band two Dove Awards (Dovies) in 1994, including Rock Album of the Year and Rock Recorded Song of the Year for "Shine."
This episode features our very first and very special guest, Kelly's sister Kari. Kari LOVED Going Public growing up - how does it fare now? Will John find another "In the Light" here and finally GO PUBLIC with his love (tolerance) of CCM?
In Part 1, we discuss our memories of trying to get CDs played in the car on family trips, our memories of hiding Christian CDs from our secular friends, the superior albums released in 1994, and the further crystallization of the podcast's overall burning research question: can any of these songs be considered good?

It’s here: The final piece of our Carman trilogy.
In episode 16 we chat with our lovely, supporting, and baffled wives about Carman and his must-be-seen-to-be-believed music videos. Jen discusses her first time seeing Revival in the Land, and Corri discusses her experiences with church growing up.
It sets the table for an episode on dungeons and dragons, hunky history teachers, demon bartenders, and alligator monsters. This one was a blast, and it confirmed the best way to properly digest the twisted and cynical mind of Carman: laugh at him.

We continue discussing our Christian boys from down under in Part 2 of Going Public by Newsboys.

Here is a link to the Cross Rhythms interview with former member John James that we discuss on the episode:

https://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Newsboys_Exlead_Singer_John_James_speaks_about_his_fall_and_restoration/25790/p1/

This was a toughie. Our boy Stevie C Chapman is one of the most celebrated Christian Rock artists, with a career spanning almost 35 years and over 10 million albums sold.
So where to start? In this episode, we take a look at his sixth album "Heaven in the Real World," released in 1994. Kelly remembers it as a staple in the minivan from that time. John remembers nothing about it, because he had never heard SCC until this podcast.
Strap in friends, there's not much to joke about with this guy. We hate him! We discuss how the album his a perfect example of Christian Rock's ability to launder some of the most sickening elements of Christianity through underhanded lyrics and overwrought production. Even though Kelly is secretly jealous of SCC's hair.
Before we get into it, we also take a look at the latest example of Pitchfork's own revisionist history: A deep dive into Jesus Freak?!
Articles discussed:
Jesus Freak Pitchfork review: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/dc-talk-jesus-freak/
33 1/3 on Jesus Freak by Will Stockton and D. Gilson: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dc-talks-jesus-freak-9781501331664
Mother Jones article on Prison Fellowship, "Charles Colson's Jails for Jesus": https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2003/11/jails-jesus-charles-colson/

Hey, Christians aren't perfect either! They get horny and sad too.
Along with dc Talk's Jesus Freak, Jars of Clay's self titled debut (1995) further pushed CCM into the secular world. Their single "Flood" was all over alternative rock radio in '96.
We look at some of the horny lyrics on the album and try to sing some of the melodies for each other with the help of auto tune. We also discuss some of the more recent, crazy antics of the band, like not fully opposing gay marriage (!?!?) and play a little game called "Song Lyric Challenge": Are they secular lyrics or Jars of Clay lyrics?