New York, USA - One of this season's most eagerly anticipated rock albums comes from a band that almost never shows up on MTV, in Rolling Stone or on the Billboard rock charts. It's called, "Coming up to Breathe" (INO), a title that fits the music: the album epitomizes the raspy, melancholy (and sometimes bland) genre that rock radio programmers call "modern rock." But this is a "modern rock" CD that rock radio programmers may well take pains to avoid.
"Coming Up to Breathe" is the latest from MercyMe, and if that name doesn't ring bells — or show up on airplay charts — that might be because MercyMe is one of the country's most popular evangelical bands. Every song on every album is about salvation through Christ, and MercyMe's touring itinerary includes plenty of churches. On Monday, the band played a short acoustic set for New York-area fans, but it wasn't at a club: it was at Jesus Book & Gift Store in Green Brook, N.J., and it was sponsored by Star 99.1 FM, the local contemporary Christian music station.
To your average rock 'n' roll fan, this operation probably sounds laughably rinky-dink. And yet MercyMe — like Casting Crowns and a number of the other top Christian rock bands — routinely outsells many of its secular counterparts. The band's 2001 album, "Almost There," sold more than two million copies, thanks to the crossover hit "I Can Only Imagine." Two follow-ups didn't do as well, though that's relative; "Undone," from 2004, still moved more than 600,000 copies, about the same as Bruce Springsteen's last album. And last year the band released "The Christmas Sessions," a memorable collection of rock 'n' roll carols old and new.
Back in the decadent age of Mötley Crüe, churchgoing rockers sometimes seemed out of place. And listeners who remember Stryper — the infamous evangelical hair-metal band of the 1980's, known for apian, yellow-and-black spandex outfits — may be tempted to dismiss today's Christian rock out of hand.
But instead of growing apart, mainstream rock and Christian rock seem to have grown closer since the 1980's. Consider the modern-rock and emo bands who dominate contemporary rock radio; they're full of earnest and rather clean-cut young men who often seem more interested in the power of love than the power of lust. So what difference would it make if those plaintive lyrics were about a Him instead of a her?
Of course, some of those seemingly mainstream rock bands really are Christian, although many of them prefer not to be labeled as such. Lifehouse is led by a Christian, and the band specializes in inspirational (though vague) ballads. P.O.D. has grown more explicit about faith; the band's latest album is called, "Testify." And nearly every ambitious Christian band seems to list U2 as a musical mentor, partly because of the way Bono sings about faith (sometimes indirectly and sometimes, as on the 1983 album "October," directly).
The genre of Christian rock has been making strides, too. Casting Crowns reached No. 9 on the Billboard album chart last fall. And Tooth & Nail, the long-running Christian alternative label, is nurturing a fistful of sermon-averse punk and emo bands, including the screamers in the emerging band Underoath. The group's most recent album, "They're Only Chasing Safety," includes a rousing song called, "I've Got 10 Friends and a Crowbar that Says You Ain't Gonna Do Jack."
There's nothing quite that irreverent on "Coming Up to Breathe," which is MercyMe most raucous album so far. (That's not saying much, but it is saying something.) In case you miss the imagery in the title track ("I've held my breath for all my life/ But I am breaking free tonight"), the band's singer, Bart Millard, explains who he's singing about: "Lord here I am again/ reaching for your hand."
More often, MercyMe relies upon a familiar (though often effective) head-fake: the song seems to be about a romantic relationship, but it turns out to be a relationship with God. In the winsome single "So Long Self," there's a rousing guitar riff that could almost be pop-punk, topped with cheerful lyrics about breaking up: "So long self/ Well it's been fun, but I have found somebody else." Guess who that somebody is? And in "One Trick Pony," there's a bluesy groove (sounds like someone got hold of a G. Love & Special Sauce CD) and an eager admission: "I got a one-track mind." Guess where those tracks lead?
There are plenty of lowlights, too, and plenty of hackneyed lyrics. ("I just need to break these chains" doesn't sound very — what's the word? — inspired.) But the band also finds unusual ways to approach its one and only subject. "3:42am (Writer's Block)" is an infectious song about a struggling writer, with a twist. This writer isn't looking for an original idea: "If the idea's mine/ It's a waste of time," he sings. He asks his muse to "Say what you wanna say," instead.
One of the strangest things about this album is how rarely it mentions Jesus by name; only one song does. (Perhaps that circumspection increases the band's chances on secular radio.) That one song is "Bring the Rain," where the refrain ends, "Jesus, bring the rain." Either purposely or not, the song echoes the most popular Jesus song of the moment, and maybe the decade: the country-pop smash "Jesus Take the Wheel," by the "American Idol" winner Carrie Underwood. Oddly, that song might have faced more resistance had it been sung by a church-nurtured group, not a worshipful "Idol." Even now, the rules are different for avowedly Christian bands.
In an overwhelmingly Christian country, it may seem strange that Christian rock even exists as a niche genre; if rock better reflected American demographics, then secular rock would be the niche. But at a time when rock radio commands a dwindling core of listeners, and when major labels are struggling to create the multi-million-selling stars they depend upon, niche status might not seem so bad. MercyMe already has a devoted fan base, a ready-made touring circuit and lots of loyal album buyers. The Devil may still have the best tunes (for now), but can he match that business model?