Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music
Studio: BLANK STARE
Run Time: 91 minutes

I spend the majority of my day listening to music thanks to my tony 60 gb iPod and JBL docking station, but although I am a Christian, I have to say I ONLY listen to secular groups. To clarify, I don’t listen to Christian music, and I really don’t like it.

Why? Because most of it is absolutely terrible and/or stuff that my mom would love. I’m not a big fan of contemporary church services filled with 80s-tastic tunes, either.

However, there’s a growing movement among the Christian Rock community to shed the pansy genre’s label, and Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music, the feature-length documentary now available on DVD, has done a stellar job furthering the discussion. If you’re ready to trade in the cheesy tambourine and lyrics on the big screen for a black t-shirt, dreds and moshing, read on…

Captured mostly at Cornerstone Music Festival, the film starts off with an interview describing someone’s first Christian Rock concert and then explodes into live cookie-monster sludge metal footage with indiscernible lyrics and moshing - so this is the new Christian Rock?

Apparently so, and with interview after interview, band members from Zao, Cool Hand Luke and other Michael W. Smith-hating Christians talk about the pressures of the “Christian” label, their personal record collections and even drop a few swear words in the mix.

Perhaps the most riveting interviews were with Pedro the Lion’s Dave Bazan, who is known for his complicated and evolving views about the Christian genre. He tried to explain what it was like to try and escape just to find the Christian fans followed but for the lyrical genius he is, continually had trouble communicating what he wanted to say and — with a beer in hand and smoke floating across the screen — also came off as the badass of Christian Rockers, which was maybe his point.

There’s an interesting sub-plot to the film, if you will, about the effect that secular music has on ordinary Christians - with a lot (I mean a lot) of Led Zeppelin bashing. Yes, they even played “Stairway” backwards (here’s more if you’re interested.

As a person of faith but also one who has submersed his life in music, I’m not really super concerned about lyrics and meaning in death metal and especially in a Led Zeppelin song about the LOTR or black magic.

The film also did a great job talking about the silly facets of rock that don’t really matter - the devil horns, the make-up - but definitely showcased the stigma of fans who listen to both secular and Christian Rock.

In perhaps the segment that most sums up the film, scene and evolution of the genre, Christian metal rocker Bruce Fitzhugh, of Living Sacrifice, pauses in an interview to pick up his little red-headed daughter and ask, “Can you sing like Daddy?” to which she replies, “JEEEEESUUUUUSSS” in her best cookie monster growl.

While the film doesn’t answer many questions, it did a great job showcasing a Christian Rock scene I didn’t know existed. And believe it or not, many of those bands don’t suck at all. I swear to God.