Christian rock has always been a fascination with me – the people, the players and the controversies. I’ll even go as far as to admit that in my CD collection, I have Stryper’s TO HELL WITH THE DEVIL and – gulp – Amy Grant’s HEART IN MOTION. But the lives of the stars and their inner demons, so to speak, intrigues me, but every book about Christian rock is either: a) written from a purely Christian standpoint and reads more like a press release, or b) written by completely secular anti-Christians who use the genre as an opportunity to slam all thing Christ. How rebellious.
So when BODY PIERCING SAVED MY LIFE: INSIDE THE PHENOMENON OF CHRISTIAN ROCK came across my desk, I recognized writer Andrew Beaujon from his work in Spin. “Oh great,” I thought, “this one is definitely gonna fall into category B.”
Imagine my surprise when, about two chapters in, it hit me hat this is no “slam piece.” Beaujon makes a deeply earnest attempt at dissecting and demystifying the genre from a purely “music fan” standpoint. As a matter of fact, his own religious beliefs (or lack thereof) play very little into it. Most of the time, he’s busy trying to track down Christian artists who won’t give him the time of day, mostly for fear of being made fun of by the secular press. It’s understandable and Beaujon knows it.
In between, he traces the history of the Christian rock movement, with bands and artists like Larry Norman and Children of the Day, ’60s “Jesus Freaks” who jumpstarted the genre, to the slick, depersonalizing of the ’80s and ’90s, and concluding in the present with a whole roster of bands I had no idea were of the faith – Sufjan Stevens, Pedro the Lion – all without irony and a smart-ass, condescending attitude. I cannot emphasize enough how rare it is for a book of this ilk to come along: nonjudgmental and completely open-minded. If you’re like me and have an insatiable need to learn about all forms of music, no matter how esoteric, BODY PIERCING SAVED MY LIFE is your Jesus-rock textbook. –Louis Fowler
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