Quote:
Originally posted by Yesspaz
The answer: Both.
Gospel is not a genre of style as much as a genre of content. Neal Morse converted to Christianity very publicly. He's a progster. He's gonna write prog songs that convey his Christianity. It's "gospel Prog Rock," if you will. I am an evangelical Protestant (seminary student no less) and a prog fan. There are hundreds of great rock bands made of Christians doing "Christian" music out there, contrary to the stereotype of them being hacks. But there aren't very many of a progressive nature. Neal Morse, Kerry Livgren, Iona, Jeremy, etc., in my opinion, are an example of what I'd like to see more of (I'm sure non-Christians might have a variety of opinions here).
In sum, "prog" and "gospel" are not mutually exclusive terms. Rush is prog, not gospel. Third Day are gospel, not prog (Southern Rock). Neal Morse is both gospel and prog.
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Good answer Spaz. Me, I base my opinion of music on both the music and the lyrical content. As a devout agnostic, I don't mind Christian lyrics as long as there's some depth to them. "Praise Jesus" repeated 700 times is just as bad as "boogie mama" repeated 700 times (to use a facetious example). Jeremy is instrumental and quite good, I think. Neal Morse seems to be drifitng towards weaker music, though "Snow" is one of SB's best, IMO. Judge each effort individually and don't worry about labels, is my ultimate point here...