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Book Review: "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music" by Mark Allan Powell
Love it or leave it, there's no denying that at this time in history, Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is a major
segment of the music industry, bringing in millions of dollars annually. While many may criticize the current CCM market
as being corporately controlled garbage that cheaply imitates and compares poorly to secular artists, it hasn't always been
this way.
Mark Allan Powell is a brave soul for even attempting a book like this. Weighing in at 1082 pages, this book is simply
MASSIVE in its size, depth, and scope. Powell says he wrote this book not to defend CCM, but to document its history.
Keeping that approach in mind, Powell has certainly done his homework as almost every band you can think of (and a thousand
you can't) is in this book with their entire career described in detail.
Powell does a good job of keeping to his agenda. He is critical of bands that deserve it but he also does a good job of
looking for the positive. He obviously doesn't think much of an artist like, just for example, Carman. However, he does
let the reader know which Carman album is generally considered to be the best (or perhaps the "least bad"). Considering
the quality of some of the material reviewed, staying positive was surely difficult but Powell does a good job.
As I said before though, Christian music isn't all bad and Powell's book proves that. Many of the "founding fathers" of
Christian rock are covered here in detail. Artists and bands like Steve Taylor, Daniel Amos, the 77s, Adam Again, The
Choir, Randy Stonehill, Larry Norman, and many more get the full treatment with several pages dedicated to each. I learned
a great deal of new information about these seminal artists.
One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book is simply seeking out all of the obscure bands I like and
actually finding entries on them. Like I said, Powell is just unbelievably thorough. You'll probably find a few bands
or artists that aren't in here but if that's the case, it's because they are obscure. Any artist to ever release a CD
on a CCM label is covered.
CCM can be a sad place as any trip to the Christian bookstore will tell you. "Artists" are lined up to mimic the popular
music of the day, often with less than average results. This book reminds us that even as a flawed genre of popular music,
it does have merit, even if you have to dig a bit deeper than you'd like to in order to find it. This book is recommended
if you have been a follower of the CCM scene for a few years with some amount of interest. If you're unfamiliar with
many CCM artists, the sheer size and depth of this book may lose you. Still, at a price of only $24.99, it might
be worth the risk.
Review by Greg Adkins
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