Finding God in the Devil's Music explores the relationship between
religion/spirituality and rock music. Much has been written on the
history of religious music itself, but not much exists on the role
religion and spirituality has played in popular song. Music itself
has long been considered a spiritual and even meditative practice;
this book seeks to investigate rock music as an expression of
religious inquiry, religious devotion, and even as a religious
experience itself. From the rise of the American Evangelical
movement to the widespread introduction of Eastern philosophies in
the West, the past century has seen a radical change in the
religious makeup of Western culture. Rock artists across the world
have incorporated both "new" and old religious beliefs into their
work. (The word "new" is placed in quotation marks, with respect to
ideas that predate Western Civilization.) It is our aim to take a
similarly ecumenical approach with the essays in this book,
covering a wide range of philosophies and belief systems. In
gathering these essays, we welcomed perspectives from a variety of
backgrounds-music, religious studies, cultural studies,
anthropology. This collection of essays investigates the
relationship of rock music with religious experience from
sociological, theological, and musicological perspectives.
Contributors have made use of artist biographies, record and
concert reviews, videos, published interviews, rock music forums,
fan testimonials, social media interaction, personal experience,
and analytical tools from the practices of musicology, sociology,
theology, and cultural studies. Religion and spirituality in rock
music is investigated across categories of Hard Rock, Punk, Reggae,
and Heavy Metal. Whereas these genres, aside from Reggae,
frequently have been considered resistant or even strongly opposed
to religious belief, contributors to this book describe how much of
the work in these genres is involved with spiritual interests. The
writers provide examples of the appropriation of religious
resources such as Biblical imagery and religious language. They
explore public fascination with religion as a platform for
expression and social critique.
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