Mozart, Metallica and Ministry - A Lesson in Musical Taste.

Nothing like music to cause a little controversy.

I think on some of the great ironies of life and one of the greatest may simply be if the late Cliff Burton, bassist for the heavy metal band Metallica hadn't introduced the other guys to classical styles from his upbringing, Metallica would probably faded from history as a footnote in the speed metal scene of the 1980s. Because of Cliff, who died in a bus crash in 1986 while the band was on tour, they became highly skilled in the art of blending different melodies with their guitars and the rest is history.

The connection between the two genres of music is actually closer than some realize. In my own life I started out as a classical guy, my mother introducing me to Mozart and Beethoven before I even started school. I loved strings especially concertos with four parts. Still do. I branched out as a child into gospel because I liked four part harmony with voices. Jazz entered because I liked the blending of sounds, but the icing on the cake came with my introduction to hard rock and later heavy metal. The electric guitar has to be the best invention to hit music since the trumpet. To me the switch was not a big deal, I recognized the connection between metal and classical almost immediately although others said I was nuts.

Others did come along and make that case for me though, a Christian band called Shout did a quick little number where their guitarist played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in thirty-second notes. To any metal fan it was a perfect guitar solo. The Metallica came along in 2000 and played with the San Fransisco Symphony and proved not only were the two genres related but they could be perfectly blended. Music was never the same again.

Growing up though, my musical tastes always brought frowns in Christian circles. Bertha Better-Than-Yous live everywhere. (Ray Stevens is also awesome). One pastor confronted me and told me the beat of rock was demonic, I handed him my Bible and and asked him to prove it. He said the beat came from Africa where it was used to conjure up demons, I pointed out to him that the idea was not only not provable but racist and also not a Bible based argument. So he ran to First Corinthians where it talks about using our liberty to cause those who are weak to stumble. Being the smart butt teenager I was at the time, I told him that I had no such stumbling blocks in my life as music was just music to me, but for HIS sake, THE SAKE OF MY WEAKER BROTHER, I would abstain from listening to it in his presence. He never spoke to me again on the subject.

The theological point is that the Bible in no way defines one musical form as more holy than another or that some musical forms are holy and others sinful. It simple does not exist. Music gets defined this way by certain holiness groups but it is largely a matter of cultural convention not any reasonable argument. Christian culture says this music form is OK and the other NEW one is not. Unfortunate but true. I often wondered what would have happened to rock and roll if the preacher that offended Buddy Holly because he insulted his music form had instead asked Buddy if he would put some Christian lyrics to it instead. Maybe the youth of America would have more readily embraced the church in the following decades.

What I have learned though is not to confuse message with artistic value. I do not always like or agree with what singers and bands say in their lyrics, but that does not means I have to reject the artistic value of their music. Trust me there are some hymns that the theology of the verses makes me cringe a little but it still does not stop me from thinking that the music itself is not beautiful. Oddly enough though, there are some songs from the secular world that speak volumes of truth.

Music is largely a matter of taste and what often bugs me is that some Christians can't see that and want it to be a matter of their own righteousness -"I am a better Christian because I do not listen to that type of music." Why is it that we seem to always seek ways to divide ourselves from others. 'In the world, but not of it' is what Christians are supposed to be. Music gives us another way to bridge the gap between those in the church and outside it; if we are only willing to listen to what the artist is saying and appreciate his or her talent.