Finding God in the Devil's Music

Critical Essays on Rock and Religion

Alex DiBlasi, Robert McParland (Herausgeber)

Buch | Softcover

197 Seiten

2019
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-7150-5 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

Explores the relationship between religion/spirituality and rock music. The aim is to take an ecumenical approach with the essays in this book, covering a wide range of philosophies and belief systems. This collection of essays investigates the relationship of rock music with religious experience from sociological, theological, and musicological perspectives.

From the rise of the American Evangelical movement to the introduction of Eastern philosophies in the West, the past century has seen major changes in the religious makeup of Western culture. As one result, musicians across the world have brought both "new" and old religious beliefs into their works.

This book investigates rock music as an expression of religious inquiry and religious devotion. Contributors to this essay collection use a variety of sources, including artist biographies, record and concert reviews, videos, personal experience, rock music forums and social media in order to investigate the relationship of rock music and religion from a number of perspectives. The essays also explore public interest in religion as a platform for expression and social critique, viewing this issue through the lens of popular rock music.

Alex DiBlasi is a writer, educator, and musician. He has written on Frank Zappa, The Kinks, The Monkees, and numerous film, music, theatrical and dining reviews. He lives in Oregon. Robert McParland is a professor of English at Felician University in Rutherford, New Jersey. His popular music writings include publications on The Beatles, The Who, U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Paul Simon, and American lyricists.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Religious Rock Meditations of Black Sabbath (Candace Ursala Grissom)

Faith in Something Bigger: Pete Townshend, Meher Baba

and Tommy (Alex DiBlasi)

Heavy Metal as Religion: Rhetorically Repurposing Catholic

Motifs Within Power Metal (Gavin F. Hurley)

Christ from Chaos: Redemption Through Rebellion in Christian Hardcore (Karen Fournier)

Religious Aesthetics of Nine Inch Nails: Negative Theology

as Mediation of Transcendence (James E. Willis III)

Duncan Sheik’s Human Revolution in Sound/Buddhist Search

for the Perfect Sound (Erika M. Nelson Mukherjee)

Criticism and Confusion in the Spiritual Transformation of Matisyahu

(Erin E. Bauer)

Tracing a Dis/Harmony of the Spheres (Sabatino DiBernardo)

Mystical Rock and Visionary Sounds: From the Sacramental

Instructions of The Psychedelic Experience to Religious Ecstasy

in The Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” (Morgan Shipley)

Into the Slipstream: An Inquiry Concerning Inspiration and Creativity

(Robert McParland)

Appendix: Discography of Works Discussed (by artist)

About the Contributors

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	04.12.2018
Zusatzinfo	appendix, notes, bibliographies, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	272 g
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Musik ► Pop / Rock
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
ISBN-10	1-4766-7150-8 / 1476671508
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-7150-5 / 9781476671505
Zustand	Neuware