Bad Christian put up a blog post called "Why I Hate Christian Music and Why I Love the Band Kings Kaleidoscope," and in it Pastor Joey Svendsen took a brief look through some of Christian music's history and its current state.

Svendsen spoke of his own musical journey beginning in the '80s where he was allowed to listen to pop radio until his parents put a stop to it because of the dialogue of the program's DJ's. So as a third grader he was regulated to Psalty the Singing Songbook.

He recalls that as the years progressed Christian music started opening up more and the mid to late '80s brought in Christian hair metal bands such as Stryper, The Crucified, and others. This was followed by hip-hop/pop/rock group DC Talk, and other more pop rock bands such as Petra and White Heart.

As Christian music began to take shape, the early '90s brought in indie rock, punk rock, and as he calls "edgier" sounding bands. These bands had trouble finding a home or a place until Tooth & Nail Records was formed in Seattle, Washington.

"This label, in my humble opinion was a necessary ingredient that made all 'this kind of music' more palatable and acceptable in Christian circles, which was obviously a very good thing," wrote Svendsen, "Also, Christian music needed more profound credibility, and Tooth and Nail delivered."

He said Christian music, at least in the rock world, did not have the distance it once did compared to secular music. This is something that is still seen today, with crossover acts such as Underoath, Relient K, the Devil Wear Prada, and so on, being just as popular with Non-Christians as the music is for believers.

However, initially this was a problem with some Christians as the rock bands tended to be more transparent than CCM or worship artists. Svendsen writes that bands would get criticized for smoking at shows, and sometimes a member would even slip out a curse word. Now while most believers would not agree with swearing, letting one out would not validate you any less as a Christian. A lot of people at the time felt this way, and Svendsen admitted he was one of them.

"I'll never forget talking to Geoff Riley (drummer of Puller) after me and Toby's band opened up for them, and he said 'dumb***' or something. I remember thinking 'I guess he's not really a Christian,'" he explained.

The pastor recalls the late '90s being a time of experimenting with different music for him. He would be one of the first bass players for Christian rock band Emery before they were signed to Tooth & Nail, and the band often found themselves influenced by bands who were secular.

"Around this time, due largely to Tooth and Nail's influence, the Church had seen a lot of progress (in my opinion) with its view of 'what Christians should listen to,' (no longer prohibiting listening to secular or Christian songs that make you dance, for example), but what we had made very little progress with was 'what kind of music Christians should create,'" he stated.

Svendsen broke down what he looks for in his music, and breaks it down to a simple view that many would agree with. Music fans want music that has "No intentional drive for image," "No drive to copy," "No drive to distinguish," and "No drive to be someone you're not." In other words, we are look for authentic music by artists who want to be themselves without catering to any conditions.

He ends the blog post by talking about Bad Christian's signing of worship/experimental band Kings Kaleidoscope. "Don't like the Christian lyrics? Well the music is too good to ignore, and these guys are just being themselves; so why would you want anything different?" he concluded.

For more insight into Svendsen's blog post and information on King's Kaleidoscope, click here. For information on the Bad Christian ministry, click here.