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Christianity Today, October, 2008 |

Music to Raise the Dead

Box set chronicles the Rez Band's mark on CCM history.

Review by Andy Whitman | posted 10/21/2008 09:31AM

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To understand the impact of the Resurrection Band on Christian music, consider the landscape in 1978, the year the band's debut album, Awaiting Your Reply, was released. Many conservative pastors and evangelists still thundered from the pulpit about the evils of rock music and satanic rhythms, and the fledgling Contemporary Christian Music industry carefully shied away from controversial themes or raucous musical accompaniments. The album, where it was sold at all, was frequently sold behind the counter of the local Christian bookstore, away from the impressionable eyes and ears of young children.

Music to Raise the Dead (5 stars), a 3-CD/1-DVD box set and retrospective that encapsulates the band's 25-year career (they formed in 1972 as Charity and officially disbanded in 1998), provides a convincing argument that husband-and-wife team Glenn and Wendi Kaiser and company formed the most influential band in Christian music history. The music, a rough triangulation of Led Zeppelin blues licks, AC/DC power chords, and unflinching commentary on a broken world and its need for Jesus, still startles in its power and intensity. The 68 tracks, slightly skewed toward the band's first five albums, offer ample evidence of what this band could do. Taken together, the collection is a wondrous thing, raw and urgent, literate and poetic, and it stands as a remarkable testament to the power of three chords, a banshee wail, and the truth.

The songs address the devastating effects of divorce, racial discrimination, drugs, and casual sex, always with a message of compassion and hope. There were admissions to struggle, doubt, and an acknowledgment of the weight of the world. This was music made by real human beings. But always, always, there was hope. There were minor tweaks to the formula—a brief dalliance with New Wave synth in the '80s, a few quieter acoustic moments. But Rez did what they did without apologies for a quarter century: They rocked, and they rocked hard, for Jesus. And they did this better than anyone. Nowhere is that more evident, in all its variegated, feedback-drenched glory, than here.

(The set's DVD includes over an hour of previously unreleased concert footage. Available at GrrrRecords.com.)

Andy Whitman, senior contributing editor for Paste magazine.

Related Elsewhere:

Christianmusictoday.com also reviewed the box set.

Previous music reviews are in our full-coverage section.

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October 2008, Vol. 52, No. 10

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[Reader Reviews]

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 6 comments.

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Carol Wilde

Posted: October 23, 2008 11:22 AM

Friends, It was always a privilege to play REZ on WCRM FM 103.9 in the Chicago suburbs. The albums came straight from REZ, and we dropped the needle on each cut and picked the hit--from 1981-1989 when the station was sold, and changed to a secular rock format. I remember how fun and dangerous it was to play, "AREA 312" on the Saturday Night All Request Party each week, and I'll never forget the impact other REZ songs had on my life, and on thousands of us fortunate enough to be there in the Chicago area at that time. In the last weeks before WCRM was turned over to the new owners, we got really crazy and played REZ in the MORNING DRIVE time, and around the clock, not just in my 7 to midnight shifts. Yep, we played REZ right up to the last minute of CCM airtime. And we thank REZ for starting CORNERSTONE, another once in a lifetime CCM moments that brought us all together for the glory of God, through voices, drums, loud stringed instruments, and danc

Jim Reynolds

Posted: October 22, 2008 11:44 PM

I have been a huge fan of Rez since 1979 and also believe that they have been the most influential Christian Rock band in history, supported by their Jesus People USA community, Cornerstone magazine, and the C-Stone Festival. They have also been mentors to other bands. Great pioneers and role models who had great lyrics, a great sound, and a revolutionary ministry. But, those who claim that there are no current Christian Rock acts rolling in the same Spirit are ill-informed, as there are now literally hundreds and thousands of recent albums produced by many, many bands who are carrying the same light and message via this hard music genre. Most of them cannot be found on the Christian Pop Rock TV shows, which are more superficial by nature. These new bands are growing and thriving in the current underground, just where Rez had their beginnings. And just like in the old days, one has to do some research to find them.

Marty Phillips

Posted: October 22, 2008 2:01 PM


I have this box set of REZ Bands. It is amazing! Not just the music but the live concert DVD and the 80 Page booklet outlining more than just Rez History but the whole modern Christian culture in it's beginnings! The commentary is full of funny stories on the DVD... Way worth the price!

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