Comments on: Can Christians honestly critique each other’s music?

By: Kyle Campos

Kyle Campos — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:01:13 +0000

Appreciate the feedback Bob. Agree completely with your assessment, and humility as it relates to music and jeez just life in general, is something I definitely need the continual work of the Holy Spirit in. I appreciate your wisdom and passionate after Jesus. God bless.

By: Bob Kauflin

Bob Kauflin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:42:21 +0000

Correction to the last comment. I think reviewers "at times can be" categorical…

By: Bob Kauflin

Bob Kauflin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:41:21 +0000

Kyle,

Yep. I don't question my value to the kingdom (zero apart from Christ) or think you should live in eternal damnation (because I'm assuming you're in Christ). Always appreciate thoughtful and honest feedback on anything Sovereign Grace does musically.

That being said, I wrote a post a while back on ten reasons to share musical opinions humbly. It's more on the personal level, but I think reviewers are "categorical" in their statements and could stand to be more nuanced or specific. Thanks for the helpful post.

Bob Kauflin

By: Kyle Campos

Kyle Campos — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:08:39 +0000

Yeah there's nothing good about snarky comments, except for the word itself. I love saying snarky. As long as we agree you can be kind hearted while giving critique, that's really all I ask.

By: Kyle Campos

Kyle Campos — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:06:06 +0000

That would be a good Tshirt… "Loving Jesus doesn't make your music not suck" (I think the double negative serves the shirt)

By: Troy

Troy — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:57:22 +0000

I agree that we should be honest with each other. However, I also see a lot of snarky comments posted by Christians. Honest, kind-hearted critiques from a qualified source are great.

By: Jeff T.

Jeff T. — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:42:00 +0000

A great example is the Bluetree album that just came out. It has about 3 song son it that are decent. The rest are incredibly amateur-ish with predictable and unimaginative lyrics and terrible arrangements. However, the album has been reviewed as though it were a genuine masterpiece! Christian website music reviews are about as objective as having your mom review your own CD.

Personally, I've been treated as though I have "a heart issue" by other bloggers when I've tried to spur honest reviews of CDs. Why can't we just objectively say that bad music is bad music – loving Jesus doesn't make it into good music!

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:15:58 +0000

I think the issue you've noticed has more to do with a fear of accurately reviewing paid advertisers than concerns over gifting or offense. If you make your customers upset, you tend to lose their business. It's a very fine line for music magazines to walk which is one of the reasons I don't subscribe any longer. I trust "word of mouth" recommendations, user review sites (like yelp) and my own ears.

By: Kyle Campos

Kyle Campos — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:02:24 +0000

I agree completely John Mark. Certainly much of what we don't want to hear is profitable for us. Whether it's music critique or tough scriptures.

By: Paul J.

Paul J. — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:58:00 +0000

I find that the Music section of ChristianityToday.com is very fair on their reviews. I've seen plenty of one and two star ratings, and honest critique of where the project didn't hold up. I haven't seen that kind of honesty anywhere else in Christian press…

By: John Mark McMillan

John Mark McMillan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:08:27 +0000

I actually think it's a disservice to our brothers if we don't critique them. You know how on american idol, especially at the beginning of every season we hear hundreds of people who couldn't carry a tune in a box but they believe they are the next Whitney Houston. They end up embarassing themselves on national TV because no one ever told them that they needed serious help. Sometimes the best way to love someone is to tell them things they don't want to hear. The only way to grow, especially if you want to be on a national level and have any kind of impact on the world is to be forced into a situation where you have to identify your weaknesses. Proverbs says "Wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy".