Critical Mass (Canadian band)

Last updated
Critical Mass
Origin Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Genres Christian rock
Years active1996 (1996)–present
LabelsIndependent
Website criticalmassmusic.org

Critical Mass is a Canadian Christian rock music group from Waterloo Region. The band is heavily influenced by its Catholic roots. They have produced and released seven albums. Their songs have appeared on albums that have sold more than 60,000 copies, making this band one of Canada's most successful independent artists. [1]

Contents

Meaning of the name

The name has a double meaning. It is both a reference to the Liturgy and a reference to critical mass in the physical sense. "Critical mass" is symbolically a reference to there being enough young people enthusiastic about their Catholic faith to cause a spiritual explosion. [2]

History of the band

Critical Mass was formed in 1997 by a group of friends, David Wang, Eric Kubica, Matt Devine, Tim Devine and Tom Pawelkos, who wanted to introduce Catholic youth to contemporary Christian music. Initially the group focused on leading worship at youth events and Masses. The original group members were Matt and Tim Devine, Eric Kubica, Tom and Sharon Pawelko, Matthew Bierschbach, Lorraine Adams, and David and Jodie Wang. The band wrote original music influenced by their Catholic faith. Their first album was a demo recording, Faith Looks Up and received positive reviews. [3] The album went on to win the band Best International Group and Best Modern Rock/Alternative album from the United Catholic Music and Video Association. One of the songs, I'll Be Fine topped the spiritual rock charts at mp3.com. [4] Lorraine Adams left the band in 1999.

Their second album Completely was produced by Andrew Horrocks and had a more professional sound than the debut demo release. [5] The album immediately garnered the Best Album of the Year at the Canadian Gospel Music Association's Covenant Awards. [6] The song Humility was finalist for Rock Song of the Year as well. The Canadian Gospel Music Association and their Covenant Awards are the equivalent of the prestigious Dove Awards in the United States.

The success of Completely resulted in the group being invited to be one of the major two bands involved in the larger liturgical celebrations at World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. The band was given the honor of performing at both the Papal Welcoming Ceremony and at the Papal Vigil, the latter of which was seen by the 600,000 in attendance and on international television. [7] Except for David Wang, the members of the band then left to pursue other projects. Tim Devine has since entered the priesthood with the Companions of the Cross.

David Wang and new band members Scott McKendrick, Luke Kupczyk, Tracey Doyle, Paul Kieffer, Lawrence Lam and assisted by Harvey Armoogan continued the mission of Critical Mass with the album Grasping for Hope in the Darkness which was released on September 11, 2004. It too, won Best Rock Album honours at the Covenant Awards. Their cover of the Kansas classic, Carry On Wayward Son also was nominated for Best Rock Song. Over the next two years, Critical Mass extended its reach into the United States with touring and retreats. [8] [9]

In October 2006, the band again received International Group of the Year honours from the United Catholic Music and Video Association. About the same time the band was joined by new member Dave Flitton.

In 2007, Critical Mass released a live praise and worship effort called Celebrate, which includes covers of popular worship songs as well as some remakes of songs from the album Completely. This album was nominated for 6 United Catholic Music and Video Association Awards.

In 2009, Critical Mass released "Body Language", an album based on Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. This is one of the first Christian rock albums to ever deal so explicitly with the topics of sex, love and communion, in a Catholic Christian context.

Critical Mass marked 2012 with the release of 15 (1997-2012), a compilation album with three new songs along with 12 other songs from their catalog.

In 2021, Critical Mass ended a 9 year absence from the music scene with the release of Serenity, a concept album that followed lead singer David Wang's journey from separation, divorce, mental health, parental alienation to faith, hope and love. Then, on Remembrance Day 2023, Critical Mass released their first holiday release entitled Christmas is Real, featuring four new Christmas compositions.

In addition to performing, co-founder David Wang influences the direction of the contemporary Catholic music scene as a music columnist for the Catholic Register , a position he has held since 1995. [10] Critical Mass has had a part to play in a recent return by the youth to more traditional Catholicism [11]

When asked if they would ever consider signing with a major record label they stated that they "are an independent band and very proud of it". [12]

Members

Television appearances

Critical Mass has been featured in two 1 hour music specials on Salt + Light Television and has been featured on the CBC and Vision TV, among others.

Discography

Albums

Music videos

Songs on compilations

Awards

GMA Canada Covenant Awards

GMA Canada Covenant Award Nominations

United Catholic Music and Video Association Unity Awards

Rocking Romans International Catholic Music Competition

Related Research Articles

Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands. Many bands who perform Christian rock have ties to the contemporary Christian music labels, media outlets, and festivals, while other bands are independent.

The 37th Annual Grammy Awards were presented on March 1, 1995, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Bruce Springsteen was the night's biggest winner with 4 awards, including Song of the Year while opening the show with his Grammy nominated hit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40th Annual Grammy Awards</span> Award ceremony

The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.

The 31st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 22, 1989, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.

<i>Set It Off</i> (Thousand Foot Krutch album) 2000 studio album by Thousand Foot Krutch

Set It Off is the first studio album released by Canadian Christian rock band Thousand Foot Krutch. The album features a fusion of heavy nu metal and softer rap rock songs, mixed with some pop punk influence. Some of the songs were from their independent album, That's What People Do. It was originally released on April 14, 2000. A remastered version of the disc, including six extra tracks, was issued on September 7, 2004. This is the last album to feature guitarist Dave Smith, who left the band in 2002 and the only album to feature drummer Geoff Laforet, who left the band in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedouin Soundclash</span> Canadian band

Bedouin Soundclash is a Canadian band based in Toronto and consisting of vocalist and guitarist Jay Malinowski, bass player Eon Sinclair and drummer Chuck Treece. Their sound has been described as a combination of reggae and ska. Bedouin Soundclash was formed in 2001, and has released six studio albums, most recently in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Youth Day 2002</span> International Catholic youth event

The 17th World Youth Day 2002 was a Catholic youth festival held July 23 to 28, 2002, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. World Youth Day is a celebration of faith begun by Pope John Paul II held on an international level every two to three years, and WYD2002 was the 10th such event. Although WYD is designed for Catholics, it attracts sizable numbers of youths from other faiths and denominations and was presented as a multi-faith celebration of young people from all over the world.

<i>Beyond Belief</i> (album) 1990 album release by Petra

Beyond Belief is the twelfth studio album of the Christian rock band, Petra. It was released on June 20, 1990.

The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in Canada. The ceremonies are held annually in cities across the nation.

The 35th Annual GMA Music Awards were held on April 28, 2004 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2003. The show was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Deion Sanders and Yolanda Adams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Mead</span> Australian Catholic nun (1937–2022)

Janet Mead was an Australian Catholic nun who was best known for recording a pop-rock version of the Lord's Prayer. The surprise hit reached Number 3 on the Australian singles chart in 1974 and Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same year. The single earned her a Grammy Award nomination and an Australian Gospel Music Awards in 2004. It sold over one and a half million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on 8 April 1974. It was also certified gold in Australia.

The 37th Annual GMA Dove Awards, also called the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards, were held on April 5, 2006 recognizing accomplishments of Christian musicians for the year 2005. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Rebecca St. James and Kirk Franklin. This was the last year in which the awards were called the "GMA Music Awards", since they will change their names to "GMA Dove Awards".

Michael Gungor also known as Vishnu Dass is an American singer-songwriter, producer, music editor, author, and podcast host. He led the musical collective Gungor, which received multiple Grammy nominations. The group's music has been compared to that of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver, and Arcade Fire. Aside from his work with the band, Gungor has written and produced music for several other artists, and is a co-founder of the art collective The Liturgists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">40th GMA Dove Awards</span>

The 40th Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 23, 2009 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2008. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Rebecca St. James, Matthew West, and Lisa Kimmey.

Ian Tanner is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has performed in rock bands since the mid-1980s. He was a founding member of Christian rock group The Awakening (1985–89), and later went on to form the band One Hundred Days with his fellow Awakening member, Andrew Horrocks. One Hundred Days performed from 1990 until 2000 when Tanner left the band and the group disbanded. He currently works as a producer, composer and studio musician and tours with various recording artists, mostly from Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">41st GMA Dove Awards</span>

The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dope Body</span>

Dope Body is an American rock band from Baltimore, Maryland, United States. They formed in 2008 by vocalist Andrew Laumann, guitarist/bassist Zachary Utz, and drummer David Jacober. They released four albums in addition to a cassette tape and two split records. They expanded to a quartet, adding bassist Jesse Lyell in 2011, who was replaced by John Jones, late of local contemporaries Roomrunner, the next year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kellie Loder</span> Canadian singer-songwriter

Kellie Loder is an independent singer-songwriter from Newfoundland who plays drums, guitar and piano. They have released three albums: The Way in 2009, Imperfections & Directions in 2010 and Benefit of the Doubt in 2018. With a voice that St. John's-based newspaper The Telegram has described as "powerful yet serene and soulful", they received critical recognition from Canada, including a nomination at the Juno Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">This Is Gospel</span> 2013 single by Panic! at the Disco

"This Is Gospel" is a song by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. It was released as the second single from their fourth studio album, Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!, on August 12, 2013. A music video for the song, directed by Daniel "Cloud" Campos, was also released on the same day. It peaked at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The 44th Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation ceremony was held on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 at the Allen Arena. It returned to Nashville, Tennessee after being away for two years. The ceremony recognized the accomplishments of musicians and other figures within the Christian music industry since the previous ceremony in April 2012. The ceremony was produced by the Gospel Music Association and was hosted by singers Kirk Franklin and Amy Grant. The awards show was broadcast on the UP television network on October 21, 2013.

References

  1. ↑ "SoundClick interview" . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
  2. ↑ David Wang: The Godfather of Catholic Rock, Hugh Van Der Linen, Grapevine Magazine , Fall 2005
  3. ↑ Local Christian Artists offer quality albums, Pauline Finch-Durichen, The Record (Waterloo Region) , January 19, 1998
  4. ↑ Local Rock Band has Mass Appeal, The Record (Waterloo Region), May 16, 2000
  5. ↑ Joyful Noise, P.J. Littleton, Catholic Parent Magazine , March 2001
  6. ↑ Kitchener's Critical Mass wins Best Rock Album at Gospel Awards, The Record, Oct 17, 2000
  7. ↑ Catholic Artists Critical Mass excited about WYD 2002- Canadian Musicians on Soundtrack for Summer's biggest event, EWTN News Feature Story , Feb 23, 2002
  8. ↑ Critical Mass reaches Youth Through Music, Cheri Perkins Mantz, Milwaukee Catholic Herald , March 16, 2006
  9. ↑ Catholic youth Proud 2B at music fest, Dan Masi, Boston Herald , July 31, 2005
  10. ↑ David Wang: The Godfather of Catholic Rock, Hugh Van Der Linen, Grapevine, Fall 2005
  11. ↑ The Tide is Turning Toward Catholicism, David Hartline, Catholic Report , 2006 ISBN   0-9790732-0-0
  12. ↑ "SoundClick interview" . Retrieved 2006-12-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.