Jerusalem (Swedish band)

Last updated
Jerusalem
Jerusalemlogga.jpg
Band logo
Background information
Origin Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres Christian rock, Christian metal, Contemporary Christian music (broadly)
Years active1975–present
MembersUlf Christiansson
Anders Mossberg
Dan Tibell
Klas Anderhell
Peter Carlsohn
Reidar I. Paulsen
Michael Ulvsgärd
Past membersBertil Sörensson
Danne Gansmoe
Website www.jerusalem.se

Jerusalem is a Swedish Christian rock and Christian metal band exemplary of an early hard rock and heavy metal band to discuss Christianity and religious faith in its lyrics. [1] Ulf Christiansson formed the group in 1975 with an expressly evangelistic purpose, with lyrics describing the band's relationship to God in an ordinary, yet radical, way. Their concerts have been described as a series of revival meetings which often included altar calls and occasionally exorcisms. [1]

Contents


Musical career

Jerusalem gained broad acceptance in the late 1970s, concurring alongside the early development of contemporary Christian music. After three years of touring, Jerusalem had received multiple offers from record labels to sign a record deal, and the band ultimately signed with Christian music, Prim Records. The band's eponymous debut album, Jerusalem , became an instant hit among listeners, and within the first six months the record sold 20,000 copies, which was unheard of within the Europeean Christian rock genre. [1]

Americans attending the Christian Greenbelt festival in England, where Jerusalem participated during the summer,[ when? ] brought the record to the United States. Glen Kaiser, who led the Resurrection Band –a prominent Christian rock band in the United States –gave the record to Pat Boone, who owned Lamb & Lion Records, the label that subsequently released Jerusalem's records in the U.S. and Canada. [1]

Jerusalem's fourth album, Vi Kan Inte Stoppas (Can't Stop Us Now) (1983), included a stylistic change to a more melodic rock sound [1] with less overtly God-centered lyrics. Members of the band eventually tired out,[ citation needed ] and in 1985, Jerusalem stopped touring and enrolled in the Word of Life Bible School. [1] Jerusalem released a fifth album in 1987 called Dancing on the Head of the Serpent featuring Reidar I. Paulsen on the keyboards. The record sleeve depicted a person clad in denim jeans and boots, appearing to be half human and half lizard. This radical image shocked many Swedish Christians, and some record stores banned the album, [1] while others continued to stock and sell the album, albeit under the sales counter. After this album, the band took a six-year hiatus.

Members

Current

Jerusalem currently has two line-ups

Past

A lot of different musicians were at one time or another part of Jerusalem. These are just the ones who recorded with Jerusalem.

*Reidar Ingvald Paulsen changed name in 2007 for Reidar Ingvald Paasche

Discography

For albums released in both Swedish and English versions, the English titles are in parentheses.

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Powell, Mark Allan (2002). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music (First printing ed.). Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. pp.  448–449. ISBN   1-56563-679-1.
  2. 1 2 "Jerusalem (3) – Can't Stop Us Now". Discogs.com. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
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.