But this is one area where Christian music greatly lags behind the mainstream. Yeah, there's a few great videos out there (Anberlin's latest, A Day Late, is at least an example of something that brings some creativity to the table). But the problem here is that a vast majority of those great videos were made, oh, 8 to 10 years ago. dc Talk was one band that always seemed to create a good music video Jesus Freak, Consume Me, and My Friend (So Long) are all great examples of music videos that were innovative, interesting, and thought-provoking. Jars Of Clay's Flood is another great example of a solid music video. But these are songs that are from the late '90s, and they are still the cream of the crop when it comes to Christian videos out there. Why is it that so few great videos exist in the Christian realm? Why can bands like Switchfoot hit the mark sometimes (the original version of the Dare You To Move video) and miss the mark at other times (Meant To Live)? Why can a band like Thousand Foot Krutch, while managing to get exposure in the mainstream rock markets, not produce a video that's at all worthwhile (example: one of the most pointless videos I've seen in a long time, Rawkfist)? Even proven artists like Third Day can't seem to make a good music video if their life depended on it (And I'm sorry, but giving me a video with live concert footage does not count as a music video)?
Okay, so I might not take 50 Cent's In Da Club video over Rawkfist, but you know what? I might very well take Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby One More Time. And I would definitely take any music video from Chevelle over any music video from Thousand Foot Krutch, Switchfoot, or any number of other Christian artists. From the looks of things, these artists could combine their efforts and still come up way short in the video department. And that's a very sad thing.