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Revision as of 14:47, 30 September 2006

Jerusalem is a Christian rock band, based in Sweden that was founded around 1975 by Ulf Christiansson. They are widely viewed as the first Christian band with a hard rock sound.

Members

Current

Jerusalem is currently comprised of 2 line-ups

• Ulf Christiansson - vocals, guitar (1975 - present)
• Anders Mossberg - bass (1978? - 1981?, 1996 - present)
• Dan Tibell - keyboards (1975 - 1985, 1996 - present)
• Klas Anderhell - drums (1979? - 1981, 1996 - present)

• Ulf Christiansson - vocals, guitar (1975 - present)
• Peter Carlsohn - bass (1981 - 1995, 2003? - present)
• Reidar I. Paulsen - keyboards (1986? - 1995?, 2006 - present)
• Michael Ulvsgärd - drums (1981 - 1995, 2003? - present)

Past

• Bertil Sörensson - bass (1978?)
• Danne Gansmoe - drums (1978?)

A lot of different musician were at one time or another part of Jerusalem. This is just the ones who recorded with Jerusalem

Discography

Swedish names in brackets

• 1978 Volume 1 (Jerusalem)
• 1980 Volume 2 (Volym 2)
• 1981 Warrior (Krigsman)
• 1983 Can't Stop Us Now (Vi Kan Inte Stoppas)
• 1985 In His Majesty's Service
• 1987 Dancing On The Head Of The Serpent
• 1988 10 Years After (compilation)
• 1994 Prophet
• 1996 Those Were The Days (Volym Tre)
• 1997 R.A.D. (Volüm Fyra)
• 1998 På Ren Svenska
• 2006 Greatest Hits (compilation)
• 2006 Tretti (compilation)

History

When the band first toured in the mid-1970's in Sweden, their combination of Christian lyrics with a hard rock sound was very controversial. Hard rock was connected to drugs, aggression and the Devil, and the band was only permitted to perform at a few churches.

Jerusalem's message was primarily aimed at youth, with their lyrics describing the band's relationship to God in an ordinary, but radical way. The concerts have been described as a series of revival meetings.

Over time, Jerusalem gained broader acceptance, and after three years of touring record companies began making offers to record the band. The Christian record company Prim signed Jersualem, without much expectation of success. However, the band's self-titled first album "Jerusalem" became an instant hit among Christian listeners, and within the first six months the record sold 20 000 copies, unheard of within the genre of Christian rock in Europe.

Buoyed by the response, Jerusalem toured both in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. The next album was released in 1980 and was called "Volume 2". This record, which was also made in an English version, exposed Jerusalem to a global audience. The working schedule of the band became filled with tours in Germany, France, England, Belgium and Finland.

From the Christian Greenbelt festival in England, where Jerusalem participated during the summer, Americans brought the record to the United States and Glen Kaiser, leader of Resurrection Band one of the largest Christian rock bands in the US. Kaiser gave the record to Pat Boone, who owned the record company Lamb and Lion. Lamb and Lion subsequently released Jerusalem's records in the United States and Canada.

In 1981 Jerusalem released their third album, "Warrior". "Warrior" became a sales success in Sweden, Europe, USA and Canada. In the fall of 1981, Jerusalem toured the United States. European, radical Jerusalem, with their heavy hard rock, took the USA by storm.

At this time the band consisted of Ulf Christiansson on guitar and vocals, Dan Tibell keyboards, Peter Carlsohn, who replaced Anders Mossberg on bass and finally Michael Ulvsgärd on drums (who had replaced Klas Anderhell).

With the fourth album: "Can't stop us now", Jerusalem's style changed and turned more melodic, but the lyrics didn't speak radically about God anymore. The album, recorded in Ireland, led to another tour in the USA, where the video also was shown on MTV. The success was enormous. During the following years, Jerusalem mostly toured abroad, with their huge equipment, which weighed five tons. That was more than any other Swedish hard rock band could show at the time. Between 1983 and 1985 Jerusalem made several very successful tours in USA, which finally resulted in a live album: "In His Majesty's Service", recorded in Shreveport and Dallas.

Eventually, however, this all became too much, and the members of the band tired out. In 1985, Jerusalem quit touring.

In 1987 Jerusalem released "Dancing on the head of the Serpent". Reidar Paulsen played the keyboards. On the record sleeve there was an army boot shown, depicted trampling on a demon. This radical image proved too shocking for Swedish Christians. Record stores still stocked the album, but sold the record under the counter. After this album the band was quiet for a while. But the vision and the dream was still alive.

In 1992, the band moved back to Gothenburg, Sweden and recorded the "Prophet" album. It ultimately became the Jerusalem album that garnered the most favourable reviews.

External links

• Jerusalem - Official Site

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