Jerusalem is a Swedish

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

band, founded in 1975 by Ulf Christiansson. It was one of the first bands to combine

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

lyrics with a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and heavy metal sound.

History

Jerusalem's message was primarily aimed at youth, with their lyrics describing the band's relationship to

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

in an ordinary, but radical way. The band's purpose was expressly

evangelistic Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

. Their concerts have been described as a series of

revival meeting A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held to inspire active members of a church body to gain new converts and to call sinners to repent. Those who lead revival services are known as revivalists (or evangelists). Nineteent ...

s which often included

altar call An altar call is a tradition in some Christian churches in which those who wish to make a new spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ are invited to come forward publicly. It is so named because the supplicants gather before the altar located at th ...

s and occasionally

exorcisms Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

. 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 Prim may refer to: People * Prim (given name) * Prim (surname) Places * Prim, Virginia, unincorporated community in King George County *Dolní Přím, a municipality and village in the Czech Republic *Přím, a village and part of Javornice in ...

signed Jerusalem, without much expectation of success. However, the band's self-titled debut album, ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

'', 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

in Europe. From the Christian

Greenbelt festival Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown out of an evangelical Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young people into its current form, a more inclusive f ...

in England, where Jerusalem participated during the summer, Americans brought the record to the United States and Glen Kaiser, leader of

Resurrection Band Resurrection Band, also known as Rez Band or REZ, was a Christian rock band formed in 1972. They were part of the Jesus People USA Christian community in Chicago and most of its members have continued in that community to this day. Known for t ...

, one of the most prominent Christian rock bands in the US. Kaiser gave the record to

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...

, who owned

Lamb & Lion Records Lamb & Lion Records is a Christian record label founded in 1972 by the popular singer and actor Pat Boone and the former United Artists Records executive Irving Kessler. Based in California, the label featured Pat Boone, The Pat Boone Family, Debby ...

. Lamb & Lion subsequently released Jerusalem's records in the United States and Canada. With the fourth album, '' Vi Kan Inte Stoppas (Can't Stop Us Now)'', Jerusalem changed their style to a more melodic rock sound with lyrics that were not as overtly God-centered. Eventually, however, this all became too much, and the members of the band tired out. In 1985, Jerusalem quit touring and enrolled in the Word of Life Bible School. In 1987, Jerusalem released '' Dancing on the Head of the Serpent''. Reidar I. Paulsen played the keyboards. The record sleeve depicted jeans and boots-clad person jumping on a person's head who appears to be half human/half lizard. This radical image proved too shocking for Swedish Christians. Some record stores banned the album, while others still stocked the album, but sold the record under the counter. After this album, the band took a six-year hiatus.

Members

;Current ''Jerusalem currently has two 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) * 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 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

* '' Jerusalem (Volume 1)'' (1978/1980) * '' Volym 2 (Volume 2)'' (1980/1981) * '' Krigsman (Warrior)'' (1981/1982) * '' Vi Kan Inte Stoppas (Can't Stop Us Now)'' (1983/1984) * '' Dancing on the Head of the Serpent'' (1987) * ''

Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

'' (1994) * ''Volym 3 (Those Were the Days)'' (1996/1997) * ''Volüm Fyra (R.A.D.)'' (1997/1998) * ''She'' (2010) * Stygn (2023)

Live albums

* ''In His Majesty's Service – Live in USA'' (1985) * ''

Live – På Ren Svenska ''Live – På ren svenska'' is the second live album, and the fourteenth album overall, by the Sweden, Swedish hard rock band Jerusalem (Swedish band), Jerusalem, released in 1999. It was Jerusalem's first Swedish-only album. It was recorded on ...

'' (1998)

Compilation albums

* ''10 Years After'' (1988) * ''Klassiker 1'' (''Classics 1'') (1993/1996) * ''Klassiker 2'' (''Classics 2'') (1993/1996) * ''Classics 3'' (1995) * ''Tretti'' (2006) * ''Greatest Hits'' (2006)

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jerusalem Christian rock groups Swedish Christian metal musical groups Musical groups from Gothenburg