Jerusalem

Jerusalem is considered one of the pioneers of Christian rock in Sweden and one of the first contributors to the development of Christian hard rock and metal in Europe. The Swedish pop culture magazine OKEJ described the band in 1983 as world-class rock music, before reporting two years later that Jerusalem had become better known abroad than in its own country. ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus was reportedly pleasantly surprised by Jerusalem's innovative approach. Their 1982 video for “It's Mad,” from the album Warrior, was described by Billboard as the first “gospel rock” video aired on MTV, preceding similar videos by DeGarmo & Key and Stryper.

Jerusalem is a Swedish Christian rock and Christian metal band, an example of the early hard rock and heavy metal bands to address Christianity and religious faith in its lyrics. Ulf Christiansson formed the band in 1975 with an openly evangelistic purpose, with lyrics describing the band's relationship with God in a way that was both ordinary and radical. Their concerts have been described as a series of revival meetings, often including altar calls and sometimes exorcisms. Christiansson himself described this in 1992 as “waging war with music and driving demons out of young people.”

In 1994, Jerusalem released Prophet, recorded from twelve hours of unscripted studio improvisation, with not a single song written in advance; a contemporary review called it Jerusalem's best album to date, predicting that its reinvented sound would resonate well beyond the Christian music scene.