New York City electro punk/metal band Mindless Self Indulgence makes over-the-top, risqué music with explicit lyrics. Most of their albums are available on iTunes and filed in the Christian & Gospel genre. In fact, their latest album, You’ll Rebel To Anything, has charted as high as #27 on the iTunes Christian/Gospel chart.

Though Mindless Self Indulgence’s music is clearly marked as explicit, several Christians have purchased it and taken offense. As a result, iTunes has asked the band to change the genre they’re filed under after receiving complaints from some Christian organizations.

Mindless Self Indulgence never actually labeled their music Christian & Gospel. They submitted that it should be filed under “Religious,” because of their “devout fan base and cult-like following.” In response to iTunes request to change the label, MSI singer Jimmy Urine says “It was iTunes, not us, that interpreted “religious” to mean Christian. What is offensive to some people is obviously inspirational to others. I have no intention of changing the genre listing of this album.”

Honestly, I’ve always found the genre labels on iTunes to be pretty useless. Their categories are too broad to accurately identify most music. Mindless Self Indulgence’s sound crosses many genre lines – electronic, industrial, punk, metal, aggressive rock and more – so they could never fit into an iTunes category anyway. So why not call it “Religious?” And if that means “Christian & Gospel,” so be it. The explicit lyric warning and the sound samples are there to help inform your decision.