OFF THE BAHAMAS (CNN) -- As the lights come up, Third Day lead singer Mac Powell is a little stumped. He's asked the packed house for requests, but the band can't do the two of the most popular suggestions.





Third Day has earned praise from mainstream publications but is still pigeonholed as "Christian rock."





The first is a song by another popular Christian music group, and the band has never performed it live.





The other suggestion is "Born Again," a ballad on their latest album. They have never played it live, either, and have not practiced it as a group in a long time. The album version also includes vocals by Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley, and she's not here.





After a people shout out a few more suggestions, Powell looks at the band and changes plans. It's karaoke time. One by one, they bring up fans to sing some of the oldies but goodies. The fans love it, even though the vocals are, well, not concert-worthy.





It's moments like this that make Third Day one of the most popular contemporary Christian music bands and the headliner for the 3,000 fans on this Christian-music-themed voyage, the K-Love Friends and Family Cruise.





"It's always fun for the audience and for us," drummer David Carr said. "Every now and then, we are really surprised by what we hear. Both pleasantly -- and not."





The members of Third Day, which has won three Grammy Awards and an American Music Award, are having as much fun on the ship as any of the fans, who are getting a chance to vacation side-by-side with the rockers and 12 other bands. They have brought their families along and -- aside from playing two one-hour gigs -- have been able to be music fans, too.





It's a needed break between tours -- the next one begins March 5 -- but the band is intrigued by the fact that at both shows on the cruise, fans have demanded "Born Again," which is scheduled to be the next single from their 10th studio album, "Revelation."





"That's going to go into our set list now," bassist Tai Anderson said.





The band is also enjoying an increase in fame. In June, they became the first Christian band to make the cover of Billboard magazine. " 'Revelation' should appeal to Third Day's core Christian music audience while expanding its fan base in the mainstream rock arena," the magazine said.





The crossover success hasn't materialized, but that hasn't disappointed the Atlanta, Georgia-based band. They plan to continue to focus on Christian-music fans even while their new management company looks at other opportunities.





"Getting to lead people in a worship or just even entertaining them is always a reward," Carr said. "I hope that Third Day continues to explore new territories as a band and still keep our core sense of who we are."





They say they were more focused on giving their fans an album with the Southern rock sound that has made the band famous in Christian music while trying to be a little more creative.





For "Revelation," Third Day worked with mainstream producer Howard Benson (Daughtry, Hoobastank) in Los Angeles, California, rather than a studio in Atlanta.





Anderson says the band pushed itself harder than ever, and even when the record company wanted a finished product, the group pushed back and continued to work and write songs, including the title track.





The result, the band believes, is a collection of songs that is lyrically among their best tunes and musically more than what fans were expecting.





Carr acknowledges that it sounds clichéd for a band member to tout their latest work as their best. Still, he says, this album is as good as any Third Day has produced.





"Having been a band as long as we have [since 1991] and having put out as many albums as we have, it seemed really apparent
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