8. Jesus Christ Morningstar

 BACKGROUND:

ApologetiX wanted to do a whole album of parodies that focused on the Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. At the time, however, the band did not have enough spoofs regarding the events of Passion Week to fill a whole album. Therefore, they extended it to cover the whole [earthly] life of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Morningstar take a chronological journey through the [earthly] life of Jesus Christ, from birth to resurrection (and then some), from humanity to divinity. ApologetiX does so through 18 parodies of classic rock songs.

TITLE:

ApologetiX got some inspiration for this album's title from the hit musical Jesus Christ Superstar, which taught people about both the Bible and Christian music, albeit the accuracy of it may come into question. The band slightly tweeks the musical name to Jesus Christ Morningstar, a title actually given to Jesus in Revelation 22:16. This slight tweek tells the audience to expect the same rocking as Jesus Christ Superstar but with a bit more accuracy to teach what the Gospels actually have to say about Jesus. Whereas Superstar stops at the crucifixion, Morningstar goes to the resurrection, and then some. Where Superstar focuses on the humanity of Jesus, Morningstar focuses on the divinity of the Christ. Whereas Superstar portrayed Jesus as a man of history, Morningstar portrays Jesus as the Christ of the faith. The Bible never calls Jesus a superstar (it's debatable how popular Jesus really was), but it does give Jesus many more titles, titles more important to the faith. These tracks on this album teach about the meaning behind those titles. Truly this title sets the theme and the mood.

CRITIQUE:

I commonly like to compare and contrast between unity and diversity in the critique. Well, Jesus Christ Morningstar definitely has unity. In fact, I would say it has double unity. First and foremost, Jesus Christ Morningstar has unity in its biblical theme. The theme of the [earthly] life of Jesus Christ is clearly evident throughout the album. What draws out the obviousness of the theme is the arrangement of the tracks. The album opens with "Hotel Can't Afford Ya" (parody of "Hotel California" by The Eagles), a parody retelling the birth of Jesus. From there, listening to the parodies of the album is like listening to an audiobook retelling the Gospels. It feels like walking with Jesus in his ministry, all the way up the crucifixion and the resurrection. Even when the album goes beyond the life of Jesus in the Gospels to Acts with the apostles, it still very much feels like the spoofs point back to Jesus. The secondary uniting theme is the musical genre. Indeed, most, if not all, of these parodies can be classified as classic rock. To further emphasis the classic rock nature, most of these spoofs come from the 60's or 70's. The only odd man out is "I'll Prepare for You" (parody of "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts), but even though it's from 1995, it sounds like classic rock, and thus, it fits. Now I must remind you, as always, that too much unity usually leads to a lack of diversity, and that lack of diversity will only draw in a minority of fans and will outcast a majority of fans. Indeed, if classic rock is not your thing, this album is not for you, and you will pass. Besides that, all these spoofs sound like they belong together, almost like they are all from the same band (originally).

As a matter of fact, these songs go together so well that ApologetiX paired up twice two songs from two different artists that transition smoothly. "Go Right Now" (parody of "All Right Now" by Free) transitions smoothly into "Apostle Me" (parody of "Rock 'n Me" by Steve Miller). This transition has meaning, as the former parody retells the calling of the first disciples, and the latter spoof teaches the name of all 12 disciples, and it does a good job of it, too! "Jesus (Sermon on the Mount)" (parody of "Venus" by Shocking Blue) almost seamlessly transitions into "Temple Physician" (parody of "Pinball Wizard" by The Who). Again, this transition has significance, as both songs cover the two biggest factors of Jesus's ministry that drew the crowds: his teaching and his miracles. Radio DJs will commonly play two songs from the same band that go together, but ApologetiX took it a step farther and put together two songs from two different bands, and it sounds so good. Kudos to them!

As mentioned above in the background, Jesus Christ Morningstar has 18 tracks on it. That's on the low end for ApologetiX's earlier albums, but that's excusable. Jesus Christ Morningstar has 3 tracks over 6 minutes long: "Hotel Can't Afford Ya" (parody of "Hotel California" by The Eagles), "Parable Guy" (parody of "American Pie" by Don McLeod) and "Narrow Way to Heaven" (parody of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin). Those 3 songs alone take a bunch of space, explaining only 18 tracks on this album. Also, spades to ApologetiX for spacing these 3 songs out well on the album. "Hotel Can't Afford Ya" comes in at the beginning, "Parable Guy" sits right in the middle, and "Narrow Way to Heaven" occurs near the end. The arrangement of these 3 songs also makes sense considering the theme(s) of the album. Naturally, "Hotel Can't Afford Ya" appears at the start of the album because it tells the birth of Jesus. Of course, "Parable Guy" would happen in the middle because parables were one of the highlights of Jesus's teaching. While "Narrow Way to Heaven" describes a teaching Jesus gave near the start of his ministry, not the end, "Narrow Way to Heaven" serves as an altar call song, inviting the hearer to consider everything he or she has heard about Jesus so far and to make a decision to call Jesus Lord and Savior. It all just fits so well. Spades again to ApologetiX!

The fact that ApologetiX wanted a Holy Week album specifically instead of a life of Jesus album in general becomes apparently with tracks 8 to 12. All 5 of these tracks specifically retell the events from Maundy Thursday to the ascension. Looking at all 5 tracks together, it's a shame that ApologetiX couldn't think of more parodies to make this album a specifically Passion Week album. They were so close. If only Easter Standard Time would have done it correctly.

Well, apparently, ApologetiX didn't have enough for the [earthly] life of Christ either. "Spirit Inside" (parody of "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum) speaks of the apostles waiting for the Holy Spirit, as found in Acts 1-2. You wouldn't think this one would need reworking, as Norman Greenbaum meant for the original to be a gospel song, even including the line "You gotta have a friend in Jesus." As lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson points out in his journal, however, the line "Never been a sinner, never sinned" should rub Christians the wrong way. I believe ApologetiX redeemed this song in another way. The original song talks about the end goal of going up to heaven. The ApolgoetiX parody gives the good news that Christians can start living out heaven down here on earth the help of the Holy Spirit. "Walk His Way" (parody of "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith) retells how the apostles Peter and John healed a crippled beggar. You would think that ApologetiX could have kept the title and just change the lyrics, but I like the change of title, too. Seeing that Jesus could make the lame walk should encourage people to walk towards Jesus, too.

Even with those 2 songs from Acts, ApologetiX still did not have enough to fill an album, so the band added 3 theological tracks to the album. These songs are theological in the sense that they teach more about Christology (theology of God the Son) than retelling stories from the [earthly] life of Jesus. "You May Be Bright" (parody of "You May Be Right" by Billy Joel) combat those who try to disprove the resurrection. "John 1:1" (parody of "Fun Fun Fun" by The Beach Boys) informs that Jesus was God just as much as man. "Fakey Shaky Parts" (parody of "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus) fights the notion that some of the Bible might be wrong. While not retelling a specific story about Jesus, this tracks still very much fit the album, as the theology they teach focus on Jesus.

FAVORITE SONG: "Narrow Way to Heaven" (parody of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin)

At first, I was going to pose the same rules as I posed for previous albums: the song had to be exclusive to this album. That rule, however, would exclude "Narrow Way to Heaven" (parody of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin). How could I not make "Narrow Way to Heaven" my favorite song? If I recall correctly, ApologetiX has reported that this is the number 1 ApologetiX song that has brought people to Christ. How could it not? The spoof presents the gospel message by perfectly linking Matthew 7:13-14 with John 3:16 and John 14:6. It leaves the listener with the choice whether he or she wants to follow Jesus. The answer should be yes. The music complements the message. The slow and soft up build up gets the listener to quietly contemplate the gospel message presented. Then the song culminates into the climax, which emphasizes the urgency of receiving this gospel message. I know the end of the song can be hard to sing, but J. nails it. Even I had this song play at my baptism. You would be a fool to listen to this song and still come out a non-Christian.

FINAL VERDICT: 8th.

An album with 18 tracks is short for one of ApologetiX's early albums (which can be explained by 3 tracks over 6 minutes long), but those 18 tracks come jam packed with classic rock hits. Yes, it's a turn off for people who don't like classic rock, but if you love classic rock, you will love this album. Even better, this album tells a story, an important story, which is the life of Jesus Christ. The story of Jesus, as told on this album, culiminates and climaxes with an invitation to accept Jesus Christ as Lord as Savior. It's the perfect altar call, as it is the best song on the album. While the album may lack varitey in Bible stories or in musical genre, if you want classic rock about Jesus, this is your album.