9. Wise Up and Rock

 BACKGROUND:

Wise Up and Rock is the 80's equivalent of Recovery. Since most, if not all, of the ApologetiX band members grew up in the 80's, with 80's music as "their music" or "their generation's music," it just made sense to create an album of 80's parodies. In the album's description, lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson also notes that many of the band members did not know Jesus during the 80's, and they could have used these biblical spoofs to learn about Jesus. Indeed, the parodies on this album both teach Bible stories and theological doctrines. The album consists of 17 or 26 spoofs, depending on how you look at it (we will get to that), all of which are 80's music.

TITLE:

The title is another gorgeous wordplay. The album title originates from the words of Jesus in Luke 5:23, where Jesus says, "Rise up and walk." ApologetiX almost only switches the R and W (not exactly, but you get my point) to get Wise Up and Rock. J. Jackson also fits the album title into his own testimony, he describing his faith as "wising up" (learning about Jesus) and then rocking (making biblical parodies). The band's hope is that everybody listening to this album with simultaneously wise up and rock by learning about Jesus through listening to these 80's rock spoofs.  While I don't always talk about the album cover, I just have to for this album, especially since ApologetiX mentions it in the album's description. The album cover contains a man hold a Bible in front of his butt wearing red leather pants. J. says that picture symbolically represents everything ApologetiX does because "the Bible is behind everything we do" (catch the double entendre for "behind" there?). What you may or may not know is that not only does the album contain spoofed songs, the album cover itself is a parody! It directly copies the album cover for Loverboy's Get Lucky, in which a man has his fingers crossed in front of his butt, also wearing red leather pants! The difference in the two album covers says everything. Whereas Loverboy and the secular world may depend on luck to get them through life, Christians depend on the Word of God to get them through life. The album cover is also fitting because the opening track on Wise Up and Rock is "Working for the Weak End," a parody of "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy, the opening track on Get Lucky! Both the album title and album cover reinforce what to expect on Wise Up and Rock.

CRITIQUE:

Ok, let's get the question of numbering the tracks on this album. According to any CD player, this album has 17 tracks. When the CD player gets to track 17, however, the track viritually plays 8 songs...well, kind of sort of. This 17th track is a medley of 10 songs. Officially the 17th track's name is "80's Medley, " but unofficially, the track has the nickname "Octogan but not forgotten." Originally, this song title had double meaning, as the original medley planned to have 8 parodies of 80's music (the double 8's give the double meaning). In the end, however, this medley ended up with 10 spoofs, giving the nickname a single meaning, representing the 8 in 80's music. Personally, I would have preferred all 10 of the parodies in the 80's Medley to be full-fledge spoofs. After listening to the orignals, however, I quickly learned that 80's music was very repetitive, almost to the point of being redundant, so I am now fine with a medley. I will give compliments as a medley, too. Unlike the so-called "anniversary medley" on 20:20 Vision, all 10 songs blend together almost seamlessly, with no hiccups. While I wouldn't mind seeing the songs on the medley get a full-blown track in future albums, this medley suffices.

As somebody may have already figured from both the background and the title, Wise Up and Rock finds its theme and unity in its musical decade. The unifying theme of Wise Up and Rock is that all the songs come from the 80's. More specifically, the songs come from 1980 to 1987. While songs from 1988 and 1989 would have better covered the deacde, when this album says it's an 80's album, it's truly an 80's album, not an early 80's album or late 80's album. This unity does not mean the album lacks variety. This album has variety in genre. While a majority, if not most, of the songs fall under the genre of classic rock, it also includes some new wave and pop. Bet no one was expecting genre variety in an all 80's album! More impressive, though, the album has variety in original artists. If expanding the 17th track into 10 separate songs, then Wise Up and Rock has 26 different artists represented on it. Yes, even counting all 10 parodies in the medley, there is no repeat original artists for any of the spoofs! That is quite spectacular, and it give even more variety to this 80's album. Seriously, I can't get over how much variety can exist within album solely focusing on 80's songs!

I know this the part where I start highlighting the standout songs, culminating to my favorite song, but I am actually going to start by talking about my least favorite. "Fishin' on a Pier" (parody of "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi) is my least favorite song on the album because it is a re-recording of a song that appears on Spoofernatural. We almost went a whole album without a re-recording, and "Fishin' on a Pier" had to ruin that. Yes, the song is "outdated" with Karl and Fred departing, but it became outdated again shortly after Todd exited the band. That's what you get for putting bandmate's names in the studio recording, which I imagine is much easier to fix in a live concert performance. Yes, I understand that J. doesn't think the Spoofernatual recording is a good recording, but it's not a bad recording either. I can't tell that his voice is strained. The only real difference I notice is that the keys part in the Wise Up and Rock version was more pronounced, which figures, considering ApologetiX has a full-time keys player in the band during Wise Up and Rock. I would agree with J.'s analogy that comparing "Fishin' on a Pier" between Spoofernatural and Wise Up and Rockis like comparing "Livin' on a Prayer" between Slippery When Wet and Cross Roads. I would come to a different conclusion, however, because both instances each song's performance is equally satisfactory. Even more to the point, Wise Up and Rock is not a greatest hits album, like Cross Roads is. I would have preferred if this re-recording would have gone on ApologetiX Classics - the 80's. I think I'm so against this song being on here is because there is so many other Bon Jovi hits to parody that could have gone on this album. I would have loved to heard spoofs of "Bad Medicine," "Blaze of Glory," "I'll Be There For You," "Runaway," or "It's My Life" (especially that last one, that last one needs extra redemption).

In Wise Up and Rock, J. takes a lot of parodies in a different direction than I would have spoofed them. I would have turned "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey into a parody about standing strong in the faith, no matter what other people think and say. J. spoofs it into "Don't Stop 'Til Egypt," a spoof about Mary and Joseph fleeing Herod's clutches for the safety of baby Jesus. It definitely works, considering the original talks about a small-town girl and a city boy, which could be used to describe Mary and Joseph respectively. I also catch the irony that the original song came from Journey's album Escape! By the way, this is J.'s best singing of a Journey song to date. I would expected "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News to teach the biblical doctrine of God's love, but J. turns it into "The Power Above," a song about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts. It still works, though. After all, 1 Corinthians 13 teaches that spiritual gifts without love is nothing.

As mentioned above, "Working for the Weak End" (parody of "Working for the Weekend" by Loverboy) makes the perfect opening track, but this time, let me tell you it's not only in the sense that it goes so well with the album name and album cover. By changing "weekend" to "weak end" in the song title, the song takes on new meaning. The song sings about how God uses our weaknesses to work in us. It's just amazing how one letter change can change the meaning of a song.

FAVORITE SONG: "The Atheists" (parody of "That's the Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby & The Range)

No kidding, the first time I heard this song, I seriously thought ApologetiX somehow got Bruce Hornsby to sing a spoof of his own song. J.'s singing is that good, and it just might be the best performance in the whole album. The second-best performance for this track goes to Bill Hubauer, who nails the piano part perfectly. Anybody listening can tell he's a fair of the original. With "The Atheists" fitting so well over "The Way It Is," this song seems like it begs to be parodied. This parody reveals the awful truth that no matter how much evangelizing or witnessing a Christian may do, some atheists just have hearts too hard to receive the gospel. I like how J. compares them to the religious leaders of Christ's day who refused to hear his message, too. I also appreciate where this track falls in the album. It is 4th consecutive of 4 songs in a row that discuss the aspect of evangelism and witnessing. The previous song, "Dude (Would Like to Save Me)" (parody of "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" by Aerosmith) tackles the topic from the opposite side of "The Atheists," which talks about persistently pursing people to win them from Christ. "The Atheists," opposed to "Dude (Would Like to Save Me)," talks about people hardening their hearts the more they hear the Gospel. Together, it all aligns with what Jesus taught in the parable of the seeds scattered among the soil. An all-around good job from ApologetiX!

FINAL VERDICT: 9th

For an album dedicated to 80s music, this album still has variety. It has variety in genre and in original bands. Still, sadly, people can pass on this album if they don't like 80's music, no matter what the genre or who the original artist is. ApologetiX put a lot of thought into making this the ultimate 80's album. Everything from the album title to the album cover reinforces it. It definitely puts You Can't Say Euphrates Without the 80's to shame. The fan also gets the bang for his buck, as the album contains 17 to 26 parodies, depending on how the fan looks at it. While still a long way from the 18-22 parodies on previous albums, it's a big improvement from the 11-13 spoofs per album recently. In a way, I feel like Wise Up and Rock is very much the last of the "good albums," as all the other albums after it get a lower ranking in my book. Even if I expanded this list to all ApologetiX albums ever existed, no album after Wise Up and Rock would reach the top 10. You need to get this album if you don't have it already. Do not assume that if you have 20:20 Vision, you have the greatest hits of Wise Up and Rock, for Wise Up and Rock has the superior recordings!