1. Adam Up

 BACKGROUND:

Adam Up is ApologetiX's 10th album. It came out in December 2003. The album consists of 22 tracks, with a mix of classic and modern rock, and then some.

TITLE:

If you think about it, the Bible begins with Adam, the first man, and the rest of the Bible tells the story of all Adam's descendants, or the history of human beings. Likewise, Adam Up has a parody about Adam, it has a spoof about Adam's first two sons from the perspective of Adam, and from there, it walks through the Bible all the way to the book, which is you think about it, is the last Bible book chronologically speaking. Adam Up also has a bit of a wordplay. Adam Up sounds like "add 'em up," recognizing the countless albums they have (seriously, your count of ApologetiX "albums" will change depending on whether you count the cassettes, rarities, downloads, compilations and live albums). Ultimately, the title prepares the listener for what to expect, making it the perfect album title.

CRITIQUE:

Since the title has to do with the content Bible content, let's address that first. As already mentioned in the title section, if putting the parodies in biblical order, the first parody would be "It's Not Eden" (parody of "Superman (It's Not Easy)" by Five For Fighting), a parody about Adam and Eve's removal from the Garden of Even, as found in Genesis. The next spoof would be "Called My Wife" (spoof of "All My Life" by Foo Fighters), a spoof about Cain murdering Abel, as found in Genesis 4. I know I have complained in the past about ApologetiX albums using multiple parodies on a single album to tell the same story, but that doesn't count here. Even though both songs come from Adam's perspective, the two songs tells two different stories, as evident by two different chapters. Then would come "Sweet Oholibamah" (parody of "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd), a parody informing the audience that even choosing a wife became a rivalry between Jacob and Esau. Following would be "Downer of a Sister" (spoof of "Chop Suey" by System of a Down), which recalls how Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel. From there, the album continues to walk through the Bible, all the way up to "Listening After Midnight" (spoof of "Living after Midnight" by Judas Priest), which retells how Paul resurrected the young Eutychus after he had fallen to his death from listening to Paul preach all night, as found in Acts. Again, if you think about it, Acts is technically the last book in chronological history. Despite this album having gaps and jumps throughout biblical history, with its emphasis on retelling Bible stories, Adam Up really does feel like a walkthrough of the Bible.

Adam Up does not open up the album with one of those parodies about Adam. Instead, it opens with "We're in a Parody Band" (parody of "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad). This is one of the few songs not retelling a Bible story, but it works as an introductory track, for it introduces the band members. The band used it as the opening song for their concerts, so it only makes sense to have it as an opening track for their album. Of course, the spoof did not age well, as J. Jackson and Keith Haynie are the only ones still in the band. In a way, it preserves some ApologetiX history by doing so. Then again, Hits: The Tour has already done it.

While Adam Up has a gap in Bible stories, it does not have a gap in musical decades represented. Adam Up covers a span of 6 musical decades, from "Wake Up Talitha Cumi" (parody of "Wake Up Little Susie" by Everly Brothers) coming from 1957 to "Look Yourself" (spoof of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem) of 2003. Now the 50's only has 1 representation with "Wake Up Talitha Cumi" (parody of "Wake Up Little Susie" by Everly Brothers), and the 60's only have 1 representation with "Little Read Bible Book" (spoof of "“Lil’ Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs), which is understandable considering how old the decades and the songs are. All the other decades, however, have equal representation. The 70's has 5 parodies, the 80's has 4 spoofs, the 90's has 2 songs and 9 tracks from the 2000s. Too often in other albums one single decade dominates and another decade gets little to no representation. For this album, every decade, with exception of the older ones, gets good representation. Even the 9 tracks of the 2000s, the most represented decade, do not take a majority of the album. No matter what decade was "your music" or "your generation's music," Adam Up appeals to them all.

Not only does Adam Up has some of the best musical decade representation, the album also has some of the best musical genre representation. Classic rock, which dominates most ApologetiX albums, has only 3 tracks on this album: "We're in a Parody Band" (parody of "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad), "Boy Tell the World" (parody of "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night) and "Sweet Oholibamah" (parody of "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd). Less classic rock songs means more opportunities for other genres to get air time. Desire country music? "Choose Your Daddy" (parody of "Who's Your Daddy?"  by Toby Keith) will be the desire of your heart. Like some rap? Then you'll like "Look Yourself" (spoof of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem). Love disco music? Then you'll love "Get Found Tonight" (parody of "Get Down Tonight" K.C. and the Sunshine Band) and "The Word" (parody of "Grease" by Frankie Valli). Prefer your rock to be more oldies rock 'n' roll? Then you'll prefer "Wake Up Talitha Cumi" (parody of "Wake Up Little Susie" by Everly Brothers) and "Little Read Bible Book" (spoof of "Lil’ Red Riding Hood” by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs). Want your rock to be more like heavy metal? Then you'll want to listen to "Listening After Midnight" (spoof of "Living after Midnight" by Judas Priest), "Downer of a Sister" (spoof of "Chop Suey" by System of a Down) and "Lazy Brain" (spoof of "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne). Even the modern rock genre, which has the most representation on this album at 6 tracks, takes up less than a third of this album. Adam Up has the most album variety of any ApologetiX, truly making it the album for everybody.

To top off everything, Adam Up has the variety in original artists. It's already impressive ApologetiX squeezed 22 tracks onto this album. It becomes even more impressive considering that each song comes from its own original band. ApologetiX has other albums with 22 tracks, but those albums have repeated artists. For Adam Up, every track sounds new because it comes from a new band.

With Wordplay, I stated that Wordplay was the best ApologetiX performance for a studio album because it's each of the band members' height of performance. Of course, I can't say that twice because it wouldn't be true. Therefore, I will this is easily the band members' second best performance. The one band member I can say that for is Bill "Moose" Rieger. This is his last studio album with ApologetiX, and it truly is his best. I especially compliment him for his drum playing on "Downer of a Sister" (spoof of "Chop Suey" by System of a Down). That is definitely not an easy song to play. No offense to Moose, I still prefer Vegas, but Moose deserves the compliments for his drum work on this album.

Speaking of ApologetiX's performance, ApologetiX takes their album performance up a notch by introducing a female band to aid them in their parodies. ApologetiX planned for 3 parodies famous for having female backing vocals: "Meshach" (parody of "Love Shack" by B-52), "Get Found Tonight" (parody of "Get Down Tonight" K.C. and the Sunshine Band) and "Sweet Oholibamah" (parody of "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd). In the past, ApologetiX would have attempted to do the female backing vocals themselves or got amateur female singers. For Adam Up, ApologetiX got Everlife, an American pop rock band. At one point, Everlife was signed under the Disney label, opening for Miley Cyrus, Aly & AJ, Bowling for Soup, Jesse McCartney, the Cheetah Girls and Jonas Brothers. They were a kind of a big deal, and they did backing vocals for ApologetiX! While I understand why ApologetiX band members want to include their daughters into the band, and their daughters have indeed impoved over the years, but it still lacks the professional polish that Everlife brought. I wish future ApologetiX albums would have continued to do collaborations with other female bands, especially Christian female bands. It would have given ApologetiX some serious cred among Christian artists, Christian bands and Christian labels.

Speaking of collaborations, one of the most impressive collaborations in ApologetiX history has to be "Boy Tell the World" (parody of "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night). ApologetiX got Steve Carroll, a former studio musician who arranged, recorded, and toured with Three Dog Night in the early 70's to play the keys part of "Boy Tell the World." How cool is it that ApologetiX got one of original members of the original band to contribute to a Christian parody of their own song. I know ApologetiX attempted this for "The Devil Went Down to Jordan" (parody of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band) on Grace Period, but that fell through, although ApologetiX got somebody close. I'm glad ApologetiX finally got it to happen. It testifies to how great this band is.

FAVORITE SONG: "Look Yourself" (spoof of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem)

As stated many times before, when rapping, your rap has to say something. It has to make a statement. For "Look Yourself" (spoof of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem), J. Jackson has something to say. Just like Eminem gives his own autobiography with the original "Lose Yourself," "Look Yourself" tells the testimony of J. Jackson. I'm not sure if Eminem's autobiography fosters any kind of emotion or behavior, but the testimony of J. Jackson in this song evangelizes to every non-Christian who listens to it. It also disciples the Christian, for it encourages the Christian to do some evangelism himself or herself, no matter the pushback. Another key factor of rap is the use of illustration and metaphor. Boy, "Look Yourself" sure does have a lot of illustrations and metaphors, especially from pop culture. I appreciate lines like "Hope it's some fad, like New Coke or Shaun Cassidy" and "As he moves forward — it’s true George Orwell" and "Goes to go show his bros at his Alma Mater, 'Welcome Back, Kotter'" and "I’ve been shooed off and spit at like Rudolph the Reindeer" and "With questions and I know how Mother Hubbard’s dog felt — famine, drought" and so much more! While I fear these references may be lost as time passes, right here and right now they work (and as of 2022, they still work). Because of all of this, this is my favorite Eminem parody, my favorite rap spoof, and it may even be my favorite ApologetiX song.

FINAL VERDICT: 1st

Adam Up is the best ApologetiX album because it has so much to offer due its variety. Because of its variety in musical decades, if your generations was the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s or 2000s, this album has a song for you. It doesn't matter if your favorite musical genre is country, rap, disco, pop, oldies rock 'n' roll, classic rock, heavy metal or modern rock, this album has a song for you. If you look for ApologetiX music to teach you about the Bible, this album will walk you through the Bible, starting with Adam in Genesis and ending with the church age in Acts. While this is the band members' second best overall performance on a studio album, this is definitely drummer Bill "Moose" Reiger's best drum playing ever on a studio album. To further enhance this band's outstanding performance, ApologetiX added Everlife for their female vocals and Steve Carroll for the keys of "Boy Tell the World," which also gives them cred as a Christian band, even if a Christian parody band. For all these reasons, Adam Up is the best ApologetiX album. How fitting for the album that is alphabetically first (if not puting number albums first).

1. Adam Up
2. Wordplay
3. Keep the Change
4. Biblical Graffiti
5. Grace Period
6. Spoofernatural
7. Ticked!
8. Jesus Christ Morningstar
9. Wise Up and Rock
10. Radical History Tour
11. Isn't Wasn't Ain't
12. Hot Potato Soup
13. Recovery
14. Future Tense
15. Handheld Messiah
16. Apoplectic
17. You Can't Say Euphrates Without the 80's 
18. Music Is as Music Does
19. Play Nice
20. Easter Standard Time
21. Singles Group
22. Loaded 45's
23. Unconditional Releases
24. New and Used Hits
25. The Boys Aren't Backing Down
26. Chosen Ones
27. 20:20 Vision
28. Hits: The Road
29. Soundproof
30. Apol-acoustiX

2. Wordplay

 BACKGROUND:

Wordplay is ApologetiX's 13th album. It came out in December 2006, after recording between concerts in the spring, summer and fall of that same year. Indeed, the band had to pretty much record the album between concerts, as they had 134 concerts that year, an all-time high at that point. Wordplay was a breath of fresh air for fans, as it was the first studio album since 2003. 2004 had a compilation album, and 2005 had an acoustic & live album, but neither year had a live album. Wordplay also has some notoriety because longtime drummer Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner.

TITLE:

Wordplay is the simplest yet most profound title for an ApologetiX album. As a parody band, ApologetiX has a dependency on wordplay. They need wordplay for their lyrics, their song titles, the album titles, and heck, the band's name is in a way a wordplay. Therefore, this one-word title says it all when it comes to what's in the album. The band's use of wordplay reflects how biblical they are, for the Bible has tons of wordplay within itself. The title Wordplay is a wordplay within itself, too. The parodies that retell Bible stories, or stories from the Word of God, are mini-plays, like Jesus Christ Superstar or Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat. That makes them plays on the Word, or Word plays. Like I said, such a simple, one-word title has such a profound impact on the album.

CRITIQUE:

As always, let's look at Wordplay for its diversity and its unity.

Wordplay covers a span of 37 years, from "Back in the New Testament" (parody of "Back in the U.S.S.R." by The Beatles) in 1968 to 3 songs from 2005. Don't let this span fool you, though. It does not mean it covers 5 decades. The 90's are completely absent. The 60's only has representation once. The 80's only receives representation twice. A majority of this album's songs originated from 2003 to 2005. While not every musical decade has good representation, or any representation, the spread over the years means a good balance between classic rock and modern rock. Indeed, this is probably one of the best balanced ApologetiX albums. So many other albums with either focus mostly on classic rock and throw in modern rock as an afterthought, or they will focus majorly on modern rock and throw in some classic rock at the end for extra flare. While not exactly 50:50, the balance between classic and modern rock attracts both the older and younger generations. This balance feels intentional, and if not, they had me fooled.

Speaking of musical genres and speaking of balance, this album has some of the best diversity in genre. Of course, since ApologetiX is a Christan rock parody band, most of the entries of this album is rock, both classic rock and modern rock. ApologetiX hasn't forgotten their non-rock fans, however, for they give each of them a little something. Desire your rock to sound more like heavy metal? "Swimmer" (parody of "Slither" by Velvet Revolver) is your heavy metal. Like rap and hip hop? Take a listen to "Bone Digger" (parody of "Gold Digger" by Kayne West). For those lovers of country music, Wordplay has 2 entries for you: "Save Your Voice, Quiet Down Boy" (parody of "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" by Big & Rich) and "Humpty Dumpty Country Club" (parody of Honky Tonky Badonkadonk" by Trace Adkins). Even for the remaining rock, some of them fall under the subgenres of rock. For example, "Boulevard of Both Extremes" (parody of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day) falls under the subgenre punk rock. As you can see, Wordplay definitely has variety in musical genre.

Wordplay has variety in other ways. The album has variety in original band. This album has 20 tracks, and those 20 track come rom 20 original bands. No single band has multiple songs on this album, which is good for variety. Wordplay also has variety in its Bible story songs and theology teaching songs. Not only can the 20 tracks divide equally in Bible story songs and theology teaching songs, not a single Bible story or theological theme is repeated, which was a problem in previous albums. With so much variety in Wordplay, this album truly has something for everybody.

What also make this album so good is that every band member is at the height of their performing abilities. This is the best singing lead singer J. Jackson has done to date. This is the best guitar playing lead guitarist Karl Messner has done to date. This is the best bass playing from Keith Haynie to date. This the best keys playing from Bill Hubauer to date. I would say the same for Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner, but since this is his debut for ApologetiX, I wouldn't know because I didn't follow his previous band Ten Point Ten. What I will say, though, is that Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner seamlessly and smoothly integrates into the band. No offense the ApologetiX band numbers of past, present and future, but if somebody were to ask me to imagine ApologetiX in my hand, the band members that recorded this album is what I picture. It does kind of fit, as they are the longest tenured in their respective position.

If I had to find any complaint, it would be again that this album only has 20 tracks when we know ApologetiX albums can have 21 or 22 tracks. We also know, however, that audio CDs can only hold 1 1/4 hours of music. I imagine "Won't Get Born Again" (parody of "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who) can take some of the blame, taking up almost 7 minutes on the album. Still, I would prefer 2 shorter songs over 1 long song.

FAVORITE SONG: "Bone Digger" (parody of "Gold Digger" by Kayne West).

When it comes to rap, you have to be saying something. Rap needs to have a message, a strong message. Lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson has something to say in "Bone Digger" (parody of "Gold Digger" by Kayne West). J. Jackson has a loud and clear message that evolution is wrong and creation is right. J. Jackson has clearly done his research with this song. He does an excellent job of keeping up with the pace of the rap, which few people can do, like Kayne. To think that this one of the last songs to make the album! I'm glad it did.

FINAL VERDICT: 2nd

Wordplay has so much variety. It has variety in musical genre. It has variety in original bands. It has variety in Bible stories and theological teaching. It kind of sort of has variety has musical decades. It spans over 5 decades, although not all 5 decades are represented. Musically speaking, this is the band's best performance on the instruments. Lyrically speaking, J. has written the most knowledgeable, wise and understanding lines. If I had any complaint, it's the fact it's too short because I just want more of it. It's hard for any album to compete with it, yet one album will, and it will take 1st place.

3. Keep the Change

 BACKGROUND:

Keep the Change is the 7th Apologetix album (counting Isn't Wasn't Ain't as the first and Radical History Tour as the second). It came out in October 2001. It consists of 19 tracks of both classic rock and modern rock parodies. Statistically speaking, Keep the Change is ApologetiX's most successful album, as it eached #15 on the National Christian Retail Bestsellers Rock Charts, according to CCM Magazine.

TITLE:

ApologetiX have put multiple meanings behind the album title Keep the Change. Christian should hold fast, or keep, the change that Jesus brings to their lives. Therefore, many of the songs talked about how Jesus changes lives. Christians should also keep the change of lyrics that lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson wrote in these parodies because they glorify God more than their secular counterparts. Keep the Change also describes the spoof "Cheap Birds" (parody of "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd), which comes from Luke 12:9, which reads, "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God." Of course, ApologetiX use puns to further emphasize the album title in the album description. For example, ApologetiX note that one of their spoofs give their "two cents" for the views of evolution. As another example, in the album description, it says, "Obviously, Keep the Change isn’t a phrase we coined ourselves; although looking at the CD cover, you could say we coined ourselves on Keep the Change." Then, looking at the album cover, you'll notice the band members' portraits on coins. Again, another good example of how ApologetiX use their album cover to reinforce their title. The title Keep the Change deserves extra praise for having multiple meanings without resorting to wordplay.

CRITIQUE:

As always, the critique section will look both the diversity and the unity of the album.

Keep the Change has the diversity in musical decades. The oldest parody is "Monkey Scheme" (parody of "Monkees Theme" by the Monkees) from 1965, and the newest spoofs are "Manger" (spoof of "Angel" by Shaggy) and "Life Restored" (spoof of "Last Resort" by Papa Roach), both from 2001. While on the surface that looks like Keep the Change covers 5 decades, but a closer look will reveal that it only covers the 60's, 70, and 00's. Yes, "You Booked Me All Along" (parody of "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC) has its origins in 1980, but AC/DC is very much a 70's classic rock band, and "You Booked Me All Along" sounds very much like a 70's classic rock song. That leaves a gap for the 80's and the 90's. Despite this gap, Keep the Change has a good balance between classic rock and modern hits. The classic rock is the classiest of hits that have passed the test of time, and the modern hits are the most modern, as they came out the same year or the year before Keep the Change released.

Speaking of which, Keep the Change has plenty of genre variety. You desire disco music? Then check out "Stay in the Light" (parody of "Staying Alive" by The Bee Gees). You like rap? Then take a look at "The Real Sin Savior" (parody of "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem) or "Manger" (parody of "Angel by Shaggy). You prefer the oldies rock 'n' roll over classic rock? Try out "Monkey Scheme" (parody of "Monkees Theme" by the Monkees). Surprisingly, the only thing really absent is country. The closest would be "Cheap Birds" (parody of "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd), but that would be more southern rock than country. Still, the southern rock twang gives more variety than the typical classic rock. Indeed, Keep the Changehas genre variety.

Just to quickly note as well, Keep the Change has the variety in original artists. Keep the Change has 19 tracks and 19 artists parodied. No single artist has multiple songs spoofed. Again, this widens the net broad to bring in more potential fans.

Unfortunately, just like with Biblical Graffiti, the biggest factor ruining the variety on Keep the Change is that multiple tracks cover the same Bible songs. Keep the Change has 2 parodies about the Flood: "Story of a Squirrel" (parody of "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days) and "All the Stalls Stink" (parody of "All the Small Things" by Blink-182). The album has 2 spoofs about the Nativity: "Christmasnite" (spoof of "Kryptonite" by Three Doors Down) and "Manger" (spoof of "Angel" by Shaggy). At least time the songs are spaced apart, making it less obvious, unlike Biblical Graffiti, which put them side-by-side. Still, past albums and future albums kept to a single use of each Bible story. I don't why Biblical Graffiti and Keep the Change had this problem.

This album does technically have a re-recording. "Bethlehemian Rhapsody" (parody of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen) originally appeared on Radical History Tour. The parody not only has a real studio recording (Radical History Tour was recorded in a hotel room turned into a "studio"), but the spoof also has new lyrics. I will admit that the Keep the Change version is better, but I don't think it was necessary either because the Radical History Tour sufficed.

Let me also mention how much this album teaches its audience. "Monkey Scheme" (parody of "Monkees Theme" by the Monkees) discredits all the claimed missing links during the instrumental interlude. In all honesty, that musical interlude does nothing for the song, so you might as well turn it into something useful. "Old Times Romans Road" (parody of "Old Time Rock 'N' Roll" by Bob Seeger) teaches the verses of Romans Road. "Rock and Roots" (parody of "Rock and Roll" by Led Zepplin) can help anyone memorize the genealogy of Jesus. ApologetiX says its mission is to teach the rest, and these parodies definitely teach.

ApologetiX also say in their mission that they reach the lost. The one song that reaches the lost the most is "Life Restored" (parody of "Last Resort" by Papa Roach). In fact, of all the ApologetiX songs that brought people to Christ, "Life Restored" fall in 3rd place. That's kind of a shock, considering 1st and 2nd place go to "Narrow Way to Heaven" (parody of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin) and "Every Crown Has Its Thorns" (parody of "Every Rose Has Its Thorns" by Posion). Whereas those 2 songs start out soft and crescendo into a climax, "Life Restored" is just loud the whole time. Perhaps the secret is in how much J. Jackson redeems this song from the original. The original song praises suicide as Papa Roach's last resort to his life in pieces. The new spoof gives hope in Jesus Christ. The lyrics alone give glory to God, and God receives even more glory when the lyrics bring people to Jesus.

FAVORITE SONG: "The Real Sin Savior" (parody of "The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem)

The original rap is anything but glorying God. As a matter of fact, it almost seems like Eminemn set out to make the rap the most sinful and the least godly as possible. ApologetiX totally turn it around by doing the opposite. They take the opportunity to call out everything sinful in the world, from evolution to scandalous televangelists to the removal of Bible reading and prayer in schools to atheists making anti-Christan remakes to a society that has rejected the need for the Christ. Rap has to say something, and ApologetiX definitely has something to say in this album. In fact, J. writes in his journal that he intended his rap as an altar call. It would be interesting to hear how many people came to Christ as a result of this rap. Speaking of rap, J. keeps up his version up to pace with Eminem's version, which isn't easy to do. The creative mixing keeps the sound effects from the original, making a nice homage. Another thing worth appreciation is J.'s use of metaphors and illustrations, another key factor in rap. I love lines like "Your panting tongue is just thirstin’ for more," "If you feel a slight chill, I got the antifreeze," "Were just like triple fudge ice cream; we’re just quite sweet" and "I’m like a breath mint you listen to." My favorite line, however, is "If Jesus loved his enemies and Pharisees," for it connects the two so well and makes the listener realize that Jesus lived out his command to love his enemies by loving the Pharisees. While I'll admit I like the other Eminem parodies more than this one, this one will always hold a special place in my heart, as it technically is my first experience with Eminem.

FINAL VERDICT: 3rd

Keep the Change has a better balance of classic and modern rock then other albums. Yes, it comes at the cost of sacrificing 80's and 90's rock, but the more emphasis on the 00's hits gives good balance to the 60's and 70's rock hits. By doing, ApologetiX attracts both the older generation and the younger generations. Both generations find greater appeal to this album through its genre variety. Lovers of disco, rap, oldies and southern rock will find something on here. From an evangelistic standpoint, this may be one of ApologetiX's greatest albums to evangelize because, "Old Time Romans Road," "The Real Sin Savior" and "Life Restored" constantly call for a person to come to repentance and to come to Christ. While this album definitely deserves to fall in the top 3, too many factors prevent it from finishing first or even 2nd. Here is another ApologetiX album that repeats Bible stories within the same album. An album 19 tracks is too short when ApologetiX albums can have 20, 21 or 22 tracks. If "Bethlehemian Rhapsody" is to blame as the longest track on the album, it was really unnecessary, as it appears on Radical History Tour. If they were going to only have 19 tracks, they could have at least given the full guitar solo outro to "Cheap Birds" instead of the shortened solo into a fade out. For these reasons, the album can finish no higher than 3rd.

4. Biblical Graffiti

BACKGROUND:

Previously, ApologetiX came out with Jesus Christ Morningstar, an album of classic rock parodies. Prior to that album, ApologetiX released Ticked!, an album of modern rock spoofs. Biblical Graffiti combines the past 2 albums. As headlined right on the album cover, Biblical Graffiti consists of biblical parodies of both classic and modern rock hits.

TITLE:

As discussed before with other albums, ApologetiX will sometimes parody not just the songs but also the album title. Sometimes they will go all in and spoof the album cover with it as well. Biblical Graffiti stands out because its album title parodies one band, and its album cover spoofs another band. The title Biblical Graffiti parodies Led Zepplin's Physical Graffiti. The album cover spoofs the album cover of Pink Floyd's The Wall. Biblical Graffiti puts them together and gives them a biblical twist. Original to Biblical Graffiti, ApologetiX adds a finger writing on the wall, writing "MENE MENE TEKEL PARSIN," the writing on the wall Daniel interpreted for King Belshazzar, as found in Daniel 5. Lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson even adds a person anecdote, retelling how he in elementary school would write Bible verses on the bathroom walls next to the other kids' crude and rude graffiti. It all does together. It's very fitting album title and album cover tie together Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd, as each have a song representing them on this album. Indeed, the finger writing on the wall does make the mind think of graffiti, and it takes place in the Bible, so that definitely makes it biblical graffiti. Also like J. Jackson says in his notes, Biblical Graffiti may sound like an oxymoron, but people have also thought "Jesus Freak" and "Christian rock" sound like oxymorons, too. While in a way another album using wordplay for its title, this wordplay is so creative, it seems to go above and beyond a simple wordplay.

CRITIQUE:

As mentioned in the background information, Biblical Graffiti combines Jesus Christ Morningstar and Ticked! by combining both classic rock and modern rock. The 22 tracks on the album span from "Jail Got Rocked" (parody of "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley), which came out in 1957, to "One Way" (parody of "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies), released in 1999. Yes, the 50's, 60's, 70s, 80s and 90's all have representation on this album. If you grew up in any of these decades, either as a kid or as a teen, you'll find "your music" or "your generation's music" on her. This album definitely has the musical decade diversity.

With musical decade diversity comes in musical genre diversity. Now to be up front, it's not too diverse. You won't find disco or rap on this album (I don't consider "One Way" rap). The country song "Bends to Low Places" (parody of "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks) is not just the only country song on the album, it's also the only non-rock song on the album. Everything else on the album falls under classic rock or modern rock (although both classic rock and modern rock have subgenres). More specifically, this album has a good balance of each. As I have stated with other ApologetiX, sometimes the ApologetiX focus too heavily on the classic rock songs, so heavily that the modern hits are really just the most popular songs in the past year or two. When the modern hits are so close together and so recent, it really feels like they were afterthoughts. Here on this album, they feel considered. Biblical Graffiti has 7 songs from the 90's (about a third of the album), and those seven songs came out in 1991, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999. While the decade leans heavier on the latter half, it still feels spread apart. Even with an album that's mostly rock, it's hard to argue it's "just rock" with the rock spanning from 60's to the 90's. Rock changes in each decade, and each of parodies on this album reflect those changes. Again, Biblical Graffiti has no diversity in music genres, it does have diversity in rock subgenres, and that overarching theme of rock gives the album unity.

Another way this album has diversity is in the bands parodied on Biblical Graffiti. This album has 22 tracks and 22 bands spoofed. Yes, not single band is spoofed more than once. The 22 artists give this album variety because each parodied band brings in their own version of rock. For example, Metallica brings in the metal rock. As I have said before, ApologetiX wants the full variety of band representation on their album because it will attract the most fans. ApologetiX succeeds here with 22 bands, which may be the most representation to date.

Usually, it's usually a given that ApologetiX receives praises from their balanced diversity in Bible stories and theology teaching. Oddly enough, this is one of the weaknesses of Biblical Graffiti. Biblical Graffiti has 2 parodies about David: "Crazy Little King God Loves" (parody of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen) and "Dancing Dave" (parody of "Dancing Days" by Led Zepplin). Yes, I know one is a 1 Samuel story about David hiding from Saul and another is a 2 Samuel story about the ark of the covenant returning to Jerusalem, but technically in the Hebrew tradition 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel are 1 book. Nonetheless, both stories are about David. This album has 2 spoofs about the end times: "Revelation Man" (parody of "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers) and "Armageddon Valley Some Day" (parody of "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees). This album has 2 parodies covering the first 6 chapters of Joshua: "Lawful Woman (in a Bad Place)" (parody of "Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress" by Hollies) and "Kick in the Wall" (parody of "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd). To make matter worse, these pairs of songs are right next to each other on the album! If they were at opposite ends of the album, it would be less obvious, but since they are next-door neighbors on the album, it's obvious.

FAVORITE SONG: "Credence Thru Deepwater Survival" (parody of "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival)

This song is definitely not a theology teaching parody, but it really can't be fully considered a Bible story telling spoof either. It's more like halfway between both, a topical biblical parody. The spoof centers around all the miracles the Lord did with bodies of water. The song headlines Moses, who parted the Red Sea, Joshua, who parted the Jordan River, and Simon Peter, who walked on water. That's on the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended) when it comes to God's watery miracles, so J. raps some other examples (Elijah, Elisha, Noah, Jonah). during the musical interlude, which doesn't hurt, for the instrumental interlude really doesn't add anything. Speaking of that instrumental interlude, I like how ApologetiX's version adds just a touch of surf rock to the interlude to remind the audience about the theme of water. Furthermore, while the instruments best follow the original from Creedence Clearwater Revival, J. Jackson does a sing-and-response to the chorus, which echoes the famous Tina Turner cover. This song alone has variety, in both the biblical department and musical department.

FINAL VERDICT: 4th

As a positive, Biblical Graffiti has a variety in musical decades. As a negative, this album has little to no variety in music genres. While it lacks variety in musical genre, it has plenty of variety in rock subgenres. As a plus, Biblical Graffiti has plenty of variety in original bands represented. As a minus, the album has less variety in Bible stories and theological teaching because it has 3 pairs of songs coming from the same Bible passage. On one hand, I praise Biblical Graffiti for including "Kick in the Wall" (parody of "Another Brick in the Wall" by Pink Floyd) because it goes well with the album cover. On the other hand, ApologetiX missed the opportunity to include a parody about the writing on the wall, as found in Daniel 5, for it would have gone along with the album theme. While this final part might seem like a balance between the good and the bad, in reality, the good outweighs the bad. The bad does prevent it from landing in the top 3, but all the good gives it a solid 4th place.

5. Grace Period

 BACKGROUND:

Grace Period is the ApologetiX's 8th album (counting Isn't Wasn't Ain't as the 1st album and Radical History Tour as the 2nd album), released in  August 2002. The album consists of 20 tracks. The original release date for the song parodied on this album span from 1962 to 2001.

TITLE:

A "grace period" is extra time given past the deadline to submit something without facing punishment. For humanity, that grace period is time the Father has given to accept the Son as Lord and Savior. While that alone explains the album title, lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson adds a period (no pun intended) after each word to give it new meaning. According to Ephesians 2:8-9 salvation comes by grace. Period. Again, another stunning example of using double meaning to give their album titles so much meaning.

CRITIQUE:

As mentioned above, the tracks on the album range from 1962 to 2001. To break that down further, of the 19 tracks, 5 come from the 60's, 7 come from the 70's, 2 come from the 80's, 1 comes from the 90s, and 5 comes from the 00's. Looking at this breakdown, it seems like Grace Period serves the book ends. To really enjoy this album, you have to like the oldest classic rock or the newest modern rock. More specifically, you'd have to like the newest of the newest modern rock because all 5 albums come form 2001. It doe kind of make sense, as the album came out August 2002, meaning 2002 modern rock hits would not be parodied in enough time. Still, 00's could have seen some representation from 2000. Despite the bookends of the decades representing a majority of the album, it still does span across 5 decades. Whatever music you grew up and made "your music," you have some representation here. Even the 90's, with just 1 song, has the quintessential 90's song.

Stronger than its variety in musical decade is Grace Period's variety in musical genre. Of course, a majority of this album finds its identity in classic and modern rock, but that does not mean the album consists solely of classic and modern rock. You desire some country? "The Devil Went Down to Jordan" (parody of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band) is for you. How about some disco? That would be "YHWH" (parody of "YMCA" by The Village People). Want your rock to be more like oldies rock 'n' roll? Then listen to "Love the Jews" (parody of "Love Me Do" by The Beatles). Want your rock to be more like grunge? Listen to "Smells Like Thirtysomething Spirit" (parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana). Like pop? Either "Drop of Lucifer" (parody of "Drops of Jupitar" by Train) or "Follow Me" (parody of "Follow Me" by Uncle Kracker) will fill that need. In terms of musical genre, Grace Period has the variety to attract many people.

As if Grace Period does not already have enough variety, the album gains more variety with the number of original artists represented. I would argue that Grace Period has 22 artists represented. How can that be, considering there is only 20 tracks on the album? This album has a couple tracks in which a future band would make their own cover of an older song, which made the song ever more popular than it already was. "I'm a Receiver" parodies "I'm a Believer," originally performed by the Monkees but made even more famous by Smash Mouth. "Smooth Grandmama" spoofs "Smooth Criminal," originally performed by Michael Jackson but made even more famous by Alien Art Farm. For both songs, ApologetiX decided their parody would sound more like the more famous cover, and I think they made the right decision both times. Anyway, the variety in original further increases the diversity of the fanbase for this album.

What separates Grace Period from other ApologetiX albums is their approach to teaching theology. I like to call Grace Period the metaphors album because many of its parodies teach a theology by centering it around an illustration, metaphor or symbol. "Lemonade" (parody of "Renegade" by Styx) uses the illustration of lemonade to explain how mankind no longer needs to face the punishment of sin because of what Jesus did on the cross. Just like lemonade turns a sour fruit into a sweet drink, so the Holy Spirit turn sour sinners into sweet Christians. "How You Rewind Me" (parody of "How Your Remind Me" by Nickelback) uses the imagery of rewinding a cassette (boy, that imagery age this song) to teach how God can start us fresh again. "Flurry" (parody of "Blurry" by Puddle of Mudd) uses the metaphor of snow to teach things add up, whether that be our sin before God or the evidence that God exists. My only criticism of this parody is that the spoof's main symbol seems to fade away as the song progresses. Technically, "Baa! We're Lambs!" (parody of "Barbara Ann" by The Beach Boys) also fits in this metaphor category because it is indeed a metaphor, but to be fair, the Bible pretty much handed that metaphor to J. Jackson. I like this use of metaphors it's an easy and fresh way to teach theology.

I guess I need to give some criticism here to explain why this album is in 5th and not the top 4. First, yes, I will say it again, the number of tracks. Much better than the 18 of Jesus Christ Morningstar and 19 tracks of Spoofernatural, but ApologetiX have albums with 21 or 22 parodies on them. The longest song on this album is "Smells Like Thirtysomething Spirit" (parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana) comes the longest at just under 5 minutes. Surely the band could have squeezed 1 or 2 more spoofs into Grace Period. I also have to give a demerit to some of these songs for missed opportunities. "Corinthians" (parody of "In the End" by Linkin Park) just needed minor tweaking to turn it into a parody about how the book of Ecclesiastes teaches that everything is meaningless or that nothing really matters. "I'm a Receiver" (parody of "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees/Smash Mouth) just needed all the "she"s turned into "he"s to make it the perfect love song to God. Don't get me wrong, the spoofs J. created definitely work, but I feel there is so much lost opportunity to preserve the original by just giving it those minor tweaks to make it God-honoring. If I have to nitpick one parody specifically, it would have to "Don't Fear the People" (parody of "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult). Why is that beautiful solo missing?! Yes, I know people listen to "Don't Fear the People" for the Christian lyrics, and if they wanted to just listen for the guitar solo, they would listen to the original. Let's be honest, though, that guitar solo is one of the reason people like that song (besides the cowbell ;) ), so the song is severely missing without it. Seriously, this would have made it my favorite song on the album because of all the redemptive work it does on the lyrics (going from a song praising suicide to encouraging strength through persecution), but I just can't without that guitar solo. The good news is that ApologetiX re-recorded the parody with the guitar solo included :) . The bad news is the band chose a live re-recording : ( .

FAVORITE SONG: "The Devil Went Down to Jordan" (parody of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band) 

Now I am definitely not a fan for country music, but the ApologetiX made me a fan for 1 parody. "The Devil Went Down to Jordan" (parody of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by Charlie Daniels Band) is a classic example of the band retelling a Bible story. In this instance, it retells how Satan tempted Jesus in the desert for 40 days. Although not one of the bigger and grander redemptive songs, this spoof still does a good amount of redeeming. The devil in the original sounds cartoonish and comical. As lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson points out in his journal, from a biblical perspective, the Devil won in the original because he made Johnny more proud and more arrogant at the end than he was in the beginning. A Christian can't help but think that's what Satan is trying to do with the original song. He tries to make himself seem cartoonishly and comically silly and weak, so he can sneak in and make people's sin worse. On the contrary, this parody retells the Bible story accurately, and by doing so, teaches about Satan's tricky tempting schemes accurately. The instrumental music is fantastic here, too. To my knowledge, this is the first ApologetiX song with a fiddle. In fact, the band wanted to do this spoof sooner, as early as Jesus Christ Morningstar, but they could not, since they had no one who could play the fiddle. The aimed high to find a fiddle playing, aiming as high as Charlie Daniel himself! While Charlie declined due to his busy schedule, he recommended somebody who could do it, and that person did do it! Seriously, ApologetiX got the 2nd best fiddler to play fiddle for their parody. That's some serious clout. In the future, Bill Hubauer would learn how to play the song on fiddle, allowing the band to play it live. As of matter of fact, that's how I got to see it live in 2012. At this point in 2012, Bill Hubauer had retired from ApologetiX altogether (with the exception of helping a little bit in album producing) and Todd Waites had already filled in the role as the new keys player. For some reason I can't recall, Todd Waites could not make it to this concert, so Bill Hubauer filled in for him just this once. The second I received the news, I knew the band would perform "The Devil Went Down to Jordan" Sure enough, the band took advantage of Bill's guest appearance, and they played the spoof. This song is great song to listen to on the album and live in concert. Seriously, this is the one time I recommend listen to both the studio-recorded Grace Period and live Hits: The Road. As a matter off fact, I wouldn't mind if they re-record this song doing it in the dueling guitars manner that Steve Ouimette did for Guitar Hero 3.

FINAL VERDICT: 5th.

Grace Period continues ApolgetiX's attempt to expand its net wide to gather in as many new fans as possible. It represents 5 musical decades, at least 8 different music genres and 22 original artists. This diversity, however, can hurt unity. If a person only listens to a specific music decade, a specific music genre or specific music artists, that person will only take a couple or few songs off the album and never come back to it. It's a shame because the band found out that metaphors work wonders for teaching theology, and they use them to their full potential. On the flip of that, J. Jackson seemed to pass to easily on parodies that would have been closer to the original, thus truly redeeming the song. Perhaps I should give J. more props for not taking the easy way when it comes to spoofs. In the long run, these criticisms are nitpicking. While the nitpicking keeps this album from the top 4, it definitely serves its spot in the top 5.

6. Spoofernatural

 BACKGROUND:

In November 2000, ApologetiX would release their 6th album (counting Isn't Wasn't Ain't as the first and Radical History Tour as the second), which they called Spoofernatural. Spoofernatural contains19 spoofs on it. While the album consists of parodies that originated from 1958 to 1999, the 80's gets the most representation on the album with 9 tracks.

TITLE:

In the 2 years prior to Spoofernatural's release, 2 albums came out with the title Supernatural: DC Talk and Santana. On one end, the former is a very Christian band, and the latter is very much secular music. ApologetiX actually falls halfway between both, using secular music with Christian lyrics. Therefore, it only made sense to spoof the name supernatural by making this album Spoofernatural. On the surface level, the name Spoofernatural by itself already sounds awesome enough, but knowing that background story makes it even more awesome.

CRITIQUE:

On one hand, I feared my own biases would come out for Spoofernatural. Spoofernatural was the second ApologetiX album I owned. I feared that factor alone would push it into the top 5, but it did not up on there. On the other hand, I baffle myself wondering why I did not put Spoofernatural in the top 5, for it has all the parts fans come to love about ApologetiX albums.

Spoofernatural has both diversity and unity when it comes to musical decade. As mentioned above, Spoofernatural's parodies cover a span of 41 years, from "La Bible" (parody of "La Bamba" by Richie Valen and Los Lobos) in 1958 to 5 spoofs from 1999. That the diversity part; let's talk about the unity part. The 80's gets the most representation on the album with a grand total of 9 tracks. Since the 80's dominate representation on this album, it feels like all the other parodies flow through these 80's spoofs. Therefore, all the songs feel like they belong on this album, whether 80's or not. Going back to those 5 spoofs from 1999, they are the only 90's representation on the whole album, and for each one of them, the originally came out a single year before this album released. Let me tell you, ApologetiX made some knowledgeable and wise choices back then, for these 5 choices aged well. All of them I hear regularly on the radio, even if I have to tune into a 90's radio station to hear them. ApolgetiX definitely has quite the insight in knowing music would stick around in popularity. What a blessing that is when you're attempting to give a secular song Christian lyrics that should last a lifetime.

Spoofernatural has a little bit of everything for every fan of every genre? You desire disco music? Look forward to listening to "Play That Funny Music" (parody of "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry). You like country music? How about "El-ijah" (parody of "Elivra" by Oak Ridge Boys)? You want heavy metal? Try "Once Livn' Twice Died" (parody of "Once Bitten Twice Shy" by Great White). Prefer some oldies? Then you'll prefer "La Bible" (parody of "La Bamba" by Richie Valen and Los Lobos). How about boy band pop? "I Want in that Place" (parody of "I Want it That Way" by Backstreet Boys) will cover you there. Up to this point, ApologetiX was mostly known for spoofing classic rock songs, but (arguably) only 3 songs on this album can be classified as classic rock: "I Love Apostle Paul" (parody of "I Love Rock N Roll" by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts), "Rock This Tower" (parody of "Rock This Town" by Stray Cats) and "Genny 22" (parody of "Jenny/867-5309" by Tommy Tutone). Kudos to ApologetiX for this genre variety, not only because it stretches themselves, which improves them, but it also casts a larger net on what audiece they will attract.

Since I have criticized the past few albums for doing something, I now need to praise Spoofernatural for not doing it. Spoofernatural has 19 tracks representing 19 different original artists. Yes, you heard me right. No longer do albums have multiple entries from the same original artists. This variety in artists helps with album variety in general. No longer do fans have to worry about an original artist that they don't like appearing multiple times. At worst, they will have 1 song on the album, but that's about it. Again, praise to ApologetiX for recognizing that diversity in original artists spoofed will result a wider net cast over a potential audience. 

The album opens with the same song ApologetiX opened many concerts: "Play That Funny Music" (parody of "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry). Indeed, the song fits well for both opening an album and opening a concert. The song introduces to the audience the mission, the vision and the goal of ApologetiX: to not leave behind secular music but to redeem it in a way that glorifies God. The second track on this album is a good follow-up to the first track. "Fishin' on a Pier" (parody of "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi) introduces the members of the band and reiterates that God has called them to use their musical talents to preach to the lost, to teach the rest, and to glorify God. Although I can't say for sure, but it's not hard to imagine that ApologetiX may have opened up many concerts by playing these 2 songs in a row, and if they didn't, they missed out on a great opportunity. With such a strong start to the album, it's sad the album closed out in a whimper. Genny 22" (parody of "Jenny/867-5309" by Tommy Tutone) is just another retelling of a Bible story. Yes, it's a nice touch that the outro teaches how the story in Genesis 22 foreshadow the atoning work of the Christ, but it's still a Bible story. Then again, looking at all the other songs on this album, I can't pick out a single song that would make a better closing choice.

With all these praises for Spoofernatural, I do have 1 criticism: the album only has 19 tracks. Yes, I know that's about average for the early album, and it definitely looks big in comparison to later albums, averaging 11-13 tracks. From neighboring albums, however, fans know ApologetiX can fit 20 or 22 songs per album. The longest song is "Learn Some Deuteronomy" (parody of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard) at a little under 4 1/2 minutes, but that shouldn't take up too much room. I would have liked to see 20 or 022 tracks on this album.

FAVORITE SONG: "Every Crown Has Its Thorns" (parody of "Every Rose Has Its Thorns" by Poison)

In all honesty, my favorite song on this album has changed so many times. One minute it's "Pray Now (Lost Art)" (parody of "All Star" by Smash Mouth), the next minute it's "I Love Apostle Paul" (parody of "I Love Rock N Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts), and then the next minute it's "Learn Some Deuteronomy" (parody of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard). All these songs were candidate for the first song, and it's even possible if you ask me again a month from now, my answer will change again. For now, I have to settle on "Every Crown Has Its Thorns" (parody of "Every Rose Has Its Thorns" by Poison). At first, I really didn't like this song. I preferred the hard rock songs of Poison, such as "Nothing but a Good Time," "Talk Dirty to Me" and "Unskinny Bop" (fortunately, ApologetiX would eventually spoof these for me). The more I listened to this parody, however, the more it grew on it. While not one of the more extreme examples of redeeming a sort, it does still have some redeeming work. The original songs sings about a romantic relationship falling apart at the seams. The spoof reminds the listener how much suffering Jesus endure for the believer, so the Christian should willingly respond with making the harder decisions to follow Jesus. If I remember hearing correctly, "Every Crown Has Its Thorns" falls in 2nd place as songs that lead people to Christ, losing only to "Narrow Way to Heaven" (parody of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin) on Jesus Christ Morningstar. While "Every Crown Has Is Thorn" does not fit the mold for an altar call song, its strong emotions can convict the hearer to come to Christ just on the basis of how much suffering he endured for humanity.

FINAL VERDICT: 6th.

Spoofernatural has everything on it that the fans would come to love about ApologetiX albums. It has both unity and variety in music decade. It covers a wide array of music genres. Not a single original artist gets an encore presentation with another song. This album both retells Bible stories and teaches theology. I just wish there was more of it! I also just wish Spoofernatural could have gone out with more of a bang than a whimper. Besides that, an overall good album. I'm glad that Spoofernatural was my second album.

7. Ticked!

 BACKGROUND:

Christian parody rock band is a very niche genre for a band. Therefore, in order to reach out to as many people as possible, ApologetiX needed to expand on the genres they parodied. Up to that point, the band parodied classic rock because its members grew up on classic rock. ApologetiX would find their new niche soon. The band themselves more and more performing in front of youth groups. It only made sense to reach the young minds with the gospel using the music they heard on the radio. ApologetiX feared, however, that even classic rock would come across as old to teenagers. Therefore, the band decided to expand their repertoire to both classic and modern rock. ApologetiX did not make this change hapharzardly, though. The band did their research to find modern rock songs the felt closest to the classic rock songs they were use to. ApologetiX made another change as well. Up to this point, most, if not all, ApologetiX parodies simply retold Bible stories. Now, ApologetiX spoofs taught the Christian response to the issues in the world. By doing so, they kept with the attitude of the popular modern rock of the day, like grunge.

TITLE:

The title Ticked! ultimately confirms ApologetiX's attitudes towards the current events discussed in this album. The band is outraged that the world has fallen away from the way the Lord has taught to handle these topics. Ticked! also has secondary meaning. Time is ticking away until the end of the world, and the world may be running out of time to handle these subjects as God intended. The double entendre works. Unfortunately, the title on the album cover is only a slightly larger font than the rest of the album cover, so the title is easy to lose. The album cover is a mock-up of a Rolling Stones magazine cover, except they call it Rolling Clone, which, ironically, is the biggest font. I almost wish they would have kept that as the title of the album instead.

CRITIQUE:

As I have said about 2 other ApologetiX albums, Ticked! is a time capsule of sorts. All 21 tracks on the album are of 90's rock, more specifically, from 1991 to 1996. Looking back in hindsight, this setlist aged pretty well. All 21 of these tracks I hear regularly on the radio to this day, even if I have turn to 90's radio to hear them. ApologetiX had an ear for good, long-lasting music, and they picked the right songs to parody. Since ApologetiX is a Christian parody rock band, and all these songs are 90's rock, most, if not all, fall under the genre of modern rock, which consists of the subgenres of alternative rock, grunge rock and punk rock. On one hand, this kills genre variety. As a child of the 90's, I would have appreciated some pop, like Backstreet Boys or NSYNC. On the other hand, this setlist definitely rocks, full of hard rocking songs. Even the songs that slow down and are quieter still have that distinct rock sound. While the genre does not have diversity, the original artists have diversity. Ticked! has 18 original artists represented on it. As one of the earliest ApologetiX albums, Ticked! still has the problem of putting an original artist multiple times on the album with different spoofed songs. Nirvana has 2 parodies, Pearl Jam has 2 spoofs, and Presidents of the United States is represented twice. One song per artist per album is enough; save the other(s) for the next album.  While the album does not have the best diversity in music decade or music genre, it has some solid unity which ties the whole album together.

As mentioned above, Ticked! makes the shift from retelling Bible stories to teaching Christian theology. Indeed, a majority of these parodies teach the appropriate Christian theology. More specifically to this album, the Christian theology here addresses current events and hot topics. "Come Out and Pray" (parody of the "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring) addresses separation of church and state. "A Lie" (parody of "Alive" by Pearl Jam) stands against evolution and stands for creation. "Preachers" (parody of "Peaches" by Presidents of the United States) calls out fake televangelists. "Heaven Isn't Like That" (parody of "Shine" by Collective Soul) teaches what is heaven really is like and how to really get there, as opposed to society, which just says to be a good person. "Young As You Are" (parody of "Come As You Are" by Nirvana) speaks out against suicide, highlighting the suicide of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. "Casket Place" (parody of "Basket Case" by Green Day) seems to cover all the other hot button topics not covered in any of the other songs. Even "InYerFace Love Song" (parody of "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots I would put in this category because it upfront teaches that everybody needs to accept Jesus or perish, which the world doesn't like to hear. For the band's first time singing theological teachings instead of merely retelling Bible stories, the band does a pretty good job. All of these topics are biblically defended and teach orthodox theology.

If you still prefer your Christian parodies retelling Bible stories instead of teaching theology, Ticked! still has some of that. "Plump" (parody of "Lump" by Presidents of the United States) retells the story of Ehud fighting King Eglon in Judges 2. "Naomi Gonna Be with Ruth" (parody of "Only Wanna Be with You" by Hootie & the Blowfish) retells the whole book of Esther. These are all top tier Bible story songs, just as expect from ApologetiX.

"Come Out and Pray" (parody of the "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring) suffices as the opening track to this album. While the spoof ultimately sings about the separation of church and state, it also blames separation of church for murder, teenage pregnancy and suicide, as well as other topics covered in this album. This sets the tone for the rest of album on what to expect. For most of the album, expect ApologetiX to put their heart into defending their biblical approach to these topics. I would prefer, however, the second track "All ApologetiX" (parody of "All Apologies" by Nirvana) as the opening track. The parody would not have only introduced the album, it would have introduced the band. In a way, it fits the attitude of Ticked! because it addresses anyone who has issues with ApologetiX being a Christian parody band. In the words of the song itself, "But if our songs get someone to meet the Son, is it wrong?" That's the end goal, and that should be the most important. In his journal, lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson writes that "All ApologetiX was like a theme song for Ticked!, and I could totally see that. If Ticked! had to put "Come Out and Pray" at the opening track, then the closing track should have been "Casket Place" (parody of "Basket Case" by Green Day), for just like "Come Out and Pray," it covers all the topics left out of Ticked! (Quick side note about "Casket Place": I kind of understand why ApologetiX redid this parody for I Know You Are, but What Am I?, for the original had issues which would have been current for the 90's but not for 2017. The remake for I Know You Are, but What Am I? updates the issues to the 2010s, but it makes me wonder if we'll need another update in 20 years.)

FAVORITE SONG: "Shepherd's Paradise" (parody of "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio)

"Shepherd's Paradise" (parody of "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio) is ApologetiX's first attempt at rap. Not bad for a first attempt. J. Jackson can easily stay on beat. I will admit that the backup singers are not the best, by J.'s wrapping makes that easy to ignore. More importantly is how much ApologetiX redeems this song. The original "Gangsta's Paradise" paints a bleak picture of what a man must do to survive in the ghettos, even if it means resulting in crime and sin. "Shepherd's Paradise paints a whole different picture. Based off of Psalm 23, J. explains that Christians are assuredly well kept being in Christ, like sheep out to pasture. Based off of John 10, J. expounds further that Christians have this assurance of security in Jesus Christ because Jesus himself is the good shepherd. Both the original and the parody start off with the line "As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," but only the ApologetiX spoof captures a biblically accurate picture of what that means. That's true redemption.

FINAL VERDICT: 7th.

For ApologetiX's first attempt at modern rock, it's not bad. As a matter of fact, I would say it's good. ApologetiX can parody modern rock just as well as classic rock. For the ApologetiX's first attempt more at teaching theology than retelling Bible story, also a job well done. ApologetiX defends their views with the Bible, and you can tell their heart is behind it. Just like their classic rocks albums might scare away enthusiasts of modern rock, this modern rock album may scare away lovers of classic rock. The two balance out, especially in light of Jesus Christ Morningstar coming out soon. This album increases ApologetiX's repertoire, which will prepare in the near future for better albums, which will have a smoother mix of musical decades, musical genres, original artists and teachings. 

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.

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!

10. Radical History Tour

 BACKGROUND:

In a way, Radical History Tour can technically be classified at ApologetiX's first album. Yes, technically somebody could argue it's actually third because it's third in order of product code, but that's because ApologetiX were working on Jesus Christ Morningstar and Ticked! at the same time as Radical History Tour. Just to quickly refresh you,  from 1992 to 1994, Apologetix produced 4 "studio" (that "studio" was a hotel room) recorded cassettes and multiple live cassettes, none of which ApologetiX consider canon today. Of those 4 cassettes, only 2 became CDs: Isn't Wasn't Ain't and Radical History Tour. ApologetiX reissued Radical History Tour onto CD in 1999, but not until 2003 did Isn't Wasn't Ain't make it CD. Since ApologetiX doesn't recognize any of cassettes except Isn't Wasn't Ain't and Radical History Tour as canon, and of the 2, Radical History Tour came out on CD first, someone could technically argue that makes it the first ApologetiX album. When transferring from cassette to CD, Radical History Tour had a problem with the transfer of media. A cassette can hold up to 1 1/2 hours of music, but a CD can only hold up 1 1/4 hours of music. ApologetiX had filled the Radical History Tour cassette full, which meant it would not all fit on the CD. Therefore, ApologetiX had to cut out 4 parodies, leaving 20 spoofs on the CD (the top 20, according to the band's opinion). Don't worry, though, 2 of those "lost songs" would end up on Isn't Wasn't Ain't's director's cut.

TITLE:

Radical History Tour is fitting for this album. Indeed, this album tours through biblical history. It starts with the account of Noah and the ark in Genesis 6-8 with "Not Logs Lincoln" (parody of "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody). It ends with the narrative of the end times in Revelation with "Life in the Last Days" (spoof of "Life in the Fast Lane" by The Eagles). Furthermore, most, if not all, these songs are explicitly Bible songs, retelling Bible stories, not theology tracks, teaching theology. That's what makes this album a Radical History Tour.

CRITIQUE:

Radical History Tour has unity. What unifies this album the most is, as mentioned above, that it almost solely focuses on retelling Bible stories instead of teaching theology. Personally, I like the Bible retelling approach over the theological teaching approach because it allows the audience to make their own interpretations instead of having somebody tell them the interpretation. Radical History Tour also has its unity in genre. Most, if not all, of these parodies spoof classic rock, with a few exceptions. While the lack of variety in genre can scare away a larger audience, it definitely appeals to the classic rock fan.

Radical History Tour also has variety. It has variety in musical year. The release dates of the original songs go back to the 60's, 70's and 80's. I don't expect any 90's songs, as Radical History Tour came out in 1993, and the decade was only 3 years old at the point. Radical History Tour has variety in original artists. ApologetiX parody a total of 17 different artists on this album. The only problem with that, however, is that there are 20 spoofs on the album. That's because Credence Clearwater Revival, Led Zepplin and Rolling Stones each have 2 songs on the album. While not as bad of an offender as Isn't Wasn't Ain't, early ApologetiX still has a long way to go until they only have 1 original artist per album.

The biggest problem with the album has nothing to do with the album itself, but rather, the future of ApologetiX. A majority, if not most, of these songs have been re-recorded for future ApologetiX albums. Some of these re-recordings are in studio, while others of these re-recordings are live. Some of these parodies are merely remixing and remastering, while other have brand new instrumental parts and brand new lyrics. I tread carefully on what I want to say next, for I don't want to pass off as hypocrite, yet I do feel conflicted internally. As I have said in the reviews of the previous albums, especially the live albums, the re-recordings have no merit because all the originals on Radical History Tour hold their ground well. Yes, some sound better than others, but overall, in general, Radical History Tour sounds better than Isn't Wasn't Ain't, although it holds no candle to Ticked!, Jesus Christ Morning Star and other future albums. At the same time, however, if you have these songs on future albums, there is really no need to get this album. Personally, I do feel like the master recordings on this album are better than the live recordings on future albums, but the live recordings on future albums aren't bad at all. They do suffice if you can't get your hands on this album. Even if you could, they suffice well enough that there is no need to go out and get the album. I guess it all comes down to a matter of preference. If you prefer the master recording done in studio, then you'll need to get Radical History Tour. If you have no preference between studio recordings and live recordings, then the recordings on future albums will suit you just fine.

FAVORITE SONG: "I Know a Riddle" (parody of "I Know a Little" by Lynyrd Skynyrd)

When it came to choose my favorite song of the album, I decided that I would not do a parody re-released on a future album. Rather, I wanted to make my favorite song exclusive to this album. That's when I found out somewhere between a majority and most of the spoofs had a re-recording somewhere, whether that be a studio-recorded album, a live album or a compilation album. Once I eliminated them, I then proceeded to eliminate the songs I didn't like, not because of ApologetiX, but because I didn't like the original song or the original band. After all, it feels unfair to judge ApologetiX for something they did not do. That left "I Know a Riddle" (parody of "I Know a Little" by Lynyrd Skynyrd). As J. puts it in his journal, everybody thinks of Samson as the strong yet stupid stereotype. While he was stupid in the fact that he did not follow Yahweh, he was smart in the sense that he was cunning. Just look at the riddle he composed in Judges 14. I'm glad that this song captured that part of the Samson account, whereas "Enter Samson" (spoof of "Enter Sandman" by Metallica) focuses in on the strong man. Fun fact: the cassette of Radical History Tour actually had "Enter Sandman" on it, but ApologetiX dropped it for the CD because they didn't feel like it stood up to their quality standards. Don't worry, "Enter Sandman would eventually appear on Biblical Graffiti. Back to "I Know a Riddle," for this song, ApologetiX took the time to find a keyboard player to play the piano parts for this song. Plenty of tracks on this album are missing their key/piano part. I'm glad the band went out of their way to find a keys player because they knew how crucial it was for this track.

FINAL VERDICT: 10th

As the first album in the top 10, Radical History Tour has all the things that ApologetiX fans come to expect in an Apologetix album. It has unity in theme (in this case, touring through Bible history) and it has unity in music genre (in this case, classic rock). It also has some variety, too. That variety comes in musical decades, covering from the 60's to the 80's, and in original artists, with 17 original artists represented on this album. Also, the album has 20 songs, which is average for an album, in the most positive way possible. The only problem with this album is that it did not age well, not in the fact of the sound quality, but in the fact that a majority, if not most, of the songs have been re-recorded. While the studio recordings are inherently better, the live versions suffice, leaving no reason to purchase this album if already owning all the other albums that have these sounds re-recorded. Still, personally, I would get this CD. The studio records still rank a little better than the live re-recordings, and it will give appreciation on how the band has grown. Besides, it's totally worth it to buy this album just for "I Know a Riddle" (parody of "I Know a Little" by Lynyrd Skynyrd) ;) .