24. New and Used Hits

BACKGROUND:

New and Used Hits is the ApologetiX's first compilation album. This album is the most literal definition of compilation. It has a compilation of song from all 8 studio albums at that point, from Radical History Tour to Adam Up. It has a compilation of music decades, from the 1950s to the 2000s. It has a compilation of various music genres, including rock, pop, alternative, metal, rap, new wave, progressive, oldies, latin, adult contemporary, country and disco. It has a compilation of Bible stories, including Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel, Noah & the Ark, Samson & Delilah, David & Goliath, Jonah & the whale, Daniel & the lions Den, etc. In all these ways, it truly is a compilation album.

TITLE:

The title is self-explanatory, and if not, the background explains the title. Therefore, in this section, I will evaluate if the setlist lives up to its title. The short answer is "yes" and the long answer is "yyyyeeeessss." Indeed, this album truly fulfills the definition of compilation threefold. First, each 8 of the ApologetiX's studio albums to date at least have 3 tracks represented on it. Second, the album covers 6 decades worth of music, from the original music of the oldest dating back to 1957 to the original music of the 3 of the newest songs all coming from 2003. All the genres mentioned in the background do appear in album. This album also pretty much covers Genesis to Revelation.

CRITIQUE:

In my introduction, I said I would not be including compilation albums, like the ApologetiX Classics in my ranking. I did make an exception, however, for New and Used Hits, and I do have a reason. Whereas the ApologetiX Classics are purely compilations of previously released songs, New and Used Hits has 11 new parodies (really 7 new spoofs, but the 4 Christmas spoofs only appeared on Have Yourself a Parody Little Christmas EP and The 12 Downloads of Christmas downloads never appeared on an album before). While the ApologetiX Classics only have live songs if the original recording was a live recording, New and Used Hits have brand-new live performances of old classic hits, so in that way it is new song. If counting the brand-new live recording as a new track, then add another 7 tracks to the new song count, bringing up the grand total to 18. I think that constitutes enough to treat it as a new album instead of a compilation album.

Let's survey the new part of New and Used Hits. The album begins with 4 modern rock songs, 3 of which are very modern, as the original song came out just 1 year prior to this album coming out. This pulls in the younger generation to their music. To pull in the older generation, the next 2 songs come from classic rock, and they are hard rock, too. Now New and Used Hits has the attention of both the older and younger generations of rock fans. If not a rock fan, then track 7 is probably for you, for it's a parody of a country song. With this song alone, the audience broadens even more.

While I'm always afraid that cultural reference won't age well, I can't help but appreciate how smoothly lyricist J. Jackson includes them. Since "Are You Gonna Be Ike's Girl?" (parody of "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet) is about finding a wife for Abraham's son Isaac, J. throws in a lot of dating reference, from Chuck Woolery (host of Love Connection) to Gene Rayburn (host of Match Game), from eHarmony to The Bachelorette. In "Welcome to the Judges" (parody of "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N Roses), J. uses the wordplay of "judge" to throw in several TV judges. Even "It's Tough (Song about Nehemiah)" (parody of "This Love" by Maroon 5) gets reference to Pink Floyd's The Wall and "Another Brick in the Wall (which ApologetiX have parodied) to Wal-Mart (possibly a reference to the fact that Paris Hilton once thought Wal-Mart was a store carrying wall-building supplies). The cultural reference in these songs are just poetic.

As mention above, 4 of the songs originally part of the Have Yourself a Parody Little Christmas EP make their album debut on New and Used Hits: "Hotel Can't Afford Ya" (parody of "Hotel California" by The Eagles), "Micah No. 5" (parody of "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega), "December 5 or 6 BC (Oh Holy Night" (parody of "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)" by The Four Seasons) and "Santa Claus" (parody of "Panama" by Van Halen). "Hotel Can't Afford Ya" was re-recorded in 2004 for New and Used Hits. I honestly don't know why. The music and mixing is the same quality as the one on Jesus Christ's Morning Star. The addition in the beginning is nice, but it is not necessary. If anything, it ruins the musical intro to the song. Same goes for J.'s "Silent Night" singing in the outro. I do like the voiceover in "December 5 or 6 BC (Oh Holy Night)," however," for it gives a deeper explanation behind the meaning of the song. Apparently, ApologetiX got some heat for "Santa Claus" because some people thought it put too much emphasis on the secular Christmas, but J. acknowledges the parody is just for fun, and he ultimately gives Jesus credit as the reason for the season at the end of the song.

Also as stated earlier, the remainder of the album is spoofs from previously recorded albums. Each album from Radical History Tour to Adam Up! has at least representation from 3 songs. One would almost wonder if ApologetiX considers these tracks to be the top 3 songs on each album, which would make me feel bad if my favorite song from each of these albums is not one of these songs. Just like I said earlier, for the sake of being fair in this review, I will only examine the live re-recordings of the songs, but I also will quickly interject by saying that mix of songs from prior albums does obtain the goal they were aiming to seek by covering a wide array of musical years, genres and Bible stories.

Let's blitz through the live albums in a "lightning round." "Wherever You Will Sow" (parody of "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling) has a nice introduction explaining the meaning of the Bible verses compiled together for this song, but I think the lyrics do a good job self-explaining that. I like how "Smooth Grandmama" (parody of "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson and Alien Ant Farm) begins with an intro of music your grandmother would like, gives a dedication to the grandmothers, and those goes into a hard rock song. That contrast almost come unexpectedly. I know "I Love Apostle Paul" (parody of "I Love Rock N Roll" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) is a fan favorite, but I don't think that alone is a reason to make it a live track. "Learn Some Deuteronomy" (parody of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard) was a missed opportunity. They could have added the intro solo, with J. adding the lines, "Livin' by the law, l-law, l-law" or "Gonna get it wrong, wr-wrong, wr-wrong..." but neither happens. It's just simply a live recording of the Spoofernatural version (to make matters worse, Braggadocius re-records another live version, and it still misses out on the opportunity to add the intro!). In the live recording of "Walk His Way" (parody of "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith), J. adds some Aerosmith references during the outro solo, which might get a chuckle out of the listener, but moreso just gets in the way of the beautiful music. For "Love & Kisses" (parody of "Rock N Roll All Nite" by KISS), J. does his best to sound like Gene Simmon, and for the most part, he nails it. While not captured in the audio of the CD, ApologetiX had motions for this song, which they would teach the audience to follow along if they wanted to participate. For those who attended actual ApologetiX concerts, the live recording reminds the fans of those times. "Jacob's Name is Israel" (parody of "Taking Care of Business" by Bachman Turner Overdrive) in way gets closer to the original song than ApologetiX's original studio recording, but it loses that ApologetiX touch without the crazy intro. All in all, all of these songs sound better with the original studio recording, and I will always favor that original studio recording over these live recordings. Nevertheless, each song mentioned in this paragraph accurately captures the feeling of an ApologetiX concert, as you can clearly hear the audience participate at the appropriate point. Honestly, if these songs came together to form a live album, it might have been the best live album from ApologetiX.

FAVORITE SONG: "Back Intact" (parody of "Black in Black" by AC/DC)

Apparently, ApologetiX got some flack from this parody, too. People didn't like J. singing from Jesus's point of view, especially sounding like Brian Johnson, AC/DC's most recent lead singer, especially when so many people still think AC/DC is short for "anti-Christ, devil's child (which is wrong. The name comes from the electric term "alternating current/direct current"). To the contrary, this song is another beautifully done job of redeeming the song. In the original song, Brian Johnson claims to be the voice of Bon Scott, back from the dead, and by doing so, he makes death and hellfire sound not so bad. In this parody, J. sings of the truly resurrected Jesus, who defeated death and hell. That contrast is mind-blowing! On top of the newly redeeming value of the lyrics, this song's music is just a beautiful mix. Up to this point, this is J.'s best performance sounding like Bon Scott/Brian Johnson, and in short, this song just rocks! I've heard this song live in concert, and let me tell you, if the concert is an indoor venue, then it will blow the roof off the building! To this day, when my ApologetiX playlist is on shuffle, I still get pumped when I hear the gentle tap of the drums, signaling the start of this song.

FINAL VERDICT: 24th.

New and Used Hits is indeed the perfect introduction to ApologetiX for the new fan. It gives a sampling from each of the previous albums, and that sampling covers a wide array of music genres, musical years and Bible passages. For the old fan, this album does not do much. Only 11 of 40 songs are brand-new to the old fan, and if that fan downloaded the Have Yourself a Parody Little Christmas EP, that drops down to 7 of 40 songs. Don't get me wrong, those 7 songs are great, but they should have been held off for a brand-new album, and they should have left this album of just used hits. The long-time might simply get this album to get those 7 or 11 new songs, burn them onto their music player of choice, and never return to the album again.

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