25. The Boys Aren't Backing Down

 BACKGROUND: 

The Boys Aren't Backing Down is the 17th ApologetiX album in the 17th year of the ApologetiX's existence. This is also the band's 3rd album to date. This is also also the band's 1st album with guitarists Tom Tincha and Tom Milnes. Those who purchase a physical CD just got the songs performed at the concert, but those who opted to download the CD got the conversational interludes between the songs for the full concert experience.

TITLE:

Lyricist and lead singer J. Jackson acknowledges that the title of this album comes from a song on the album with the same name, which refers to the disciples turned apostles not backing down about the gospel message of the risen Christ, despite Jewish leaders telling them to do so. J. also admits, however, that the title may have ended up pertaining to ApologetiX a little too much. The band is feeling their first big financial crunch. Tom Tincha and Tom Milnes playing guitar on stage is a fresh reminder that a mere 2 years ago lead guitarist and ApologetiX co-found Karl Messner exited the band. As a fan, it easily felt like you were watching your favorite slowly descend to an eventual crash and burn. By titling their lastest live album from this song on the album, ApologetiX comforts its fans concerns with assurances that they will not back down from presenting Christian parodies, despite the hardships.

CRITIQUE:

One last time, I will remind you of my bias against live albums. I do not like live albums. I try to cut the ApologetiX a break, especially at this time in the band's life, because I know they partially did it as a cost-cutting measure. Recording a live album once and then polishing it up in a studio afterward is cheaper than having to record (and re-record) instruments and mix (and re-mix) them all together in a studio album, which can become quite expensive. That recording (and re-recording) and mixing (and re-mixing) ends up yielding the best possible result of the highest quality studio albums. Even when polishing up a live album, the live recording is only 1 take, and it ends up a good enough take. Producers can try their best to fix issues, like screaming fans overpowering the music or technical difficulties throwing off the pitch, but it can still render a "good enough" product. Songs always suffer under a live performance, so if a band wants to give their fans the best performance, they should record in studio.

Before moving on, I want to be fair to the ApologetiX. ApologetiX did release a studio album 3 months earlier, which would be Recovery. It's not like the ApologetiX just gave its fans a live album and called it a year. Recovery was the main album of the year, and The Boys Aren't Backing Down is extra. Still, this fact leaves them open for criticism. Recovery has 12 songs, but The Boys Aren't Backing Down has 18 songs. Why does the live album get more songs than the studio album? Recovery definitely had the room, as it only uses 47 minutes of the 75 minutes on a standard CD. I want to say that Recovery should have had studio recordings of the songs played live on The Boys Aren't Backing Down, but I recognize that Recovery consists of songs from the late 70s, which songs from The Boys Aren't Backing Down don't all fit the theme. Still, I feel like The Boys Aren't Backing Down should have been the studio album, and Recovery should have been the live album. At least, a third of The Boys Aren't Backing Down is not half of Recovery.

Just like with Chosen Ones, I experience the same push-and-pull emotion tug-of-war with the setlist. On one hand, I love that these are all new songs. Now fans won't feel like they are purchasing a second copy of the song, now with just lesser quality. On the other hand, I hate that these are all new songs. Newly debuting songs should have the top-notch best quality, not at low, "good enough" quality of a live album. Now fans feel like they have to listen to either a "just fine" or "just OK" recording of the song or don't have the song at all. This would feel like an especially big bummer if ApologetiX finally parodies your favorite secular song, only to render a live recording.

Fortunately, just as with Chosen Ones, ApologetiX has embraced this opportunity to re-perform and re-record improved hits from their cassettes, the Rare and Not Well Done rarities and their older CDs. From the cassettes and Rare Not Well Done rarities: "Shoestring Tie-er" (parody of "Shooting Star" by Bad Company) and "Sabbath Day (That's All Right for Righting)" becomes "Sabbath Day (Is Quite Alright for Nice Things)" (parodies of "Saturday Night Is Alright for Fighting" by Elton John). From the Isn't Wasn't Ain't CD: "I Found the Answer There" (parody of "I Saw Her Standing There" by the Beatles) and "He Really Got Mad" (parody of "You Really Got Me" by Van Halen). From Radical History Tour CD: "Judgment Gets Passed" (parody of "Jumping Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones), "Read Ephesians" (parody of "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith), "Catch That Fever!" (parody of "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent) and "Life in the Last Days" (parody of "Life in the Fast Lane" by the Eagles). If you're counting, 8 of the 18 songs are remastering older songs. Again, I'm on the fence about these songs. On one hand, I love how ApologetiX used a live album to fix and update the songs, which allows fans to choose which version they like the best. One the other hand, I hate how I'm just buying repeats of songs I already have, expect in a lower quality format. If I had to choose a side, I would pick the former over the latter. Looking back at the list, the only song that got a true overhaul was "He Really Got Mad." In this recording of "He Really Got Mad," they intertwine another Van Halen parody entitled "Ain't Squat Without Love" (parody of "Ain't Talking About Love"). While that addition gives the fan a reason to listen to this live version over the original version, the fan might also want a full parody of "Ain't Squat Without Love," especially since J. Jackson has revamped the "You Really Got Me" parody from "He Really Got Mad" to "You're really Godly." Oh, also, if you don't like the live remasterings, it's very easy to skip both of them, all but "He Really Got Mad" fall on the back half of the album.

That leaves 10 brand new songs, which, again, I wish were studio recorded before live recorded. Let's cover them. The opening track for this album is "Strangest Folks" (parody of "Strangehold" by Ted Nugent." Since this live album comes from a live concert, it fits for both the opening of an album and an opening of a concert. The song introduces the band, and in more than one way. Thinking about this song, either the original or the parody, someone may have thought this song may not have been a good song to parody because it has so few lyrics. With so few lyrics, it almost feels like ApologetiX merely performs a cover here. Well, J. Jackson calls it a "theme song" to the band, and it indeed fulfills the role. The song names everybody in the plan performing on stage, including the 2 Toms (Tincha and Milnes), who debuted during this tour and subsequent live album. The long instrumental part also serves as a way for the band to introduce itself because it allows each band member's respective instrument to shine. If not a fan of listening to long stretches of instrumentals, J. does a monlogue, and it's just poetic (in the sense it's well-crafted, not in the sense it rhymes). You get well-written poetic lines, such as "We're from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, the home of champions...and the Pirates" and "Now some people might mistakenly think that ApologetiX sheathes that sword in a hard-rock candy coating, but let me tell you, you best beware...beecause when you get to the center of this Tootsie Pop, it’s awful sharp" and "We adhere to the teachings of the great theologian...Mary Poppins, who said, 'Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.'" J. then goes on to describe their parodies as everything from "AC/DC to ZZ Top" (from A to Z), "Elvis to Eminem" (from the oldest oldies to the most recent hits), "from the Beach Boys to the Backstreet Boys to the Beastie Boys" (bands with Boy in the name) and "Three Dog Night to Three Doors Down to Three Days Grace" (bands with Three in the name) and "from basic Beatles and standard Stones to today's tunes (again, from the oldest oldies to modern day hits). Again, the artistry of these lines to is just a gem to this monologue. The only thing I wish J. wouldn't have done is encourage the crowd to shout because that ruins the album! To make this introductory song even better as an introduction, the album closes with "Catch That Fever!" (parody of "Catch Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent). Now. J. admits that beginning and ending the album with 2 different song from the same artist is mere coincidence. The band likes closing with "Catch That Fever!" because it is a high-energy song, which gets everybody up, which is fitting if they are about to leave anyway. Still, I think it works well. If you're going to do another song from a band you've already parodied, whether for an album or for a concert, you might as well put them on opposite ends of the album/concert.

Woah, that took longer than I thought for just 1 song. Let me blitz through the other 9 songs in a "lightning round." "Very Wiser" (parody "Paralyzed" by Finger Eleven) tells the story of a single paragraph in the Bible like it tells a story from the Bible. I like the references to Jeopardy, crosswords, chess and Ivy League schools, and how knowing contrasts from wisdom. Not a fan of "Bible in Hand" (parody of "Traveling Band" by Credence Clearwater Revival), but that's more on CCR than on ApologetiX. CCR uses the couplet rhyming scheme (AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, etc.), which I find elementary, and naturally, ApologetiX has to follow it. Fortunately, when it came time to parody Nickelback, ApologetiX did not parody "Photograph," which does the same couplet rhyming scheme. "Smarten Up" (parody of "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones) would have been good by itself, but it's bad choice when "Judgment Gets Passed" (parody of "Jumping Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones) already has the Rolling Stones contribution for the album. ApologetiX should have chosen either the new song or the re-recorded old song, whichever they thought needed release more. You've already heard my criticisms about "Amos" (parody of "Layla" by Eric Clapton and & Derek and the Dominos), but again, I will complain, "Why did they parody the acoustic version and not the electric version?!" I know the acoustic version is just as famous as the electric version, but I don't think it's more famous than the electric version. If they really wanted the acoustic version, they should have saved it for Soundproof! Thank goodness the studio recording of this song is the electric version, as found on Minor League. "Play Fair Delilah" (parody of "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's) is ruined by the crowd's laughs. You can hear people laughing in the crowd. This song is only "funny" when comparing the original lyrics, a song about a couple trying to make it through the struggles of a long-distance relationship, with the parody lyrics, a song about a girlfriend trying to kill her boyfriend. While some humorous culture references, like UFC, WWE, Halo 3, MMA, HGH, blogs, New Age and Scooby Doo, it is still just another retelling of a Bible story. If you want a comedic retelling of the story matched with this song, listen to Tim Hawkin's version. I felt like "Lost and Found" (parody of "Round and Round" by Ratt) was too predictable. After all, the bridge to chorus was pretty much replacing the "I" with "God" and then natural theology thinking would get you the rest. While the theology is there for "I Made The Team" (parody of "I'm Eighteen" by Alice Cooper), I feel like the theology gets lost in all the baseball metaphors. As talked about when discussing the title, "The Boys Aren't Backing Down" fits this age of ApologetiX. While about the apostles continuing the ministry of Jesus Christ despite the opposition, it fits the ApologetiX, learning to serve Jesus, even with the financial struggles and a different band lineup. And just recently, ApologetiX released a studio-recorded single of "The Boys Aren't Backing Down!" Perfect for those who prefer a studio recording over a live recording ;) . You may have noticed that I left one though, and that's because...

FAVORITE SONG: "Rocky Star" (parody of "Rock Star" by Nickelback)

To begin with, the title is pure genius. Typically, the phrase "rocky start" means to start off on a bad note. That's not where this song is going at all. This song retells Christ's parable of the wise men building his house on the rock. The "rocky start" in this song is the wise man using a foundation of bedrock to start of building his house. As the parable has to do with building a house, lyricist J. Jackson has stuffed this parable full of house building reference and metaphors. Some of them may not age well, like, "I'll even call Ty to trade my space" and "It's Extreme Human Makeover time for me," but others, like "so I can make a Taj Mahal and not a big sandcastle" and "it's going to pass all codes when it gets inspected" will last the test of time. More importantly is how much J. has redeemed this song. In the original song, Nickelback sings about wanting to become rich and famous. In the parody, ApologetiX rejects the world desire for riches and fames, instead trading it in for eternal things, like Jesus. That's how you redeem a song!

FINAL VERDICT: 25th.

Again, my disdain toward live albums ultimately dooms The Boys Aren't Backing Down to the bottom sixth in my ranking of the first 30 ApologetiX. This album, however, might be their best live album. About half of it contains brand-new songs, so the fan feels like they are obtaining new parodies, not merely doubling up previously owned parodies with a lesser live performance. About half of it consists of re-recordings of old songs, which allows ApologetiX to update them as they see fit, and it gives fans access to older songs, which they may no longer have access to. As said so many times, this album also just fits so well with the ApologetiX's time in life, as the ApologetiX had to learn not back down, despite the hardships. That alone makes this live album more special. Still, outside the nature of a live album, it has its faults. I still prefer the master recording of all the songs re-recorded for this live album The only exception might be "He Really Got Mad" because of the addition of "Ain't Squat Without Love." While I have more praises than criticisms for "Strangest Folks," "Very Wiser" and "Rocky Start," I have more criticisms than praises for "Bible in Hand," "Amos," "Play Fair Delilah" and "I Made the Team." Looking back over this whole review, the setlist isn't the best. Both the Rolling Stones and Ted Nugent are represented twice. And let's be honest, Finger Eleven, Plain White T's, and maybe even Ratt, will go down as one-hit wonders. In the future (near or distant), ApologetiX fans will look back on these songs are think, "Who are they spoofing again?" I think back to that opening monologue. Where is AC/DC? Where is ZZ Top? Where is Elvis? Where is Eminem? Choosing all these artists would have fit the setlist better, as the introductory monologue sets up an outline of how the album/concert will go. Maybe all these reasons is why the album ranked so long in my ranking, not just the fact it's a live album.

And now with all the live albums out of the way, they won't have that against them. Now some of the remaining albums have a couple or a few live tracks on them. I will have to decide whether that alone gives the album a demerit or not. I will definitely have to consider it for the next album...

25. The Boys Aren't Backing Down
26. Chosen Ones
27. 20:20 Vision
28. Hits: The Road
29. Soundproof
30. Apol-acoustiX