30. Apol-acoustiX

 BACKGROUND:

 Lead singer and lyricist J. Jackson admits that Apol-acoustiX was a passion project. When the band formed in the 1990s, many popular secular bands would released "unplugged" albums, in which the band would play their greatest hits, but in an acoustic version of the song. Therefore, it seemed fitting for the band 13th birthday that the original founders, J. Jackson and Karl Messener, would come together to create their acoustic album, which they called Apol-acoustiX. Under the album's title on the album's cover, it says, "A pair of dudes" (probably a wordplay on "parody") "and a pair of guitars. That line well describes this album. It consists of 12 parodies, with just J. and Karl playing guitar and singing. 

THE TITLE:

Not much to say here. It's a mash-up of Apologetix and acoustics. It works well because the words sound so similar, but their similarity is as far as creativity goes.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES:

OK, I get the artistic merit behind this passion project. It's almost one of those necessary stepping stones to be considered a "real band." There is a big difference, however, between what the ApologetiX did and those other bands did. With those other bands making their acoustic album, they are taking their greatest hits, the songs made famous with a full band, and making an artistic acoustic version. If their fans don't like the acoustic version, they can go back to the original. For the ApologetiX, however, this is not so. These are brand new songs. Now, to be fair, in the description of this album, J. says that these songs are a mix of new parodies and old parodies, which have been re-written, re-performed and re-recorded. If you're not going to includes those old parodies in your official discrography, you have to treat them as brand-new songs, especially if they are re-written, re-performed and re-recorded! Therefore, these songs feel like they are missing out by not having the full band treatment.

"Rock Around the Clock," which the ApologetiX parodied as "Talk About the Lord" had a full band recording, but the ApologetiX don't have a full band peformance of "Talk About the Lord." "Don't Be Cruel" by Elvis Prisley has drums, piano and bass cello with its performance, so "Don't Be Fooled" feel like something is absent. "Sounds of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel has drums in it (and I think I may hear bass), but "Paul and Silas" makes it sound like it's missing something without the drums (now, to be fair to this one, this song appears in full band on Radical History Tour, so I will cut it a break, but that, by default makes the Radical History Tour version the better version). "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by Bob Dylan has more than just guitar, which makes "Mediterranean Wholebook News" sound like it's lacking.  "Scripture" doesn't have that awesome electric guitar solo that "Picture" has. The list goes on with "Last Rain The Clouds Spill" (parody of "Last Train to Clarksville" by the Monkees), "Eight Ways to Be" (parody of "Eight Days A Week" by the Beatles) and "Trinity" (parody of "Thank You" by Led Zeppelin). They all don't feel like the real thing without the full band, and when you're trying to convince fans that your Christian parody band is "better" (in the sense it's "more redeeming") than the original, you need to make it sound better than the original, and it just won't happen when the full band version has more familiarity than the acoustic version. Even "Yes Today" feels lackluster without the strings (especially the cello/bass) in The Beatles' "Yesterday."

In my opinion, here is 2 better approaches to an acoustics-

First, they could have still made an acoustics album, but they should have parodied songs famous for being acoustic. Of course, the best example that comes to mind would be "Amos," parody of "Layla" by Eric Clapton and Derek & Dominos, which would later on appear on The Boys Aren't Backing Down. Personally, I prefer the full band version, but the acoustic version has become just as popular, if not more popular than the full band version. How about "Patients," the spoof of "Patience" by Guns N Roses, which appeared on Isn't Wasn't Ain't (and eventually remastered for Play Nice).   It would be a perfect time to re-write, re-perform and re-record. What about "Wish You Could Hear," parody of "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd, which eventually appears on Soundproof. I could go on with "A Source With No Name," parody of "A Horse With No Name" by America, which would eventually appear on Music Is As Music Does, and "God's Presence (Christ In Your Life)," parody of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day, which would eventually appear on Very Vicarious (I will admit that this song is missing something without that cello/bass in the background, but at least it's not missing the full band like "We're Not Gonna Drown," the parody of "When I Come Around"), but I will give them the benefit of doubt that these parodies did not exist in the mind of J. just yet. Heck, I could go on good acoustic rock songs they have not parodied yet, like "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas, "Blackbird" by the Beatles or "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters (again, yes, I personally like the full band version better, but the acoustic version is growing popularity.)

Second, they could have taken their hits and made acoustic versions of those. 8 months after Apol-acoustiX came out, the ApologetiX would release the live album Hits: The Road. These songs already have master recordings with the full band. Just like secular bands take their hits and make acoustic versions of them, the ApologetiX could have taken their hits and made acoustic version of them. If their fans didn't like them, they could always revert back to the original versions. If the fans do like them, the fans can add more songs to their library. Again, that setlist on Hits: The Road makes the perfect setlist for an acoustic album. 

FAVORITE SONG: More Than Works (parody of "More Than Words" by Extreme)

After my criticisms and my suggested solutions, this song is the clear choice for favorite song on the album. This song was originally written by Extreme to be an acoustic song, so it makes sense to parody this for an acoustic album. I also love how they beautifully redeemed this song. The song is so slow and soft, it becomes easy to mistaken this song for a lovely slow dance song with your love, but really, it's a breakup song. "More Than Works" redeems this song by reminding us that God loved us so much that we never had to earn his love with our works. God did all the work himself by sending his Son Jesus to pay the price on the cross. All we have to do is trust in the Holy Spirit, by grace, through faith. A faithful representation to the original plus new and improved lyrics automatically makes this song the best song on the album.

THE FINAL VERDICT: 30th.

I will admit that acoustic albums, even just acoustic singles, are not my favorite. I like my rock-n-roll hard, and acoustic is anything but hard rock. Therefore, I might be a little biased. Still, for anybody to love this CD, they must love acoustic rock songs over full band rock songs, or else they will miss the bass, drums, and maybe even keys the original songs had. Again, the better option would be to spoof song already famous for being acoustic or simply re-record already hit parodies as acoustic. Once again, a friendly reminder that my harsh criticisms does not mean that I hate this album or even dislike it. As a matter of fact, 10 of these 12 songs regularly appear in my shuffled ApologetiX playlist. The harsh criticisms simply explain why the album appears all the way at the bottom of the list.