| ||||||
 | ||||||
 | ||||||
ApologetiX ReviewsBiblical Graffiti | ||||||
| [Christian Resources] [WEBster Home] | ||||||
| Disclaimer: If you don't like Rock music, you won't like ApologetiX. That being the case, why waste your time reading this stuff? It would be much better for you to go praise the Lord in a way that is acceptable to you rather than get all caught up in the emotions associated with this subject. | |||
| Biblical Graffiti (Released 1999) Tracks: 1. One Way (parody of "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies) 2. Twins Came Out (parody of "Twist and Shout" by the Beatles) 3. Every Step to Take (parody of "Every Breath You Take" by the Police) 4. 969 (parody of "Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams) 5. Second Timothy (parody of "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground) 6. You Ain't Been Nothing Yet (parody of "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner-Overdrive) 7. Donkey Talked With Him (parody of "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones) 8. Ronomy (parody of "Runaway" by Del Shannon) 9. Credence Thru Deepwater Survival (parody of Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival) 10. Lawful Woman in a Bad Place (parody of "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" by the Hollies) 11. Kick in the Wall (parody of "Another Brick in the Wall, part 2" by Pink Floyd) 12. Fast Paul (parody of "The Way" by Fast Ball) 13. Jail Got Rocked (parody of "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley) 14. Put You Down in My Will (parody of "Push" by Matchbox 20) 15. Crazy Little King God Loves (parody of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen) 16. Dancing Dave (parody of "Dancing Days" by Led Zeppelin) 17. Smart Blest Man (parody of "Smart Dressed Man" by ZZ Top) 18. Revelation Man (parody of "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers) 19. Armageddon Valley Someday (parody of "Pleasant Valley Someday" by the Monkees) 20. Droppin on the Sun (parody of "Walkin on the Sun" by Smash Mouth) 21. Bends to Low Places (parody of "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks) 22. Enter Samson (parody of "Enter Sandman" by Metallica) | |||
One WayLyrics: fair to good Comments: Not familiar with the original song, so it's hard to comment other than to say that this song sounds fine to me. Twins Came OutLyrics: fair to good Comments: This song is okay. The lyrics are a cute play on the original song, but I never could get really excited about this song. Somehow, they lyrics just didn't capture the energy of the original song for me. Every Step To TakeLyrics: fair Comments: Although I like the Police and I like "Every Breath You Take," this song just failed to take hold. The audio seems a bit muddy and there were a couple of audible mistakes in the music in this song; though you do have to listen closely to catch the mistakes (mainly timing). 969Lyrics: good to excellent Comments: As much as "Every Step to Take" didn't take hold, this one did. Cute song, good lyrics, and good vocals. The sound was a little too compressed for my tastes, but otherwise this was a good track. Second TimothyLyrics: fair to good Comments: I'm not familiar with the original song, so I can't comment on this one other than to say that it's one of my least favorite songs on this album. You Ain't Been Nothing YetLyrics: good to excellent Comments: This was an extremely good song lyrically. The stuttering was particularly effective. The bass track, in particular suffered on this production, but the other instruments were done well. Donkey Talked With HimLyrics: excellent Comments: On every ApologetiX CD there is at least one truly great song. Biblical Graffiti has several. "Donkey Talked With Him" is one of the top songs on this album (if not the top song). J. Jackson does a great imitation of Mick Jagger on this track. The bass track on this CD seems to have problems and is, perhaps, this track's only flaw. Fortunately, it doesn't detract much from this song. RonomyLyrics: good Comment: Okay, I like "Runaway." No, I love the song. ApologetiX would have to butcher this song completely before I wouldn't like it. Probably the worst thing I can say about the song is the weird title (the last part of the word "Deuteronomy"). The lyrics could have been a bit stronger, but this is a short song and it's hard to tell much of a story when you've got so few words to work with. This is definitely a cover tune with ApologetiX' own personal stamp on it; the vocals are not Del Shannon but they are quite good. Creedence Through Deepwater SurvivalLyrics: poor to fair Comment: Well, I really don't like this song. Just couldn't make any connection with the lyrics. Best just to shut up and move on to the next song. Lawful Woman in a Bad PlaceLyrics: excellent Comment: This is another one of the great songs on "Biblical Graffiti." I rated the production "fair to good" because it's a tiny bit too compressed and muddy for my tastes, but otherwise it's a great track. The vocals could have been improved a tiny bit, but doing so would have been less true to the original song. Kick in the WallLyrics: excellent Comment: Okay, I'm not a Pink Floyd fan at all. If "Another Brick in the Wall" came on the radio, I'd probably change the station. However, I actually listen to this song and enjoy it. It is amazing how a set of good lyrics can affect a song like this one. The lyrics are really great on this number, the vocals came together nicely, and it was a good production. Perhaps a die-hard Pink Floyd fan could find something wrong, but I felt that this is a good number. Fast PaulLyrics: excellent Comment: I don't ever remember listening to "The Way" by Fastball, so it's not possible for me to evaluate this song on the basis of the original tune. However, the lyrics work real well on this tune and the song stands well on its own. Jail Got RockedLyrics: excellent Comment: Of course, "Jailhouse Rock" has been done many, many, times and one can easily argue that many of the later versions are better than the original Elvis Presley version. ApologetiX' version is a little harder than the original Presley tune, but this is an improvement in my opinion. The lyrics are especially well done, connecting the story of Paul and Silas with the original tune in a very synergistic way. If you absolutely hate "Jailhouse Rock" you probably won't like "Jail Got Rocked," otherwise you'll be rocking out with this tune. Put You Down in My WillLyrics: fair to good Comment: Matchbox 20 is another one of those bands I've never listened to. My wife loves their stuff, so I can only relate her opinion of this song (with respect to the original): she likes it a lot (easily her favorite on "Biblical Graffiti"). The lyrics didn't excite me as much as other songs on this CD, but the message they present is a good one so I'll give J. credit for that. Crazy Little King God LovesLyrics: good Comment: This is a well done song with one minor problem: it tells the story of David while Saul was still king. Oh, the lyrics make an excuse for this ("Just ain't crowned him yet"), but something about this doesn't work in my mind. The premise for the title comes from the time David pretended to be insane in order to escape from the Philistines. Ignoring the issue of the song's title, the lyrics are really cute and quite humorous. I just can't get past the fact that David wasn't yet king every time I listen to this song. Dancing DaveLyrics: good Comment: I'm not a big Zeppelin fan. For some reason most of their music just never appealed to me (and it wasn't because I was afraid of playing their songs backwards). Oh, I've enjoyed a fair number of their top-40 tunes over the years, but "Dancing Days" wasn't a song I could really get into. J. Jackson did a good job of using this song's premise to tell the story of David returning the Ark to Jerusalem; but I just don't particularly like the original song and the lyrics and performance weren't enough to get me excited about this version. J's vocals aren't as sharp on this tune as on other tunes, but a casual Zep fan won't notice the difference. Smart Blest ManLyrics: excellent Comment: This is another winner on the album. While it's hard to sound quite as raw and raspy as ZZ Top, ApologetiX did a great job on this tune that tells the story of Solomon. Note quite sure I understand the reference to Pharaoh and the Plagues at the end of the song, but otherwise this is an excellent production. Revelation ManLyrics: excellent Comment: Here's another real winner on "Biblical Graffiti." Definitely one of the top five ApologetiX songs, ever. If you've ever purchased an album just to get one song, then you've got a reason to purchase "Biblical Graffiti" on this basis of this one song alone. Armageddon Valley SomedayLyrics: good Comment: I happen to be right at that age that separated the first Rock and Roll generation gap; this was defined by whether or not you liked the Monkees (for what it's worth, I'm just young enough to have actually liked the Monkees and I remember watching them on TV every Saturday morning for quite a long time). Today, of course, most people don't view the Monkees with quite the disdain that was apparent in my youth. Still, although I was a Monkees fan I certainly grew up believing that the Monkees were a band for little kids (not unlike, say, the Backstreet Boys today) and I have problems reconciling the fact that these guys do Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and the Monkees (of course, they also do the Backstreet Boys, too). ApologetiX vocals aren't quite as smooth as Davy Jones' (of the Monkees); this is particularly true of the backing vocals on this track. This is definitely a song where ApologetiX took a few more liberties with their interpretation than they do with most songs, though other than a few drum beats that are off I can't particularly criticize the performance; it isn't as true to the original song as the majority of ApologetiX work, but they've done a good interpretation of this song. Droppin On The SunLyrics: fair Comment: This is another song with which I'm not familiar with the original tune. I don't particularly like the tune, so I won't say much more about this track. Bends to Low PlacesLyrics: good to excellent Comment: I'm not a big fan of country. I grew up in the generation where the parents listened to Country &Western, the kids listened to Rock, and the two shall never meet. Despite the interest in modern country music by those in my generation, I never got into Garth Brooks. As this song's lyrics say "imagine my surprise..." The first time I listened to this song I thought "oh, that's Garth Brooks, time to move on to the next track." However, after listening to the song a couple of times I began to discover that ApologetiX has really rocked this one up a bit. Gone are the whining steel guitars I hate so much in Country/Western music and, gasp, the electric guitars are showing a bit of distortion! Seriously, though, this is all a bunch of rationalization because I really do like this song a lot. It definitely joins "Donkey Talked With Him," "Smart Blest Man," and "Revelation Man" in the set of all-time ApologetiX great tunes. Enter SamsonLyrics: good Comment: If you're a Metallica fan, you'll probably love this. Not being one myself, and this not being one of my favorite Metallic songs, I just have to pass on this one. It does sound a whole lot like the original tune, but that doesn't help matters in my opinion :-) | |||