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ApologetiX ReviewsKeep The Change | ||||||
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| 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 | |||
| Keep the Change (Released 2001) Tracks: 1. Story of a Squirrel (parody of "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" by Nine Days | |||
J. Jackson and Karl Messner promised this CD would be great. They put a lot of work into the musicianship and production of this baby and bragged about it prior to its release. Does the CD live up to the hype? Absolutely. If you buy only one ApologetiX CD, this is the one to get!With this CD, ApologetiX leaves the realm of the "obviously indie production" and treats us to a CD that is 100% professional. Story of a SquirrelLyrics: good to excellent Comments: Not familiar with the original song, so it's hard to comment other than to say that this song sounds fine to me. My wife claims it's very similar to the original song, but I'm probably more fussy about such matters so I'll just apply N/A to the "faithful" rating. Cute song, though. I Love Noah Songs! I'll never get tired of stories about Noah. Monkey SchemeLyrics: fair to good Comment: Okay, I admit that it's probably been 35 years since I actually listened to the Monkee's theme. And I apologize for not having the record around to compare ApologetiX' version against the original. Even so, from what I remember, this version doesn't as closely duplicate the original as does the other songs on this CD. That's not a bad thing; I never truly appreciated this song even when I was a kid watching the Monkees every Saturday morning. Gotta wonder if "I'm a Believer" will make it onto the next ApologetiX CD (especially after the Smash Mouth/Shrek resurrection of this song). Ed note: now that "Grace Period" has arrived, we've got the answer to this question, yes (rlh-09/10/2002). ChristmasniteLyrics: good to excellent Comment: This one joins the ApologetiX all time greatest list. The only complaint I have is that the original song was so short that J. didn't have the time to expand on the story. This tune is great live, too! Bethlehemian RhapsodyLyrics: good Comment: Ever done something really bad and wish you could just do it over? That pretty much describes this song. ApologetiX did a different version of this song on their "Radical History Tour" CD. The vocals, however, were extremely weak. So they redid the lyrics (same story, though) and redid the song on this CD. Much improved. Comparing this song against the original Queen tune you'll still find that the vocals are a tiny bit weak in a couple of spots (this is especially true of the operatic harmonies). However, had you never heard the original Queen song, you'd probably not have any problems with the vocals on the CD (unlike the rendition on "Radical History Tour"). Overall, this song is enjoyable and you can listen to it without cringing. Having heaped lots of praise on the vocals and musicianship, I should point out that I do have a few complaints with this song; specifically, some of the lyrics are inferior to the original version by ApologetiX. I wish J. Jackson had borrowed some of the better lines from his original version. The lyrics in this version aren't bad, but there were some better lines in the version ApologetiX did originally (such is the danger of a remake, someone is always going to complain about the changes). Were they to pick the best lines from both versions I'd be ecstatic. Stay in the LightLyrics: good Comment: I really don't like disco. So clearly I'm not going to have good things to say about this song. 'nuff said under the circumstances. I will admit, however, that the production and musicianship is quite good on this number. Very close to the original (yuck!). Old Time Romans RoadLyrics: good Comment: "Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger always sounded like a hymn to me. ApologetiX actually turned it into one! If you like Bob Seger, you're gonna like this tune. The Real Sin SaviorLyrics: fair to good Comment: Okay, now I've decided I like Rap even less than Disco (despite the fact that I own a P.O.D. CD). Let's just say that I usually hit the advance button when this one comes on. Tells you something about my tastes; this ApologetiX song was a big hit all over the world (#1 on some CCM stations' playlists). Okay, I've listened to it enough times that I find some of the lyrics cute; but I still don't like rap. The thing I fear most is that ApologetiX will "go commercial" on the basis of this tune and we'll get a lot more rap in the future. Scary. BabylonaLyrics: good to excellent Comment: Hard to say whether they were parodying the Knack or Weird Al here. Guess they weren't using an accordion, but the references to bologna makes up for that. Still, this is a cute parody of "My Sharona" and this song has some of J. Jackson's best one-liners. I was busting up the whole time this song was playing. DanielLyrics: excellent Comment: This song completely blew me away. J. Jackson sounds exactly like Elton John on this number. Now I've always been impressed with J. Jackson's vocal range and his ability to mimic other vocalists; but this tune is amazing. After hearing this tune, I immediately wondered why they didn't do the Elton John version of "Pinball Wizard" in the "Temple Physician" parody. Wow. In my opinion this tune is, by far, the "most faithful to the original" that ApologetiX has ever done. I'm not even a big fan of the original song, but this parody is amazing. If you like Elton John, buy "Keep the Change" just for this one track. All the Stalls StinkLyrics: excellent Comment: Okay, I don't listen to the radio anymore so I haven't heard this Blink 182 tune ("All the Small Things") Listening to this track is convincing me that it's time to turn the radio back on. Great song, this one. The lyrics are truly hilarious. Another ApologetiX winner. The only thing that pisses me off about this tune is that *I* was about to write a parody tune about what the Ark must have smelled like when this CD came out. Oh well, great minds thing alike, I guess :-) Seriously though, I love Noah songs and ApologetiX can't go wrong with Noah! (P.S. since writing this review, I actually went ahead and did my version, to the tune of "MacArthur Park"; check it out on the Parodeities page some time -- rlh). Cheap BirdLyrics: fair Comment: I like Lynard Skynard, I like "Free Bird", I like the basic story line (I've written a similar parody, see Rock of Ages), the music on this track is good, the vocal quality is good. So somebody please explain why this song does nothing for me? I thought I was just being weird or something, but my wife upon hearing this song said "Those lyrics don't work well with this song." I can't explain it, but we just can't get excited by this song. Technically, I can't find any reason for feeling this way; maybe a psychologist can explain it to me sometime. As best I can tell is that the original song was actually monotonous, and that carries through to this tune. I discovered this fact after I wrote my own parody of "Free Bird" that I called "Free Will" and decided it was boring, too. Oh well, can't blame ApologetiX for Lynard Skynard's problems. Mama Told Me (What's to Come)Lyrics: excellent Comment: An ex-employee from where my wife works once became a "Psychic Friends Network" psychic. It required only 30 minutes training for her to become a "psychic." It was a complete sham. All I could do was think about Lisa and laugh the whole time I listened to this song. How true, how true. Even exclusive of personal experiences, this is another great ApologetiX song that has to be considered part of an ApologetiX "greatest hits" collection. MangerLyrics: good to excellent Comment: Right after Rap and Disco, I really don't like Steve Miller Band music. However, I'll make an exception for this song (performed by Shaggy). This is a really cute song with a snappy tune and J's signature lyrics. Not having heard the original tune, I can't comment on faithfulness to the original song. It stands well on its own, though. Be Bold JeremiahLyrics: fair Comment: Right after Rap and Disco, I really don't like Steve Miller Band music. And I won't make an exception for this tune. On the ApologetiX web site J. Jackson claims he was out searching for "Jet Airplane" when he went out to buy his first record. I guess I'm surprised it took ApologetiX this long to remake this song. Oh well, I can skip over this track. If you like the Steve Miller band, you'll have to decide for yourself what you think of this song. I don't even want to think about it anymore. The Ballad of Jesus and YahwehLyrics: good Comment: In the pre-release email hyperbole, J. Jackson commented that this was the first CD in a while that didn't have a country song on the disk. Well, although this is a Beatle's tune, it's close enough to C&W to cover the absence. Seriously, though, this is another very good and faithful to the original tune. I just wish that J. had kept the line "crucify me" from the original. Everytime I hear this song I keep expecting that line to appear. Oh well, unpredictably keeps us on our toes, I guess. Rock and RootsLyrics: N/A & good Comment: This is an interesting song in the same vein as "La Bible" from Spoofernatural. J. took the genealogy of Christ from Luke 3 and coerced it to the tune of "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin. Okay, the rhymes are strained well past the breaking point and J. has to horribly mispronounce some names to get it all to work. Still, the song comes off pretty good 'cause you can't understand the words anyway. This song has one of J's greatest one-liners: "Let's turn the Page and Plant the family tree." (Okay, only Zep fans will get the joke, but it's still a great line.) The song doesn't come off as well as "La Bible" but it's still a great effort that works out in the end. Simp LiztikLyrics: fair Comment: I don't like Limp Bizkit and I really don't understand this song's title (an email explained this as sounding similar to "Simplistic" Okay.). Oh well, if you're a Limp Bizkit fan you'll probably like this one. I usually just skip it, though. You Booked Me All AlongLyrics: good to excellent Comment: This Song Rocks! Probably the greatest AC/DC song ever. The lyrics are interesting (though I wish the title line was a bit better. Another one of ApologetiX' greatest all time tunes. Life RestoredLyrics: fair to good Comment: Don't know the original tune and this one doesn't excite me a whole lot. It's not annoying to the point I dislike it, but I could pass on this one. If you like Papa Roach, you'll probably like this tune. | |||