Posted on: February 4, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

While I have been able to review previous ApologetiX CDs in the past, as well as see them live, Adam Up is another high for the band. Covering tracks by Good Charlotte, B-52s, Sum 41, and 19 other acts, the mode of parodying the acts musically has improved (with more spot on duplication of the tracks), and the lyrics are laid out clear as day with Biblical notes to more properly see where they are coming from with the songs. I’ve never claimed to know much about the Bible or any of those matters, but with such easy notes I could just open a copy of the Bible and see it laid out in black and white, and I believe that is exactly what the ApologetiX are trying to do with their music. Going through punk and oldies and rock music, they are trying to reach all sorts of different crowds, and try to modify what they play at each of their live performances depending on the crowd present.

My biggest problem with the band has been the off-sounding distortion that they have on some of the guitar pieces, but by and large, this minor problem has disappeared, and the message shines through all the more bright. What seems like the biggest thing going in the ApologetiX’s favor is the fact that they can go and Bowdlerize a profanity-filled track (like Fat Lip or Lose Yourself) and completely do the equivalent of a one eighty with the track, to draw people into the gospel from secularization. While they do call themselves “The Christian Weird Al”, implying that they are a cheap knockoff of the man, I implore you to look at “Look Yourself”, a parody of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”. On “Poodle Hat”, Weird Al’s last studio album, eir’s single was another parody of Eminem, but the ApologetiX keep to the beat and emotional content of the song much better than the first parody.

Overall, the ApologetiX are getting where they need to be for properly getting their message out to the masses. Constantly hitting the top of Christian charts, they might be preaching to the choir, but there is just that much of a market for crossover success. Some of their tracks may be lacking in originality (“Should I Pray or Should I Go” virtually is a carbon copy of B.O.B.’s “Mission Trip to Mexico”), but overall, the shatter-shot that is the shotgun of the Apologetix tries to get everyone to listen to their message through catchy tracks and spot-on renditions of many a popular song.

Rating : 7.5/10

ApologetiX – Adam Up / 2003 Wesscott Marketing / 22 Tracks / http://www.apologetix.com / [email protected] / Released December 2003 / Reviewed 11 January 2004

Top Tracks : Listening After Midnight (Judas Priest), and Downer of a Sister (System of a Down)

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