Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

The mock-up version of the now iconic cover art for Nirvana's 1991 'Nevermind' release sets the scene for this album of augmented grunge tunes by US Christian parody band ApologetiX. As ever, the group impressively and authentically recreate the musical side of things before replacing the original lyrics of each song with Christian ones. Sometimes this approach works - turning the Oasis megahit "Wonderwall" into the Joshua-themed "One More Wall" is clever - but mostly it doesn't quite hit the mark due to the clunky and forced nature of the replacement words. A case in point being the rehash of Joan Osborne's "One Of Us" which feels self-righteous and pompous to the point where the Osborne original still remains the more spiritually thought-provoking and relevant despite its theological flaws. The writers make full use of grunge music's pent up nature to put across the Christian message with no holds-barred conviction but a little humour here and there wouldn't go amiss and would certainly make ApologetiX's sterling attempts more appealing. Fair play to all involved for bringing songs by largely forgotten '90s bands like Better Than Ezra, Seven Mary Three and the Smashing Pumpkins back to life though.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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