Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

These guys are one of my favourite bands. Totally clever, in a weird Al 'Yankovitch' fashion, they take classic rock and pop songs and record humourous parodies. The twist here is that vocalist J Jackson manages to write lyrics that communicate Christian messages with panache. A humour that prevents the songs being cheesy pervades all of this album so I find myself smiling at the arch cleverness of the way in which The Eagles "Hotel California" becomes a story of the nativity "Hotel Can't Afford Y". There's something cunning when The Beatles "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is hijacked and transformed into a song about the ascension of Christ (I kid you not) and the old Shocking Blue hit "Venus" becomes "Jesus" and a fresh take on the sermon on the mount! Over here the band would do well as a tribute outfit with their ability to mimic the sounds of most '70s rock from Free to Kiss to the Doobie Brothers. My favourite has to be "Parable Guy" where the old Don McLean classic "American Pie" now becomes a rapid fire account of the parables of Jesus although the remake of Led Zep's "Stairway To Heaven" is pretty clever too. Got to admit that this appeals to my perverse sense of humour and all of Christian music this is a totally unique approach which is paying dividends for the band's outreach activities. If you want a laugh, this is clever stuff.

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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