Reviewed by Paul S Ganney

I loaded up this 2014 album with a mixture of joy and trepidation. Joy because I've really enjoyed the other albums of theirs that I've heard, but trepidation because I wondered whether they could really keep hitting the high standard they'd set for themselves. I need not have worried. For those unfamiliar with ApologetiX, they're a "Christian parody" band, which means that they produce cover versions of famous songs with the lyrics re-written to portray biblical truths - sometimes re-telling Bible stories, sometimes conveying themes. I love the accuracy of the musical backing, the skill with which the lyrics have been re-worked to keep the rhythm of the words, keeping some and finding others that sit so well ("no-one knows ya" in place of "Nova Scotia" in "You're So Plain" for example) as well as conveying a theme that sits so well with the new title. The titles sometimes give a hint as to the what the original song was, but others are just a complete surprise ("Talk And I'll Walk" was not "Walk This Way" but I won't spoil it by telling you what it really is - "Take Jude" was much more obvious). I've said it before and I'll say it again: these albums are a joy to listen to, sing along to and reflect on. There are the odd bits that don't quite work (the falsetto isn't quite there) but such little things are so easy to forgive. My favourite lyric was in "Take Jude" (about the Epistle): "Remember it's 25 verses long, so is this song." Another great album.

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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