This might be showing our age, but we spent much of our youth in record shops and the record sections of department stores. If you couldn't afford to buy an album, you could always buy 45 rpm singles. Finding your favorite song with a picture sleeve was a special treat.
Most artists put lesser songs on the flip sides, but others, like the Beatles and CCR, had multiple double-sided hits. In fact, the Beatles had so many great songs that many of their singles didn't even appear on albums until later compilations.
With that in mind, in 2014, ApologetiX became a singles group, releasing two or three songs every two or three weeks. Remembering our childhood preferences, we made sure each release had its own special digital picture sleeve and that all songs on it were hits!
We made those singles available to our fans as downloads for a donation of any size. As this band has become increasingly dependent on fan support in recent years, it seemed a great way to get more music out there and also to give something back to our fans.
Many fans still prefer CDs, though, so we've grouped the first six singles (13 songs in all) together on Singles Group. We plan to release additional collections as new downloads add up. At the time of this CD's release, we.re already more than halfway to completing a second collection.
Making all this music has been quite a collaborative effort, with current band members, alumni, friends, and family participating. As we've seen and you'll hear, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1).
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Singles In Unison| Posted May 24, 2016 THIS REVIEW IS ADAPTED FROM A REVIEW I POSTED ON MY WEBSITE. TO CHECK OUT MY REVIEW OF APOLOGETIX'S ALBUMS OF 2014, CLICK HERE!
Well, starting in 2014, ApologetiX, That Christian Parody Band, started bi-weekly singles to give fans more songs and they thought it would be a great idea to help them with their financial problems. Do the math: they released 46 songs in single format in 2014 and six additional songs in Apoplectic! That’s fifty-two songs in one year! (They released another ton in 2015, and are doing it this year!) I’m gonna go ahead and review the first album from this new system, “Singles Group.”
This album was full of fun! Hearing the story about Samson wanting his “Brush” (what?) is great, and you can join the disciples waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them on Pentecost, asking “Gimme Helper.” And you can cringe at “Jezebel” telling her story (in a similar format to “Sunset Boulevard,” which would be “Sunset Bowlawater” for Adventures In Odyssey fans). Needless to say, I just listed some of my favorite and least favorite tracks.
With them recording in their drummer’s new studio, Red Apple Audio Workshop, the quality starts to tie “Wordplay” and sounds amazing (and it gets better as time progresses). They might also blow you away how well they are able to mimic the original songs!
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist, has worked hard writing these parodies and singing for this album; round of applause! You can hear his daughter, Janna, singing on “Jezebel” and Keely Singer helps on the Rolling Stones parody, “Gimme Helper,” and does a great job!
You can hear Tom Tincha, Tom Milnes (the two being TNT), and Wayne Bartley’s guitar skills in these awesome songs. Tom Milnes does a little bass, as well as Keith Haynie and Jake Rieger. Jimmy “Vegas” Tanner, the drummer I mentioned above, bangs on them drums all 13 tracks, while the keyboards are shared among Chris VonBartheld, Bill Hubauer, and Todd Waites.
My only real problem while listening to this album would be that I think of the album as six parts, because I heard these songs as the singles individually before I heard the actual album as one (and the songs are in the exact same order as released as singles). It really is a group of singles and hard to think of so otherwise. The same deal occurs with “Loaded 45s,” “Unconditional Releases,” “Music Is As Music Does,” and “Play Nice.” I wish J. mixed up the order of the songs.
But this album does show the variety that this band plays, but it all is unified nicely as one album. (Remember Psalm 133:1?)
My favorite songs:
“Gimme Helper” (parody of “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones)
“Brush” (parody of “Tush” by ZZ Top)
“Calling Dr. Luke” (parody of “Calling Dr. Love” by KISS) (But I prefer the single version over the album version.)
I will be posting this review of “Singles Group” and the other 2014 albums of ApologetiX on my website on Friday. In addition, I will be giving away some things, so stay tuned!
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