In 2001, ApologetiX released their first really quality sounding album called “Keep The Change.” When I first heard the album in its entirety, I wondered why it just blared out of the speakers so smoothly. But this is when ApologetiX starts to really sound like awesome!
As I said, “Story Of A Squirrel” just blasted out of the speakers and got me excited for the rest of the album. And while it wasn’t their best album (in my opinion), there are a ton of highlights.
For example, this album features APX’s first Eminem parody they did, “The Real Sin Savior.” It quickly became one of their most popular parodies, as J. Jackson says, “It’s easily one of our most popular parodies ever, and it won the 2002 American Christian Music Award for ‘Fringe Song of the Year.’”
This album also featured a re-recording of the Queen parody “Bethlehemian Rhapsody,” which tells the story of David and Goliath like you’ve never heard it before! And the song “Cheap Birds” is more than just a great song, it’s a lot of fun! (If you saw ApologetiX live with Karl Messner, he would play the end of this song with a drum stick as his pick.)
Those rockers abound in this album, such as “Christmasnite,” “Simp Liztik,” and the highlight, “Life Restored.” The original song talked about suicide (“Last Resort”), but this parody showcases new life in Christ as “Life Restored.” Amen! God has used this parody to bring people to Christ, and what a wonderful thing is that!
In sum:
Though this is not one of my favorite albums from ApologetiX, I really did enjoy it, and it is one of their most popular (it reached #15 on the Nation Christian Retail Bestsellers Rock Charts, as published by CCM Magazine in November 2001) and contains some amazing parodies. I encourage you to pick this up and give it a listen! And, don’t forget to keep the change Jesus gave you!
‘Cause I’m improving my life, renewing my mind
This all started with Romans 10:9
Doing what’s right, doin’ quite fine
This all started with Romans 10:9
. . .
Plug my life into Jesus
This gets my life restored
My favorite songs:
“Life Restored” (parody of “Last Resort” by Papa Roach)
“Cheap Birds” (parody of “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd)
“Christmasnite” (parody of “Kryptonite” by Three Doors Down)
“The Real Sin Savior” (parody of “The Real Slim Shady” by Eminem)
“Simp Liztik” (parody of “Nookie” by Limp Bizkit)
