Music Review: Veggie Rocks! by Various Artists

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Most of these songs are even more fun than the original

Cons: The first and last tracks

The Bottom Line:

Nothing else like it

Classic Veggie songs get rocked

And results are fun

There Has Never, Ever, Ever, Ever, Ever Been a CD Like Veggie Rocks!

I don't know who came up with the idea behind Veggie Rocks!  Various Christian rock bands take on classic songs from the kids' video series VeggieTales and remake them in their own image. Now, this could be a disaster or a huge success. And, while there are two disasters here, it mostly works.

Let's get the disasters out of the way first, shall we? Rebecca St. James starts out the disc by covering the "VeggieTales Theme Song." And the result is not good. The problem is she tries to sing too dramatically, making this a serious song. With lyrics like "If you like to waltz with potatoes up and down the produce aisle," you just can't take it seriously. This is easily one to skip.

The other skipable track is the last one. Skillet covers "Stand," and they do a poor job of it. It's easily the hardest song on the disc, and the screaming of the lyrics don't help matters at all. Honestly, after about 30 seconds it just sounds like noise to me, and I'm heading for the skip button.

Fortunately, the rest of the songs are good. None of the artists take themselves or the songs too seriously. In fact, I find some of these songs funnier then the original.

Take Audio Adrenaline's "The Hairbrush Song." Here's we've got an entire band doing the voices of the characters (or at least their own version of the voices) and Larry searches for his hairbrush. During the narrative interludes, the song is slow, but once Larry starts singing, they go at high speed. I don't know how they get all those lyrics in. And Bob's confession that he gave the hairbrush to the Peach ("Cause he's got hair.") absolutely kills me. It's so deadly serious to be a riot. This song is theoretically recorded live, and it starts with some nonsense about the crowd needing to move back from the stage. Frankly, I don't get that part, but the rest is well worth hearing.

Paul Colman starts "I'm So Blue" with a fake French accent, and even mocks himself over it. Tait turns "His Cheeseburger" into a modern rock ballad instead of a 70's love ballad. Sanctus Real adds so much fun to "Promised Land." And the comments around Superchic[k]'s "The Water Buffalo Song," while nothing to far away from the original, are still so much fun.

As far as I know, this is the only appearance of the band Stevenson on the recording. The band is made up of Steven Curtis Chapman and his two older sons. They take on "I Love My Lips," and it is a riot. Yes, this is rock, not Steven's normal pop. What makes it so fun is the back and forth dialog between Steven and his sons as they take alternate verses of this song.

Two of the songs here originated on the soundtrack for Jonah, a VeggieTales Movie. Newsboys contributes the only non-cover here with their "In the Belly of the Whale." It's such a funny take on the Jonah story I don't mind that it's a cheat on the concept since they originally recorded it. Besides, it's got a catchy sound and fun beat.

The other import from Jonah is Relient K's version of "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." Keep in mind that I'm not a huge Relient K fan, but I think I like their version better then the original. It's fast and guitar heavy. And something about it makes it even funnier to me. I think part of it is the bridge they added referencing Captains Kangaroo, Kidd, and Crunch. The disappointing thing is they edit out the last verse here (and rather poorly, I might add.)

To be honest, this is a novelty CD. You won't listen to it that often. And your kids probably won't listen to it much more then that. But the absolutely fun you'll have when you did dig this CD out makes Veggie Rocks! well worth getting.

CD Length: 37:37

Tracks:

1. VeggieTales Theme Song - Rebecca St. James

2. I Love My Lips - Stevenson

3. Promised Land - Sanctus Real

4. In the Belly of the Whale - Newsboys

5. The Water Buffalo Song - Superchic[k]

6. I'm So Blue - Paul Colman

7. The Hairbrush Song - Audio Adrenaline

8. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - Relient K

9. I Can Be Your Friend - The O.C. Supertones

10. His Cheeseburger - Tait

11. Stand - Skillet