Customer Reviews

Veggie Rocks

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this CD hoping that it would live up to its name, and it does. Though each song is changed even a little to fit the style of the artist(s) covering it, the lyrics are the witty Veggie Tales creations we all know and love, just livened up enough for those who aren't exactly thrilled to listen to the "Sunday School" version for hours on end.

1. Veggie Tales Theme Song - Rebecca St. James - This is a polished, orchestrated version as only Rebeccas St. James could do it, and though my son likes it fine, it is not my favorite. It just sounds as though it's trying too hard to be grownup.

2. I Love My Lips - Stevenson - This is a hugely entertaining version, straight up garage rock with a cameo by Steven Curtis Chapman himself. Fun to sing along to.

3. Promised Land - Sanctus Real - I actually had not heard/ seen the original song when I heard this one, so I had nothing to "compare" it to, and, as it turns out, that's fine. Sanctus Real livened up and lengthened the music and lyrics, and it is a fun song to bounce around to.

4. In the Belly of The Whale - Newsboys - This is a Newsboys original and plays through the credits of The Jonah Movie. Our family likes this song a lot.

5. The Water Buffalo Song - Superchic[k] - I'd never heard Superchic[k] before this CD, but this is easily one of my favorites on the album (except for the exerpt with the very bad grammar.. that part just drives me crazy).

6. I'm So Blue - Paul Colman - This track is my son's favorite and it is also very entertaining, musically, vocally, lyrically.

7. The Hairbrush Song - Audio Adrenaline - I'm sorry to say that this is the track I skip nearly every time we listen to the CD. I've never been a huge AA fan, though they are great live, so it could simply be personal taste, but I think that the "in concert" version is annoying, particularly the intro, and the song just gets under my skin.

8. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - Relient K - Pirates Who Don't Do Anything is one of my most favorite Veggie songs ever, and thankfully, Relient K put a very cool spin on it (whew!), taking it in a punk direction that just tickles me to no end. I was mildly disappointed that they didn't do Larry's second verse, as it's just the best (I've never painted daisies on a big red rubber ball!) but overall, it works out just fine.

9. I Can Be Your Friend - The OC Supertones - I love that the Supertones sing this with all different, mostly silly voices. They sound as though they had fun making it, and that makes it fun to listen to. Musically entertaining.

10. His Cheeseburger - Tait - This track is my husband's favorite and one of my least favorites. It's musically just fine; my complaint is only that the band didn't try to make the song their own. Of all the songs on the CD, this one is the most like its Veggie version. Not bad, just not terribly interesting (to me).

11. Stand - Skillet - As I understand it, not surprisingly, this is the most controversial track on the CD, with Skillet's trademark rocking-your-face-off. However, acknowledging that fact with a gentle warning to gentle listeners, this is my number one favorite on Veggie Rocks! It is headbanging, unapologetic, very Skillet, and if you haven't heard the Rack, Shack and Benny version, you'd never know this wasn't an actual Skillet song. For this song alone, I am grateful I bought the album.

Overall, awesome! Truly a family favorite.

All in all, if you like modern rock and found the original VeggieTales songs charming, this is the perfect album for you. Some of the biggest names in praise music today, including the Newsboys, The O.C. Supertones, and Relient K, put their own silly spins on some of the most-loved songs from the Veggie Tales canon. Mostly, we're talking "Silly Songs with Larry" tunes like "I Love My Lips", "The Hairbrush Song", and my personal favorite, "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything". That last was why I bought it- I had been considering purchasing the soundtrack to the VeggieTales movie because it had a cover of my favorite Veggie Tune by Relient K, my favorite Christian rock band. I found this instead, and I'm glad I did. Some of the remakes are a little off; Relient K, for instance, tries a bit too hard to put their own brand of humor into what is already a very funny Silly Song. Others are great precisely because of how they depart from the original; the final track, "Stand", was originally a sprightly soprano jazz ditty sung by Junior Asparagus about his mommy's moral guidance. Covered by Skillet, however, it becomes a serious hard-rock anthem worthy of Rammstein (if Rammstein sung about their mommys' moral guidance).
The liner notes proclaim loudly, "This ain't your kid brother's VeggieTales!" They're wrong- it is his VeggieTales. But now, it's yours too! It certainly made my day.

I came from a pretty hardrock background as far as music goes, so it was refreshing to find stuff with clean fun lyrics that also sounds good. These Veggie tunes rock me to the core!

I've been a Veggie Tales lover for as long as I remember, and I've also been a fan of rock for a long while. So when I saw this CD, I bought it right away. I put it in my player, and it is hilarious! What's great about it is that its got a bunch of different styles of rock from guitarry stuff to punky stuff to heavy metal (not my favorite, but that's okay.) It's not just a CD to listen to if you feel like Veggie Tales, but it's also a good solid rock CD.

I have to agree with some of the other reviewers of this CD. I am an adult Veggie-Tales fan, hooked into it by its extreme silliness, Python-influenced humor (very noticable) and somewhat feel-good message, because hey, who doesn't need an uplifting message sometimes? I know I do, truthfully. But here's a suggestion for listeners...program your CD player to skip the first and the last tracks of this CD, because the middle 9 songs are excellent by punky/parody/rockout takeoff standards. However I can't get past the first and last songs because in my opinion they are really bad, the first song is enough to make you not want to listen to the rest of the CD, and the last song ruins the fun for me that I just enjoyed with the remaining 9 I liked. I don't know anything about the artists on this CD so I am not prejudiced one way or the other, but that's my impression, and if I had to choose a favorite track, it would be The Hairbrush Song, it reminded me of The Doors, in concert, just a little nuttier.

If you've enjoyed Veggie Tales and their crazy songs, and you have a house inhabited by 7 to 16 year olds, this CD will be a hit. Great family driving music. You already know all the lyrics, but now enjoy them to some serious rocking.

If you're super squeaky clean, then I think you'd agree with the other reviewers who dislike the Rebecca St. James cover of the VeggieTales Theme Song and the Skillet cover of Stand. But, if you're like me and have a CD collection where Nine Inch Nails lives alongside your VeggieTales DVDs, I think you'll really like this album.

It's entirely possible to play this album to your typical alternative rock fan and have them have no idea that they are listening to a refreshing, non-lyrically-offensive alternative to much of today's music.

All in all, a great CD...with a very annoying piece. The Audio A version of "The Hairbrush Song" has the most annoying intro ever. It's the band yelling at the audience for being too rowdy. Did we really need to hear that?

This album is great! I'm a fan of the Veggie TV series and movies both, but I never cared really that much for the songs. This album changed my whole perception of Veggie songs. Now, when I watch the songs on the videos, I compare them to these. A few of the artists on here I'm familiar with. Here's a list of all the artists in order of appearance, with an asterisk denoting familiar artists:

Rebecca St. James*
Stevenson/ Steven Curtis Chapman*
Sanctus Real
Newsboys*
Superchic[k]
Paul Colman* This asterisk is kind of half and half. I have a few of Paul's songs, but I don't listen to them extensively, like the other familiar artists I've listed here.
Audio Adrenaline
Relient K*
The O.C. Supertones
Michael Tait*
Skillet*

Now for a song breakdown:

Veggie Tales Theme Song: Amazingly well done by Rebecca. Definitely different than the tuba-based original. Has a much darker, heavier, guitar sound that is typical of Rebecca's music. A visual example: if you've seen any Veggie show, you know that the theme song is performed by all the veggies on a stark white stage and background. If it was this version being played, it would be a black background. That should give you a feel for how this song sounds.

I Love My Lips: This is mostly sung by Steven's son Caleb, with Steven himself singing the last verse. This is one of the funnier songs on the album. A simple tune, but interesting.

Promised Land: This was one of my favorites as the original from Josh and The Big Wall, and it is still one of my favorites as Santus Real does it. A driving guitar beat, similar to something by Relient K. Very fun, will keep your feet moving.

In The Belly of The Whale: The Newsboys are one of my favorite bands of all time, and they really deliver with this one! This is a Newsboys original, it is not written by the Veggie Tales songwriters. This is a credits song on the Veggie movie Jonah. Great beat, with the Newsboys-esque electro-pop sound.

The Water Buffalo Song: The first silly song ever, with a cool twist. I love the chorus (everyboy, everybody, everybody....) and the speech in the middle is hilarious: "You guys better stop singing about how everybody's got a water buffalo when everybody ain't got no water buffalo. We're gonna get nasy emails saying 'Wheres my water buffalo? How come I ain't got a water buffalo?' You guys better quit..." Hilarious.

I'm So Blue: When I saw this song on the back cover, I was like "Great. Why did you have to include the biggest flop of a song on what appears to be an otherwise good CD?" Then I listened to it. WOW. Paul took a horrid song originally, and turned it into one of my favorites on this album. A sweet rock beat. And he makes dumb lyrics hilarious.

The Hairbrush Song: This is a live performance, with a somewhat strange intro of "everybody take three steps back, or the fire marshall's gonna shut us down!" Audio Adrenaline takes a good Veggie silly song, and makes it great. You'll laugh the whole time.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Enter the greatest, most awesome rendition of any song ever! Relient K hit the nail on the head with this one. It is hilarious. The only thing is, they left out the 3rd verse. It's even in the booklet that comes with the CD, but they don't sing it. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything movie soundtrack has this song on it and it includes that verse. Otherwise, this is great!

I Can Be Your Friend: You'll laugh out loud at the various fake, silly voices the 'Tones use to get the point of this song across. They fuse nifty trumpeting with some electric guitar riffs seamlessly. The result: an awesome sounding track that will get you dancing.

His Cheeseburger: I was a huge fan of Michael Tait with dc Talk, and he lives up to his reputation with this great track. Slower than the rest, and pretty funny, since thecharacter in the song is in love with a cheeseburger. Whenever I listen to it, I get this uncontrollable craving for a juicy cheeseburger.

Stand: Just when you thought "Man, this is just another collection of silly songs with no spiritual value whatsoever" this song comes along. Incredibly sweet screamo, with lyrics that are almost as hard-hitting as the steel guitars that compose this song. You really have to listen to it to believe it. From some of the other reviews I've read, people don't seem to like this song. I love it, the lyrics literally scream to "stand up, stand up, for what you believe in: GOD!!" I cannot express how much this song has encouraged me to take a stand for Christianity, and do what's right, even when my frineds want to do bad things. Skillet really sent it home on this one.

If you want good music and funny lyrics, pick this up. If you are a fan of Veggie Tales, pick this up. If you are a fan of contemporary Christian music, pick this up. One thing though: I think they could heve included more songs, like Stuff Mart Rap from Madame Blueberry. Tobymac could have done that awesomely. Other thatn that, this is a great album. If you get it (which you should), you won't regeret it. I guarantee it.

Our family loves these grown-up versions of many familiar Veggie Tales tunes! Originally, I bought this cd for my husband. We quickly discovered that our 2 yr old daughter and her 2 yr old cousin love these hard rock hits too. Almost every time we get into the car, my daughter asks to hear this cd.

Our favorite songs include "The Water Buffalo Song", "Belly of the Whale" and "I Love My Lips". My husband really likes the edgy, hard-hitting song "Stand". Overall, the songs offer a good range of different rock styles with the entertaining lyrics of Veggie Tales we have come to love.