KMFDM guitarist Guenter Schulz's first solo project sounds like it must be, at least on some level, a joke. If humor isn't the intended effect, then it's hard to imagine what was: What Apology sounds basically like a rehash of bad '80s hair metal with the addition of a few semi-industrial electronic beats. (Even the band name seems like it's in the tradition of Giuffria or the Michael Schenker Group: anonymous hard rock sideman pretentiously names the band after himself as if "the kids" had been clamoring for their hero to take his rightful place in the spotlight.) Opening track "Resolve" is an utterly ghastly pop song that sounds like it was written just so its chorus-guitar-riffery instrumental introduction could be used to introduce high-school football highlights on the local evening news. Sadly, it's the best song on the album. Still, Paul Young fans can take note: the British pop-soul singer is no longer instigator of the worst cover ever of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," because Schulz's utterly pointless goth metal mash-up takes the crown. Seriously, this is supposed to be a joke, right? ~ Stewart Mason