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A ListenUpReviews.com Rockin’ Christmas Pick!

 

FF5’s utterly unique music and typical good humor make this a Christmas album like no other — and it has fast become one of our top Christmas favorites.

Family Force 5’s Christmas Pageant opens with “Carol Of The Bells”, which is a bit humorous at first, then turns just plain cool (and, of course, very catchy).

“Little Drummer Boy” has fast and jazzily rhythmic music that makes you want to move; and the little lyrical twist that they made is perfect (we quite literally laughed out loud upon hearing the brilliantly clever change ).

“Christmas Time Is Here” puts a bit more emphasis on the electronics, and for lightheartedness features a background crowd of voices (and at one point a retro organ ).

“My Favorite Things” (yes, that one from The Sound Of Music) is an excellent Crunk Rocker. FF5 took this song and made it cooler than you’d ever imagine; and once you hear it, you’ll never be satisfied with any other version!

“Angels We Have Heard On High” is another great track, with some good-natured humor both in an added ‘chipmunk’-type voice providing occasional accents, and their hilarious original bridge near the end.

“Do You Hear What I Hear” is another excellent Crunk Rocker, with low-range music, heavy beats, and great lyrical/vocal embellishments. (It’s probably the coolest, and catchiest, version of this song we’ve heard yet.)

“T’was The Night Before Christmas” (featuring Lalipop) has rap-style verses and an excellent, completely unique, and downright cool chorus.

“It’s Christmas Day” (featuring Jerome Olds) is the first of FF5’s two original Christmas tracks. It’s done in a completely different style than we’ve heard from them before, but (of course ) it’s great.

“The Baby” is the band’s second original. With rap-influenced and slightly intense (in a very good way!) Crunk Rock, this track— simply put— is awesome. (You’ll be humming it later. )

Finally, they close the album with an electronic rendition of “Wonderful Christmastime”.

Like their debut, Family Force 5’s Christmas Pageant is an album that you’ll feel good after listening to, and you’ll want to play it over and over again. It’s excellent, and we recommend it.

Our rating for Family Force 5’s Christmas Pageant (Christmas CD):
5 & 1/3 Stars.

 

A special single done as a promo for Target and Skelanimals, “Keep The Party Alive” is yet another excellent, extremely catchy, and endlessly repeatable must-have track from FF5.

Our rating for “Keep The Party Alive”: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

 

As its humorous title suggests, Dance Or Die With A Vengeance is a remix of Family Force 5’s second studio album Dance Or Die, and all of the tracks (minus one alternate version and one brand new track) were remixed by other artists. As with our other remix reviews, we’ll grade each remixed track as either Great, Good, Fair, or Doesn’t-Make-Sense.

The disc opens with “Dance Or Die (The Secret Handshake Han Valen Remix)”. The music is a little different, but the basic melody remains intact— the main change is that it’s actually fuller-sounding. Additionally, the remixer added a few lyric lines of his own at the beginning and near the end of the track. In all, this one is Great (in fact, it’s equal to the original!).

“Get Your Back Off The Wall (3OH!3 Remix)” begins only with rhythmically-placed clips of the chorus vocals, building the clip rhythms until the first verse when the music comes in; and the actual chorus now has an entirely Dance feel. While the original version was definitely better, this remix is Good.

“Rip It Up (The Pragmatic Remix)” is Fair, with music that is very electronic (though somewhat stripped-down at times) and a melody that is quite different from the original. Also added to the track is a fairly ridiculous fictional dialogue between a character called ‘Dr. Disco’ and two assistants.

As electronic as the original version was, the remixer of “How In The World (Suave Suarez Remix)” added more electronics, then sped up the tempo and completely changed the melody (creating a very strange contrast in the chorus); so this one is Fair-to-Doesn’t-Make-Sense.

“Fever (The Toxic Avenger Remix)” was handled with much the same approach as the previous track. Though this one turned out somewhat better, the new electronics and melody are still rather strange through most of the track, and the end drags on a bit, so this also rates as Fair-to-Doesn’t-Make-Sense.

“Party Foul (Sami D’s UVS Remix)”, however, is Great. Just the chorus and a few verse lines (along with a line from the remixer) are used throughout, the rest being instrumental with a new melody that fits perfectly and electronics that make you want to move around to them.

“D-I-E 4 Y-O-U (RAC Mix)” is also Great. The music is now a fast-paced Dance style, with a great take on the chorus (especially at the end, where it slows down and crashing cymbals drop in to emphasize Soul Glow’s powerful closing vocals).

“Share It With Me (Smile Future Remix)” is (of course ) more electronic, and it also has a faster tempo than the original; but the new music feels too upbeat for the lyrics (though the new guitar solo and musical tone in the last verse is great), so it’s Fair.

“The First Time (Matt Thiessen Remix)”— by Matt T. of Relient K— uses high-pitched beats and background notes. For some reason, Matt also threw in a new, humorously-nonsense lyric line near the track’s end. This one is Good-to-Fair.

“Wake The Dead (Lalipop Remix)” features synths and fast-paced beats that are amazingly full-sounding, quite intriguing and appealing, and (again) make you want to move. Great.

“Radiator (Jasen Rauch Remix)”— by Jasen Rauch of Red— is the best remix of the disc. Its music is not electronic at all; rather, it’s somewhat muted (but excellent) new heavy rock. Not only is it Great, it’s easily at least as good as the original (and some may in fact prefer it!).

“Ghostride The Whip” is the disc’s brand-new track… and, believe it or not, it’s pure Hip-Hop (Rap)!! What’s brilliant is that it’s partly serious along with being mostly hilarious— it’s both a genuine tribute to, and yet a complete parody of, the genre all at the same time. (You’ll probably find yourself alternating between grooving to the rap and then just laughing hysterically. ) It’s great fun, and excellent.

The “Rip It Up Alt. ATL Take (Croul-Glo-Activaton Version 2.009)” is fast-paced and entirely electronic, has a totally different musical melody than the original, and also has new vocals (done mostly by Crouton) along with an extra lyric line. This is a Great alternate version.

Finally, the album closes with “How In The World (David*Crowder Band – Uncredited [Extra] Mix Ver. 2)”. Contrary to what you might have expected from a remix by David*Crowder Band, this is actually both faster-paced and slightly ‘heavier’ (in an electronic sense) than the original. It’s Good.

In all, though we’d probably recommend it only to fans , this is a good remix album.

Our rating for Dance Or Die With A Vengeance (Remix): 5 Stars.

A Best Second Release Honorable Mention in the 2008 Awards

 

Interestingly, Family Force 5 went in a new direction with their second release— while there are several familiar-feeling tracks, the majority of them are actually quite different, and there is a much more Electronic feel overall.

Dance Or Die opens with its title track, which happens to be one of the different-sounding songs. Along with more Funk-influenced rhythms, it features light, high synths mixed into the chorus and bridge.

The disc then kicks into high gear with “Get Your Back Off The Wall”, an excellent track. It’s extremely catchy; has a great, rhythmic and energetic drum line; and a heavy-rocking chorus (both musically and vocally). It’s easily one of the best tracks on the disc.

“Rip It Up” is one of the inevitable songs about dancing , and it’s well-done.

“How In The World” is musically quite different-sounding (very Electronic with some Pop touches), and lyrically a sweet love song.

“Fever”, another one of this album’s best tracks, kicks the energy back up again with excellent, catchy rhythmic rock.

“Party Foul” is very Electronic (this time in a more bouncy style), and, basically, its message is don’t tolerate jerks or jerky behavior.

“D-I-E 4 Y-O-U” features vocals that are somewhat in the background and great, darker and faster music.

“Share It With Me” is the most different-sounding track on the disc— including Pop/Rock piano accents and Pop vocals (!)— and it’s a breakup song, at that; yet, despite the subject, this track is surprisingly appealing.

“The First Time” is a medium-rock love song and a great track.

“Wake The Dead” is another extremely catchy, rocking, and excellent song, with great lyrics both describing and rebutting some criticisms that they (and other bands) have received. It’s another of this disc’s best.

Finally, “Radiator” is another excellent track, another disc-best, and a great closer. The music is catchy (of course ), the vocals are emphasized at the perfect points, and the vocal- and beat-rhythm combination in the second part of the chorus is just plain great.

It may take an extra listen or two for fans of FF5’s first release to really get used to some of Dance Or Die‘s more different-sounding tracks , but it is a good album and a good sophomore release.

Our rating for Dance Or Die: 5 & 1/4 Stars.

 

BEST FIRST RELEASE 2006 Award Winner!

Runners-Up: Red (End Of Silence), MuteMath (MuteMath),
Flyleaf (Flyleaf), Leeland (Sound Of Melodies), The Fold (This Too Shall Pass),
Fireflight (The Healing Of Harms), Fighting Instinct (Fighting Instinct).
Honorable Mentions: Decyfer Down (End Of Grey), Nevertheless (Live Like We’re Alive),
Edison Glass (A Burn Or A Shiver), Hundred Year Storm (Hello From The Children Of Planet Earth).

 

One of the great qualities of this album is that it actually gives you a strong urge to move around to it. Another great quality is how stunningly solid and all-around excellent it is— there isn’t a single filler to be seen.

The album kicks off with “Cadillac Phunque”, a great opener that introduces you to Family Force 5 and their amazing Crunk Rock genre in style!

Follows is “Kountry Gentlemen”. It has excellent music, as does the entire CD, and its lyrics (describing life in the south) are pretty humorous.

“X-Girlfriend” is a funny and quite catchy tune about, well, a girlfriend who now is likely not.

“Drama Queen” lyrically rebukes people who cut others down with their words and then don’t apologize, change, or even care. Even though the main point of the song is meant to be serious, they still mix in a little lyrical and vocal humor; and, as ever, this song is rockingly catchy.

“Put Ur Hands Up” humorously begins with a sentence that might need a little explanation. The line is “ugly people put your hands down”; for those who may not know, ‘ugly people’ is actually a catchphrase for ‘mean or bad-tempered people’— i.e., those with ‘ugly’ attitudes. (Just thought we should point that out. ) “Put Ur Hands Up” is a more laid-back and classy track overall— just plain
cool.

“Love Addict” (a #1 radio hit!) is probably the track that will get stuck in your head. “Love Addict”‘s sound is amazing— among other things, it contains some great electronic distortion on the guitars— and it’s extremely catchy.

“Earthquake” is another great, catchy (and quite hard-rocking) song. During the cheerleader segue, it also contains a really cool beat combination (a neat drum line along with clapping and pounding).

“Replace Me” is another great song— and while it’s actually the hardest-rocking track on the [original] disc, it’s both lyrically and musically rock-radio friendly. (Indeed, along with “Love Addict”, “Replace Me” is also a #1 hit!) This is yet another track that has amazing sound, especially after the second chorus, when the climbing notes and escalating power sweep you in.

“Lose Urself” moves back into their usual style somewhat, although this is probably the disc’s most Dance-style track (in both lyrics and music).

“Peachy” features verses that sound fairly different from the rest of the CD; however, the intro, bridges, and chorus (which are all very catchy) are more familiar.

“Supersonic” is yet another super-catchy, energetic, rocking song with great sound.

And the final track of the album is “Numb”. It has a humorous opening sentence, a super-fast beat, and somewhat different vocals until the chorus; and, like the rest of the album, it’s amazingly catchy (in fact you’ll probably be humming its chorus later ).

Special Diamond Edition Bonus Tracks:

Visually, the Diamond Edition of Business Up Front / Party In The Back has almost completely new artwork and packaging, and the liner notes are now on the opposite side of a poster; musically, it contains the entire original record plus three additional brand new tracks that were recorded specifically for this Edition.

The first new song is “I Love You To Death”, which as you might guess is a love song. This track is actually quite heavy-rocking (in fact it’s their heaviest one so far), especially during the energetic chorus.

“Face Down”— the most different-sounding from all the other tracks— has an intriguing intro, less sound effects, a different kind of singing during the verses, and is slower… yet it’s still great Crunk Rock.

Finally, the last new bonus song “Never Let Me Go” is more familiar and is yet another great, catchy rocker. (It’s probably going to be another fan favorite.) Interestingly, near the end of the track the music changes tone and speed twice, then switches back for a final chorus. As usual, “Never Let Me Go” has excellent music, and it also has a great lyrical message; closing the disc perfectly.

Business Up Front / Party In The Back is one of those CD’s that you’ll want to play again, and again, and— well— again… and you’ll literally feel good after listening to it! This album is one of the best we’ve ever heard, and it’s an excellent debut; more than worthy of Best First Release!

Our rating for Business Up Front / Party In The Back: 5 & 1/2 Stars.

 

BEST LIVE SHOW 2006-2007 & 2009 Award Winner,
BEST LIVE SHOW 2010 Award Co-Winner,
and a Best Live Show Nominee in the 2008 & 2011 Awards!

Runners-Up (2006): tobyMac, John Reuben, The Newsboys, Showbread, Disciple, Skillet, Relient K, Falling Up, Flatfoot 56 (Cornerstone Festival IL. set), Kids In The Way.
Runners-Up (2007): tobyMac, The Newsboys, John Reuben, Showbread, Disciple, Skillet, Switchfoot, Leeland (Long set), Falling Up, Flatfoot 56 (Cornerstone Festival IL. set).
Runners-Up (2009): tobyMac, John Reuben, Showbread, Disciple, The Wedding, Children 18:3, Flatfoot 56 (Cornerstone Festival IL. set), Relient K, Skillet.
CO-WINNER (2010): Skillet.
Runners-Up (2010): tobyMac, The Newsboys, Disciple, Flatfoot 56 (Cornerstone Festival IL. set), John Reuben, Thousand Foot Krutch, Relient K, Superchick, Children 18:3.
Honorable Mentions (2010): Manic Drive, The Almost, The Wedding.

 

First, let’s give you a little info on the band itself.

Family Force 5’s debut album— co-distributed by both Gotee and Maverick Records— released in early 2006, and since then they’ve made TV appearances on mtvU’s “The Freshman Class”, DirecTV’s CD USA, G4’s “Attack of the Show!”, TVU, and CBS’ “The Late Late Show” with Craig Ferguson; plus, in June 2007 they won Yahoo! Music’s “Who’s Next”, and they’ve been sweeping other fan-vote awards ever since. As for live venues, FF5 headlined a MySpace Show, have been in the Van’s Warped Tour for several years running, have visited major festivals, and have continued to tour— now headlining— nearly nonstop across America and even Europe.

So, why has this Atlanta, Georgia band— comprised of three brothers and two of their friends— so quickly become such a force to be reckoned with?

First on the list is their incredible music style, Crunk Rock. They actually, literally created this genre themselves, blending elements of many existing styles along with many elements of their own to create amazing music that’s fun, rocking, wildly catchy, gives you the urge to move around to it, and is truly, completely unique.

Second is the bandmembers themselves. All five of the guys (Solomon “Soul Glow Activatur” Olds, Jacob “Crouton” Olds, Joshua “Fatty” Olds, Nathan “Nadaddy” Currin, and Derek “Chap Stique” Mount) have great, amazingly quick, and hilarious senses of humor, and they all have great personalities.

Third, of course, is Family Force 5’s unbelievable live show, which has won our Best Live Show Award in 2006, 2007, and 2009.

 
  

(Photo Credits: Ember)

When their show begins, humorously enough, their stage manager “Xanadu” is actually dancing around the stage even more than they are— but their collective energy level, which already begins sky-high, somehow increases with each song, escalating ever higher and faster until “Crouton” is literally standing on top of his drums,

(Photo Credit: Ember)

the others are dashing everywhere,

(Photo Credit: Ember)

the entire crowd is in constant motion… and the air is positively electric. Like their music, Family Force 5’s live show is utterly unique; and it’s a totally awesome, totally fun experience that you’ll long remember.

 

Live Show Rating: 5 & 1/2 Stars.