All the Hype That Money Can Buy | ||||
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Studio album by Five Iron Frenzy | ||||
Released | April 25, 2000 | |||
Recorded | 1999–2000 | |||
Genre | Christian ska, ska punk | |||
Length | 45:47 | |||
Label | Five Minute Walk/SaraBellum | |||
Producer | Frank Tate | |||
Five Iron Frenzy chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Real Magazine | (not rated) |
Tollbooth | (not rated) |
Jesus Freak Hideout | (not rated) |
Cross Rhythms | (not rated) |
7ball | (not rated) |
HM Magazine | (not rated) |
Bandoppler | (not rated) |
Exit Zine | (not rated) |
Decapolis | (not rated) |
All the Hype That Money Can Buy is the third studio album by Five Iron Frenzy, released April 25, 2000, on Five Minute Walk, under their SaraBellum imprint with distribution from Warner Bros. Records.
All the Hype That Money Can Buy is Five Iron Frenzy's most musically diverse album, binding elements of salsa, Calypso music, and reggae with ska. Certain tracks also contain impressions of rockabilly, metal and arena rock. Guests appearing on the album include returning member Scott Kerr, Karl Perazzo of Santana, Christian singer Randy Stonehill, Justin McRoberts, and The W's members Bret Barker and Valentine Hellmam. The album contains typical fare for Five Iron, with both serious and humorous content throughout. Even the album's title is self-deprecating humor intended to foil the audience's expectations. In the title track the band reveals that "It's so wrong, so far from true. In secret, I'm just like you."
The album contains Five Iron's signature mix of serious and silly content, though it leans toward heavier issues more than previous albums. On the serious side is "A New Hope" - written in response to the Columbine High School massacre. In "Giants" Roper references Adam Smiths' The Wealth of Nations to continue his general attacks on big business and Social Darwinism. In "Hurricanes" the vocalist laments "...and I am a failure / defeated every time..." before bringing the focus back to hope in Christ. Roper commented to HM Magazine that it was "...probably the most depressing song you'll ever hear from us."
Roper also tackles issues within Christian culture and the church, taking on homophobia and hypocrisy in "Fahrenheit." The song references Freddie Mercury, the frontman of Queen who eventually died of AIDS, and the superhero Flash Gordon, a reference to the fact that the score for the 1980's movie of was composed and performed by Queen. In a 2000 interview, Roper explained that "everyone will readily admit that homosexuality is a sin, but not that homophobia is just as bad in God's eyes." However, in a 2014 blog post, Roper recanted his statements and expressed his displeasure with the song's lyrics, writing that over the years his attitudes on homosexuality had "softened" and he no longer considered it a sin. Admitting he was "ashamed" of "Fahrenheit"'s lyrics, he wrote "At the time, I felt that I was doing the most honorable thing that I could, calling the Church to the carpet on being homophobic. I thought that I could do so by pointing the finger at myself with my own homophobia towards one of my heroes, Freddie Mercury. What bothers me is how arrogant and condemning I still was about homosexuality".