Less than a year since the release of Family Force 5 traded in their signature crunk styling for a more dance feel on their sophomore album, Dance Or Die, the fearsome five are releasing a follow-up remix project. The bravely titled Dance Or Die With A Vengeance recruits the help of a series of mainstream acts (with CCM's David Crowder Band, RED, and Relient K as well) to offer techno and dance alternate takes on every song on Dance Or Die. The results are mixed, although many of the songs are now more dance-floor friendly, but the rock edge that helps define Family Force 5 is greatly missed from several tracks (save for RED's slight remix of "Radiator"). The lone new track, "Ghostride the Whip" takes the band into an entirely new gangsta rap direction that doesn't sound like the best fit for the Atlanta boys, but they manage to pull it off for what is hopefully just a one-time deal for this project. Overall, ...With A Vengeance is a decent remix album with few improvements on the originals (songs like "How In The World" and "First Time" are a bit more fun here, and The Secret Handshake's mix of the title track is another highlight, while 3OH!3's mix of "Get Your Back off the Wall" and Lalipop's mix of "Wake The Dead" hardly do their predecessors justice), so only diehard fans of the band and techno dance mixes will want to pick this one up.
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01.
Dance or Die (The Secret Handshake Han Valen Remix)
02.
Get Your Back off the Wall (Sean from 3OH!3 REMIX)
03.
Rip it Up (The Pragmatic Remix)
04.
How in the World (Alex Suarez from Cobra Starship FANGS UP! Remix)
05.
Fever (Toxic Avenger Remix)
06.
Party Foul (Sami D's UVS Remix)
07.
D-I-E 4 Y-O-U (RAC Remix)
08.
Share it with Me (Smile Future Remix)
09.
The First Time (Matt Theissen from Relient K Remix)
10.
Wake the Dead (Lalipop Remix)
11.
Radiator (Jasen Rauch from RED remix)
12.
Ghostride the Whip
13.
Rip it Up alt. ATL take (Croul-Glo-Acitvaton Version 2009) Soul Glow Activatur and Crouton
Summer's Best Album| Posted May 22, 2009
For those of you with A.D.D,. I'll make this review short and simple. If you disliked the original Dance Or Die album, you'll hate this. If you liked Dance Or Die, you will probably love this.
I'll explain it for those of you with longer attention spans. But I should probably tell you that I may just be a tad biased in a couple different ways.
First, I am now officially a fan of Family Force 5. I actually met them at a music festival before they were famous, but I missed their show. I later heard their song "Love Addict" without even realizing it was them. I then heard their first album Business Up Front/Party In The Back. I thought they had some potential and it would be worth to keep an eye on them. Dance Or Die came out and I started to really enjoy them. Dance Or Die With A Vengeance hit the streets, and I consider myself a fan.
Second, I like remixes. Well, I like good remixes. I'm inclined to enjoy dance/techno/trance/hip-hop/club type music, and remixes tend to accomplish that. People like tobyMac have come out with remix albums and they're all very hit-and-miss. Some are good. Some are not.
DODWAV is good.
I like the fact that they went through and remixed the entire album, song for song. Because of the usual nature of remixes, this album is even more dance oriented than the original album. Because of my own personal music taste, I actually might enjoy DODWAV more than DOD. It's definitely well made. It's definitely fun. It's definitely worth the buy.
They brought in people from bands such as 3OH!3, Cobra Starship, The Secret Handshake, and even David Crowder Band. But maybe my favorite song mixed by someone not in the band would be "Wake The Dead" made by Solomon "Soul Glow Activator" Olds' own wife, Lauren Olds. Some songs are definitely better than others, but most are consistently good. I would even consider others excellent.
All that being said, my absolute favorite part of the album is the new track "Ghostride The Whip." It's simply a fun song. Not anything spiritual about it, just a track that you can move to. It's pretty much a rap track, maybe even "gangster" rap if you wanted to call it that. It's something I've never heard from FF5 before. I love it. If they marketed it correctly, I honestly believe it could quickly become a hit on the radio. Though I adore the track, it's fun to listen to, sing along with, and sometimes even causes me to bust a move, I wouldn't want the band to go that direction. It's great to have them give us a little variety in the music, but I just hope they continue in their unique crunk rock style.
REMIXED AND READY TO GROOVE| Posted August 18, 2009
Dance rockers Family Force 5 continue to break out of their futuristic space bubbles with the release of first-ever remix project Dance or Die With a Vengeance. The collection comes hot on the heels of last summer’s run on the “Vans Warped Tour,” followed by a headlining slot on this spring’s “AP Tour,” and features several friends the Atlanta-based troupe met along the way.
As the title implies, FF5’s 2008 dance-floor thrasher Dance or Die gets a complete facelift courtesy of its celebrity guests. And for those who found the first installment incited a series of percolating grooves, this latest round takes an even more explosive turn toward the club circuit. The title track transforms into a soulful synth-popper courtesy of The Secret Handshake, while “Rip It Up” merges alternative rock with electronica as re-imagined by The Pragmatic.
Relient K leader Matt Thiessen takes “The First Time” to a programmed ballad of epic proportions, as “Radiator” later recalls something straight out of Depeche Mode’s catalogue via the turntable twists of Red’s Jasen Rauch. Add in tour mates 3OH!3 taking a sci-fi stab at “Get Your Back Off the Wall” and the David Crowder Band dinging its way through the equally spacey “How In the World,” and FF5 truly creates a pulsating listening experience of supernatural proportions. —Andy Argyrakis
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
Comin with a vengeance!| Posted February 03, 2010
Family Force 5's first remix album is a great album,well as far as remixes go. Each track has it's own uniqueness that seperates it from the original,such as "The first Time" comes in with a melody of bells and "Radiator" that's a little more guitar driven in the remix. The album host some big names remixing also,from Matt Thiessen to the secret handshake to even mainstream hit makers like 3oh3! . Along with the remixes comes the original song "Ghostride the Whip", a fantastic rap sung by Couton and Soul Glow.I highly recommend Dance or Die with a Vengeance to any music lover,especially ones wanting some tunes to dance to!
ReMiX| Posted November 13, 2009
I have loved FF5 since I heard Earthquake from their Business in the Front, Party in the Back Album. Their Dance or Die album had many good songs, all upbeat and very dance oriented. I just didn't think that it was necessary to do the entire album again with a remix. And alot of the accompanying artists or the ones who remixed the songs were not Christian bands like 3OH!3 and The Secret Handshake.
This album was fun to listen to and had good songs, but had the same message.
Amazingg| Posted July 04, 2009
This CD is totally awesome. O honestly love every song on it. The remixes are so amazing. Party Foul is my favorite song though. It has such a great beat :D
It's The Fate of the Dance Floor| Posted May 28, 2009
"Time to sweat, time to move, time to get, in the groove."
The added line to Sami D's remix of Party Foul describes this album well. While I would never classify it as surpassing the original Dance or Die, it is well worth you're purchase, as long as you are already well versed.
Despite how much I love this album overall, there are a couple no-no's. The biggest and most important one to stay away from is Alex Suarez from Cobra Starship's remix of How In The World. The song starts lovely, but about mid-song he makes some very bad and annoying choices. In what way? The music doesn't fit. The tune doesn't fit. It is just a complete and horrible mess. There are a couple other songs that have minor problems, such as Radiator not living up to my expectations, but nothing near as bad as this song.
There are definitely quite a bit of highlights in this album, as well. Ghostride the Whip, although it takes you a second listen, is actually quite amazing. I'm cool if Family Force 5 sticks with this style for anything coming up.
Another highlight was Wake The Dead remixed by Soul Glow's wife, Lolipop. Let's just say that it blew my mind, and is definitely worth the listen.
The Smile Future Remix of Share it With Me is the only song that may have actually surpassed the original version, although the Croul-Glo-Activation (Crouton and Soul Glow Activatur) alternative ATL take of Rip it Up was pretty close.
If nothing else, Ghostride the Whip, Wake the Dead, Share it With Me, and the Croul-Glo-Activation remix of Rip it Up make this album well worth the buy, and far outweigh the fails included on this amazing disc. But like I said, make sure you're versed in the original Dance or Die, first.
Ghostride The Remix| Posted May 22, 2009
I'm not that big on remixes, but this one isn't that bad. There are only a few, out of 14, that are ok though. Lollipop did a wonderful job with "Wake The Dead", and the new song, "Ghostride The Whip", is my favorite. It adds yet another level to Soul Glow and Croutons' singing ability.
"Rip It Up" doesn't quite flow with Soul Glow's singing, "Get Your Back Off The Wall" takes a long time to start (though the chorus is really good), and some of the songs have too much going on in them. With "Dance Or Die", The Secret Handshake did a great job.
This CD gives FF5 a new opportunity to expand their sound, and it gives their fans a new look into what is to come.
Good if you like remixes| Posted May 20, 2009
The goal of this cd is to be the ultimate party mix for the summer. (it states this in the marketing) I think fans will probably enjoy the fresh sound it brings to their previous album, but it left me in the cold.
I had high hopes going into the cd because the remixes feature members of relient k, david crowder band, 3oh!3, and more. Unfortunatly, the sound did very little for me. The album is to disco/techno, and I felt it had very little substance. I can't see myself groovin/partyin it up on any of the tracks. The only song I semi like is "ghostride the whip" which is a new recording for the album.
If you like remixes/techno/disco vibes then this cd is probably up your ally. If not (and you have similar style in music to me) you might want to skipt this one.
Fun Music To Roll Down The Windows And Turn Up The Music| Posted May 20, 2009
Family Force 5's "Dance Or Die" (released last year) was a criticaly praised album of 80's style synth pop/rock with the signature FF5 Krunk flare. NOW the band returns (or maybe THEY dont) with "Dance or Die With A Vengance", a GREAT remix album that is sure to find is way to many a car CD player, iPod, and club this summer. It Features remixes by superstars, and "indie" favorites alike, Including, but not limited to: David Crowder Band, Relient K, 3OH!3, and members of FF5 themselves.
The Record kicks off with what was first a slow head bobber, to now a heavy handed dance tune. Then one of my favorites from both the origional album, and this one, "Get Your Back Off The Wall". Remixed by 3OH!3, this song soars! This is a must have even if you dont get the whole album! The Album Continues on the same note untill Matt Theissen from Relient K remixed "The First Time". This is a slow alt-hop song that is strange compared to the rest of the album, but works alone to be good. "Wake The Dead" and "Radiator" dont stray to far from the initial recordings, but have noticable enough differences.
The final three songs on the album Including the all new "Ghostride The Whip" (more on this in a second) and the previously remixed "Rip It Up" and "How in the World", are where I get mildly concerned/excited. Here is why: "Ghostride" is an immaculate rap song in the tradition of Kanye West or Lil' Wayne, BUT therin lies the problem... its VERY sound alike.... it sounds like a hybrid of two songs off of Kanye's "808's & Heartbreak". The use of Auto Tune and near identical Lil' Wayne style vocals, is aggrivating if you have heard any of Kanye or Wayne's music. BUT It also seves as a good Alternative. The Last two follow suit and are good for what they are, but also seem to frusterate a bit...
I bought the album and LIKE it... and I would reccomend it for sure, but if you are looking for something fresh... get "Get Your Back Off The Wall" but leave the rest.
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