Charge!!
Encyclopedia
Charge!! is the fifth studio album by American band The Aquabats
, released on June 7, 2005 on Nitro Records
.
The album was released to a very positive reaction from fans. The first song, "Fashion Zombies!" had been released two months earlier for download on the band's website. Copies also appeared on peer-to-peer file sharing
networks about a month prior to the official release, much to the band's dismay. Some copies of the album were released without the promised trading cards. It is unclear whether this was a packaging error or whether the cards were only for certain markets.
s, a DVD
and new album art by artist Brandon Bird
. Printed in limited run, the re-issue was made available only through the band's website and live shows.
sound to a style more rooted in New Wave
and pop
. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic gave the album four stars out of five, remarking that the band had "refocused its musical and ideological attack" during the six years since their previous studio album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!: "Intact are the pop references, zany in-jokes, and Batman villain fetishism ... But Charge!! is much more rewarding musically. It doesn't loiter awkwardly between punk, pop, ska, and broad humor — it keeps the pressure on with a catchy guitar- and keyboard-driven blend of anthemic choruses and appropriately squawky elements." An IGN
review noted the band's shift from the ska sound of their earlier records to a New Wave style: "Charge!! is not a ska album. The Aquabats have dispensed with the brass section this time around, electing to replace it with a Wall o' Synths that'll make you feel as if you've just stepped back into the mid-80s. The neo-new-wave result is superbly effective, especially considering the band's campy, Saturday-morning-cartoon feel."
Tim O'Neil of PopMatters
also commented on the band's change of style, commenting that "The Aquabats' current strategic manifesto bears a strong resemblance to some of No Doubt
's great late-period tactical accomplishments, especially on portions pertaining to the plague of 'Fashion Zombies!' and the propaganda manifesto 'Look at Me, I’m a Winner!' Ironically, considering their near wholesale abandonment of the [ska] strategy, the greatest victory on Charge!! comes on the only battle to utilize the almost totally discredited Ska Force to full effect, the ebullient 'Waterslides! Jesse Raub of Punknews.org
remarked that "If someone would have told me five years ago that the Aquabats were going to become a new-wave/punk band, I would have laughed in their face ... There is a huge 80's influence, there is a huge California influence, there is a huge punk influence. And somehow it all blends into an album that isn't too far removed from pop-punk."
The Aquabats
The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Orange County, California. They have released five full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music...
, released on June 7, 2005 on Nitro Records
Nitro Records
Nitro Records is an independent record label created and owned by Dexter Holland and Greg Kriesel . They started the label in 1994. The label is famous for being an incubator for punk rock artists who have subsequently become successful, most notably AFI...
.
Album overview
The album was very similar in sound to the previous year's EP, Yo, Check Out This Ride!. Sonically, the band had lost nearly all of the horn sounds from earlier albums. Virtually all of the songs are backed by an electronic melody, and the album is overall the most guitar-heavy one in their catalog.The album was released to a very positive reaction from fans. The first song, "Fashion Zombies!" had been released two months earlier for download on the band's website. Copies also appeared on peer-to-peer file sharing
Peer-to-peer file sharing
P2P or Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to download files such as music, movies, and games using a P2P software client that searches for other connected computers. The "peers" are computer systems connected to each other through internet. Thus, the only requirements for a computer to join...
networks about a month prior to the official release, much to the band's dismay. Some copies of the album were released without the promised trading cards. It is unclear whether this was a packaging error or whether the cards were only for certain markets.
Charge!! (Special One-Year Anniversary Edition)
In June 2006, The Aquabats released a "one-year anniversary" re-issue of Charge!! featuring three previously unreleased bonus trackBonus track
In terms of recorded music, a bonus track is a piece of music which has been included on specific releases or reissues of an album. This is most often done as a promotional device, either as an incentive to customers to purchase albums they might otherwise not, or to repurchase albums they already...
s, a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and new album art by artist Brandon Bird
Brandon Bird
Brandon Bird is an artist. He was born in 1980 in Carmichael, California, a suburb of Sacramento. He attended University of California, Santa Cruz and was an artist-in-residence from 2004-2006 at Risley Residential College at Cornell University...
. Printed in limited run, the re-issue was made available only through the band's website and live shows.
DVD contents
- "How About CHARGE??", a 45-minute documentary on the making of Charge!!.
- "Fashon Zombies!" music videoMusic videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
, with optional audio commentaryAudio commentaryOn disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
from The Aquabats. - "The Making of 'Fashion Zombies!'" featurette.
- "Charge!! Photoshoot", behind-the-scenes footage.
- Charge!! internet teaser trailerTeaser trailerA teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
s. - Trading card photo gallery.
Reception
Critical reaction to Charge!! focused on The Aquabats' shift from their previous skaSka
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
sound to a style more rooted in New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic gave the album four stars out of five, remarking that the band had "refocused its musical and ideological attack" during the six years since their previous studio album The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death!: "Intact are the pop references, zany in-jokes, and Batman villain fetishism ... But Charge!! is much more rewarding musically. It doesn't loiter awkwardly between punk, pop, ska, and broad humor — it keeps the pressure on with a catchy guitar- and keyboard-driven blend of anthemic choruses and appropriately squawky elements." An IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
review noted the band's shift from the ska sound of their earlier records to a New Wave style: "Charge!! is not a ska album. The Aquabats have dispensed with the brass section this time around, electing to replace it with a Wall o' Synths that'll make you feel as if you've just stepped back into the mid-80s. The neo-new-wave result is superbly effective, especially considering the band's campy, Saturday-morning-cartoon feel."
Tim O'Neil of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
also commented on the band's change of style, commenting that "The Aquabats' current strategic manifesto bears a strong resemblance to some of No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
's great late-period tactical accomplishments, especially on portions pertaining to the plague of 'Fashion Zombies!' and the propaganda manifesto 'Look at Me, I’m a Winner!' Ironically, considering their near wholesale abandonment of the [ska] strategy, the greatest victory on Charge!! comes on the only battle to utilize the almost totally discredited Ska Force to full effect, the ebullient 'Waterslides! Jesse Raub of Punknews.org
Punknews.org
Punknews.org is a website founded by Aubin Paul which launched in 1999. The website publishes music news and album reviews relating to punk rock, hardcore punk, ska, indie rock and heavy metal...
remarked that "If someone would have told me five years ago that the Aquabats were going to become a new-wave/punk band, I would have laughed in their face ... There is a huge 80's influence, there is a huge California influence, there is a huge punk influence. And somehow it all blends into an album that isn't too far removed from pop-punk."
Track listing
All songs written by The Aquabats.Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
21 |
| 2005 | Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
30 |
The Aquabats!
- The MC Bat Commander (Christian Jacobs) – lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Crash McLarson (Chad Larson) – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals - Chainsaw (Courtney Pollock) – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, backing vocals - Jimmy the Robot (James Briggs) – keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocals - Ricky Fitness (Richard FalomirRichard FalomirRichard Falomir is an American musician, perhaps best known as the current drummer for the Orange County rock band The Aquabats, in which he performs under the stage name Ricky Fitness....
) – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion, sequencingMusic sequencerThe music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
, backing vocals
Production
- Produced, engineered and mixed by Cameron Webb.
- Mastered by Gene Grimaldi at Oasis Mastering, Studio City, California.
- Recorded at Maple Studios in Santa Ana, CaliforniaSanta Ana, CaliforniaSanta Ana is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States....
and Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood, California.