All the Hype That Money Can Buy

Overview

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."

Lyrical content

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".

The following track is "Four-fifty-one", and when read with the previous track their names directly refer to Ray Bradbury's book Fahrenheit 451. The message in the latter track is about isolationism within Christian culture and lukewarm Christianity. Here Roper attacks commercial interests within Christianity such as the Christian music industry, of which he told 7ball "For the most part it is meant to make [Christians] feel good and not at getting anyone saved." Speaking directly to those interests Roper states "The radio is preaching the candy coated goo, / the record companies and the TV too. / No one rocks the boat, / terrified of trouble, / can't tamper with the walls of their sterile Christian bubble. / It was never your point to get people saved, / you pad yourself with fluff just because you're afraid. / I'm not afraid to point the finger now, / the choir's so used to the preaching anyhow."

On the more upbeat side, the album opens with "The Greatest Story Ever Told" which boldly proclaims the message of Christ and closes with the worshipful "World Without End." The album also contains examples of Five Iron's humor and irony. "You Probably Shouldn't Move Here" is an offbeat pokes fun at the band's home state of Colorado and at California. "The Phantom Mullet" is a satirical look at the hairdo popular in the 1980s. "It's Not Unusual" is a cover of the singer Tom Jones. A short track entitled "What's Up" was hidden in the 3-second 'header' at the beginning of the album. To find this track, the listener had to start Track 1, then hold the rewind button. On the album's back cover, the track was listed as 'Track 0'.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Reese Roper, except where noted.

Personnel

Five Iron Frenzy

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)