Quantity Is Job 1 | ||||
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EP by | ||||
Released | November 3, 1998 | |||
Recorded | 1998 | |||
Genre | Christian ska, ska punk | |||
Length | 40:31 | |||
Label | 5 Minute Walk | |||
Producer | Frank Tate | |||
Five Iron Frenzy chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Tollbooth | (not rated) [1] |
Jesus Freak Hideout | [2] |
HM Magazine | (not rated) [3] |
Teenink | (not rated) [4] |
Cross Rhythms | (not rated) [5] |
Mosh-Pit | (not rated) [6] |
Exit Zine | [7] |
Real Magazine | (not rated) [8] |
Church Musician Today | (not rated) [9] |
Christian Music | (not rated) [10] |
CCM | (not rated) [11] |
7ball | (not rated) [12] |
Quantity Is Job 1 is an EP by the band Five Iron Frenzy. It was released November 3, 1998, on Five Minute Walk.
Quantity is Job 1 was Five Iron Frenzy's first release distributed by EMI, and most of it was written in a two-week period before being recorded. [13] Unlisted on the package are tracks nine through seventeen, which include both "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera)" and a studio outtake. Musically, the album captures the band's slapstick humor style [12] in a way that almost equates to a live show. Douglas TenNapel created the artwork. Despite being billed as an EP, the album is roughly the same length as the band's other LPs.
Lyrical themes addressed include unconditional love ("Dandelions"), [9] the riots in Denver after Super Bowl XXXII ("Get Your Riot Gear"), [9] [14] the constant rumors of the band's demise ("The Untimely Death of Brad"). [9] The album also contains a cover of ELOs "Sweet Talkin' Woman." Perhaps the most cryptic song is the opener "My Evil Plan to Save the World", which according to Reese Roper is about "all of us that have ever thought that our own small minds could come up with a plan greater and more perfect than God's." [9]
"All That Is Good", which (according to one reviewer) is a reprise from 1 Thessalonians 5:21, [9] was written in response to the 1998 Ska Against Racism tour. [15] In it the band questions the effectiveness of their faith and ministry on those around them. [15]
Quantity also contains examples of Five Irons' "edgy sarcastic humor." [1] The eight tracks of the "Pants" sequence is a multi-genre "rock opera" about a pair of pants which has no apparent owner. For the sequence, which was completely improvised in the studio, each band member was assigned a style. [15] Styles include rap, reggae, and country western, among others. The sequence, according to Cross Rhythms , "actually IS more ridiculous than it sounds!", [5] and has been called in other places "brilliance personified". [11]
Another example is "The Untimely Death of Brad", which is about the dangers posed by the Internet and tabloid culture. [15] The song stems from a show where Brad was not available due to a wedding he was attending and Bret Barker replaced him on stage. Reese Roper joked that Brad was not performing because he was dead and, what happened next was "... someone made this posting on the internet that he was dead... It seemed there were always new rumors about it." [15] The band helped to promote the rumors (in jest) by writing this song, releasing Brad Is Dead , a vinyl EP, and telling audiences that he had "passed on" at shows where he did not appear. [15]
All lyrics written by Reese Roper, except where noted otherwise.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "My Evil Plan to Save the World" | Kerr, Culp | 3:26 |
2. | "All That Is Good" | music: Kerr, lyrics: L. Ortega | 3:23 |
3. | "Dandelions" | Culp | 3:18 |
4. | "One Girl Army" | Kerr, Culp | 3:05 |
5. | "Sweet Talkin' Woman" | Lynne | 3:18 |
6. | "When I Go Out" | 0:10 | |
7. | "Get Your Riot Gear" | M. Ortega, Culp, Kerr | 3:45 |
8. | "The Untimely Death of Brad" | Kerr, Culp | 4:20 |
9. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Salsa)" | 0:34 | |
10. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Meat Loaf)" | 0:55 | |
11. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Country)" | 0:46 | |
12. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Heavy Metal)" | 0:49 | |
13. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (R&B)" | 0:54 | |
14. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Reggae)" | 0:43 | |
15. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Cha Cha)" | 0:50 | |
16. | "These Are Not My Pants (The Rock Opera) (Hip Hop)" | 1:17 | |
17. | "When I Go Out/Kingdom of the Dinosaurs" | 8:57 | |
Total length: | 40:31 |
Five Iron Frenzy
Five Iron Frenzy is an American band which formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. Best known for playing ska punk music characterized by an offbeat sense of humor and prominent Christian themes, Five Iron Frenzy was one of the pioneering figures of the Christian ska movement which emerged with ska's mainstream revival in the 1990s. Since 2000, the band's music has shifted away from straight ska to include and embrace stronger alternative rock and pop punk influences, though it continues to create ska music and feature Christian lyrical themes despite several members' changes in religious beliefs.
Roper was a Christian pop-punk band formed in Denver, Colorado. The band consisted of Reese Roper on lead vocals, Jonathan Byrnside on lead guitar, Jonathan Till on bass, Matt Emmett on rhythm guitar, and Nick White on drums.
The Insyderz were an American Christian ska-punk band from Detroit, Michigan. They formed in 1996 and disbanded in 2005. The band reformed in 2009, but have not been actively playing shows in the last few years. The Insyderz are one of the "big three" bands which represented the Christian ska scene, alongside the Supertones and Five Iron Frenzy.
Michael Reese Roper is an American singer-songwriter, best known as lead singer for the Denver, Colorado-based Christian ska punk band Five Iron Frenzy, as well as fronting the rock bands Brave Saint Saturn and Roper.
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So Far from Home is the first installment in a space-themed trilogy released by Christian rock band Brave Saint Saturn. This release contains fewer elements of the trilogy's plot that was developed in the two subsequent albums, opting for a more general feeling of darkness and loneliness. It was released in 2000.
Our Newest Album Ever! is the second full-length studio album released by the band Five Iron Frenzy. Its street date was November 11, 1997, on Five Minute Walk, under the SaraBellum imprint, with distribution from Warner Bros. Records.
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The W's were a Christian ska and swing revival band, formed in Corvallis, Oregon in 1996. Success came quickly to the band and their first album, Fourth from the Last, was a sleeper hit, unexpectedly having had the strongest debut of any Christian album to date for its distributor. They toured the United States several times with a variety of artists. Touring highlights include Pope John Paul II's 1999 visit to St. Louis and dc Talk's Supernatural support tour.
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5 Minute Walk was an independent record label founded by Frank Tate in April 1995. Operations were based in Concord, California in the back offices of The Screem, a music club operated by Tate. They only carried Christian bands and considered themselves to be a Christian ministry. Most records were produced by Masaki Liu at Masaki's One Way Studio and executive produced by Frank Tate.
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