
The crunk-rock quintet Family Force 5 is back with their third full-length album âIII.â It has been three years since the Atlanta-based group has put out an album (excluding their 2009 holiday album âThe Christmas Pageantâ), and they come back strong with âIII.â
The opening track âCan You Feel Itâ brings you right back into FF5âs musical world, with a strong beat and powerful vocals. Listeners can picture front man Solomon Old onstage with his famous silver hulk hands jamming with the beat. But the second song shows that FF5 are not the young care-free kids of past albums. âPaycheckâ is a relatable song that talks about the current U.S. economic crisis. Donât worry though, the band has not grown up completely. The third song, âWobble,â is classic FF5 music, meant to sound like a good time while for the listener.
âYou Got Itâ is something a little different for the group; the beat to the song is a cross between 70âs funk and reggae. âYou Got Itâ isnât the only new sounding song on the album; âMamacitaâ still has a familiar FF5 beat, but features a Spanish guitar, and has a Latin grove to it. âTanktopâ is a song that could be heard humming in the club. Track seven is intended to be a love ballad but âNot Aloneâ sounds like it would be a Backstreet Boys or any 90âs boy bandsâ attempt at a comeback song. âDang Girlâ starts out with a classic FF5 crunk hip-hop beat, but as the song progresses where normally in their songs a powerful guitar riff would come in, they change things up with a brief dub-step like beat. The band gets back to their rock roots with âLove Gone Wrongâ with a heavy guitar sections and a catchy chorus. The final song âGet On Outta Hereâ picks up where the album started off with a powerful, heavy beat and the same classic voice effects used on âCan You Feel It.â
Family Force 5 referees to themselves as âcrunk rockersâ but like their past albums âBusiness Up Front/ Party In the Back,â and âDance or Die,â âIIIâ just reinforces the fact that its hard to give FF5 a genre, because they can produce so many different sounds that range from metal to southern rock, R&B, funk or techno. Now they even have songs that feature Latin roots and reggae. Thatâs not to mention the fact that some consider them a Christian rock band due to the bands indie Christian record label Tooth and Nail Records.
Family Force 5âs music is all about having a good time with life, and putting the listener into a good mood. Their music is so different that there is surely something for everyone to like, and the album âIIIâ is a perfect example of this.






