Family Force 5

Reanimated

I previewed the tone of Family Force 5’s latest remixed effort, Reanimated, and before I dove deep in to the music, I found myself thinking it would be perfect for my upcoming run, something to get my heart pumping. The first song “Chainsaw” – which turned out to be my favorite song on the album – blew me away. It was a perfect start to the record: The lines, “Now hear me roar,” parallel to the beats that accompanied them, painted the perfect picture for what I thought would be an exhilarating ride. As I ran, I was excited for the upcoming tracks, especially if “Chainsaw” was any indication. As the second song “Phenomenon” played, I was dumbfounded with how much I liked the music. It reminded me of the older Daft Punk sound, and I was eating it up.

The whole album, a collection of remixes of their previous music with a few new songs, was fantastic until I hit the last track, “Put Ur Hands Up.” It was different than everything else on the album. I felt like I was watching a movie that was working its way to what you think would be a fantastic climax, but that never actually came. It’s a great movie, but when you walk out of the theater, you have no closure. You wonder why they went in that direction. It was a very slow tune, kicking off with pianos, drumming entering later in the song, but it didn’t flow with the rest of the album. They should have left it off.

Overall, though, I was really digging the sound and the vibe FF5 was trying to create. You’ll find some good jams here, so it’s definitely worth a listen.