Album Details

• Artist: Five Alarm Funk
• Album: Anything Is Possible
• Label: indie
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: sinist3r-punk on 2011-02-16

Five Alarm Funk is composed of ten guys who flaunt conventional music wisdom. Honestly, it sounds like maybe six people are making a contribution to every song in Anything Is Possible. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what or when every person was playing. I understand that having a big band brings in a different sound, and it looks cool on stage, but in a recording environment for a studio album, it doesn't work as well. Five Alarm Funk has taken a bold approach by incorporating horns, a sax, and a whole bunch of percussion. During any given song, half the time you'll want to bang your head to the blistering guitar and percussion. But the other half of the time the horns and jazz funky bass will make you want to jump and dance around like a spaz. Anything Is Possible feels like someone took two perfectly good albums and tried to mash them together into one big incomprehensible mess. The guitar and percussion tracks carry a Muse mixed with Rush sound that was really enjoyable in "Infernal Monologue," but my enthusiasm quickly drained when the horns came in and took all the thunder away from the classic riffs getting thrown down. Don't think I'm anti-horn just because I found fault with them in one song. "Titan" feels like great music for when you're in a daring car chase. The horns do a great job of keeping the pace of the song. I found it to be the track with the least glaring issues.

My biggest complaint has to be the vocals. Who came up with the idea to try and overlay a vocal track on top of trumpets, trombones, guitars, percussion, bass, and a saxophone? There is already enough going on during the song; we don't need someone trying to shout over an entire ensemble. I don't want to detract anything from the musicians. There is some obvious talent on display here, and I'm sure if the rock sound was separated from the funk sound, there would be some truly great music. But the decision to try and force these two genres to cohesively meld turned disastrous.

Anything Is Possible was an incredible risk, which is to be applauded. If you want to make it in the music biz, you have to bring something new to the table, which these guys certainly have. But being different isn't going to get you anywhere if the formula doesn't work. All in all, Five Alarm Funk should stick to playing live shows so they can improvise and use their abilities the best they can, and to make jazz rock funk the way it's supposed to be played, with no restrictions.

User Reviews and Comments

on 2011-04-28 bigups420 Said:

Interesting review. You feel the rock/funk fusion wasnt working, and to stick to one or the other... so they fit better in a certian genre? and therefore get lost in the genre-label with an endless list of other bands. But to make it in the music biz, you have to bring something new, which these guys are. Seems contradictory, and a little disheartening to me as a musician. I seen FAF at a festival, with a line up of incredible bands from around the glode, and these guys were easily in the top 3 of the list for musical talent and performance. And for the album, I thought they handled the abundance of instrumental sound very well, where there is more potentional to overdue it.
Not Rated

on 2011-02-16 Sinist3r Punk Said:

I appreciate your taste in music very much Dennis. You've opened me up to a lot of new music because of the site. I hope I did not offend your taste with my review.
Not Rated

on 2011-02-16 dscanland Said:

Like I always say, life would be boring if all people liked the exact same music. Good for standing out. And stand up to your opinion. That sets a good critic apart from the rest. But be mindful that we aren't all the same (thank god).
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on 2011-02-16 Sinist3r Punk Said:

I'll give you credit Dennis, those bands are all great and fun to listen to, but they are fairly mellow compared to FAF. Like I said in the review, the two styles just didn't mesh well to me. I guess I don't have the kind of taste for it like you do.
Not Rated

on 2011-02-16 dscanland Said:

"Who came up with the idea to try and overlay a vocal track on top of trumpets, trombones, guitars, percussion, bass, and a saxophone?" - Really? Hmm, that was Funkadelic, Parliament or KC and the Sunshine Band. Check out Mighty Mighty Bosstones for something a little more modern. I happen to love Five Alarm Funk. Check em out live if you can.
Not Rated