Description
International Anthems for the Human Race is the sophomore album by the American pop/rock band All Star United, released on Reunion Records in 1998, in co-operation with Essential Records, a division of Brentwood Music, manufactured and distributed in the US by Provident Music Distribution. The album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Neil King. Strings arranged by Matt Slocum of Sixpence None the Richer fame.
To borrow a line from Dead Poets Society, All Star United is not laughing at you, they’re laughing near you. More precisely, they’re laughing, criticizing and cajoling at themselves. The rest of us are just along for the ride.
The Ian Eskelin-led quintet’s second album continues along nicely in the power pop vein tapped by its 1997 self-titled debut, but this time the gents are pointing their lyrical fish-eye lens out at the world and, serendipitously, back at themselves and popular Christianity in general.
The crunch of the album’s opener, «Big Rock Show», goes a long way to set the tone for the rest of the record: loud, fast and fun, but with more than a hint of irony. The opening cut’s message is wrapped up in the song’s final two lines, “Find the secret message/ Buried in our big rock show,” alternately challenging listeners to really pay attention to what bands are trying to say and humorously taking to task those groups who pay more attention to form than function in their songs and shows.
Different tracks use different methods to move along both the message and the music. «Popular Americans» uses a nifty little Tower of Power-like horn section to poke fun at our (“our” meaning both Americans and Christians) off-putting air of superiority. «If We Were Lovers», a song destined to be misunderstood, employs an understated bossa nova beat and jangly guitar chorus to talk about the call for Christians to love unconditionally.
Eskelin, with the aid of writer Doug McKelvey on five tracks, is turning into his generation’s Steve Taylor, albeit using a lot less satire. Within the context of this band, Eskelin excels at lifting up the more absurd aspects of religiosity and bringing them to our attention, wrapped in the guise of excellently crafted pop music. They did it last time out with «La La Land» and «Smash Hit»; this time it’s songs like «International Anthem», «Worldwide Socialites Unite» and the first single, «Superstar».
That’s not to say All Star can’t be poignant. They can and show it on songs like «Now» and «Put Your Arms Around Me». And you’ve got to like a band that has the guts to cut a song called «Thank You, Goodnight» and make it be heartfelt and reverent to boot.
Make no mistake, International Anthems for the Human Race is an exceptionally fun album, and it’s perfectly valid to take this music at face-value and enjoy it with all you can muster. But when you get a chance, slap on some headphones, take out the lyric sheet and really digest the words. You might recognize some things you might not like, about yourself and about life. That’s okay. We all need to be reminded every once in a while.
Still, don’t let that discourage you from getting up and dancing to the music again. That’s exactly what All Star United wants you to do. [Lucas W. Hendrickson, CCM, January 1999]
CD tracklist:
01. Welcome To Our Big Rock Show – 1:48
02. Popular Americans – 4:05
03. International Anthem – 3:05
04. Thank You, Goodnight – 3:45
05. If We Were Lovers – 3:28
06. Worldwide Socialites Unite – 3:26
07. I Need You Now – 5:41
08. Theme From Summer – 4:17
09. Everything Will Be Alright – 3:19
10. Superstar – 3:44
11.1. Put Your Arms Around Me – 4:40
11.2. Hurricane Baby – 1:04
11.3. Hurricane Baby – 1:26
11.4. International Anthem – 2:26
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Reunion Records. Tracks 11.2 to 11.4 are unlisted. Tracks 11.2 and 11.3 are different versions of the track “Hurricane Baby”. 11.4 is a faster version of “International Anthem”.
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