The Fury of The Aquabats!

The Fury of The Aquabats! is the second studio album by American band The Aquabats, released on October 28, 1997 by Goldenvoice Records and Time Bomb Recordings.

Overview

Much like their debut album, The Fury of The Aquabats! is driven by its blatantly "wacky" comedic sensibility, anchored by The Aquabats' characteristic songwriting staples of self-referential anthems ("Theme Song!"), songs developing characters in the band's stage shows (e.g. "Powdered Milk Man!"), cartoon and comic book-influenced narratives (e.g. "Captain Hampton & the Midget Pirates!") and pop culture satire ("Idiot Box!").

While the album is also predominantly rooted in ska music, it features noticeably emphasized elements of surf rock and punk rock over that of its predecessor, as well as featuring streaks of eccentric genre experimentation The Aquabats would continue to develop on further releases: among its sixteen tracks, The Fury includes two instrumentals, pastiches of tango ("Attacked By Snakes!") and ragtime music ("Lobster Bucket!"), and extensive use of unconventional instruments including clarinets, electric sitars, banjos, sousaphones and even hand music.

The Fury was the first Aquabats album to feature dual keyboardist and saxophonist Jimmy the Robot (James Briggs, credited under his then-stage name of Jaime the Robot) and the only album to feature drummer The Baron von Tito (Travis Barker), who would amicably part ways with the band in 1998 after accepting an offer to join pop punk trio Blink-182.

Release and reception

Released at the height of the late 1990s American ska revival which The Aquabats were originally a part of, The Fury proved to be the band's minor commercial breakthrough, peaking at number 172 on the Billboard 200, their highest placement on the chart to date, as well as reaching number 12 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers, which would eventually be surpassed in 2011 by their fifth studio album Hi-Five Soup! debuting at number 5.^[3]^[4]

The song "Super Rad!" was issued as The Fury's lead single, receiving heavy rotation on modern rock stations such as Los Angeles' influential KROQ-FM, while its music video - directed by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, who was then involved with the band's 1998 television pilot - was regularly played on MTV.^[5]^[6] Despite decent airplay, "Super Rad!" failed to achieve any significant chart success, nor did the album's follow-up single "My Skateboard!".

Critical reception to The Fury was mostly positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic rated the album with four stars out of five, writing that it "fulfills the promise of their debut, offering an infectious collection of ska-punk. Although the group's songwriting is a little uneven, and they have the tendency to wallow in sophomoric, 'wacky' humor, they have enough hooks and energy to satisfy ska junkies."^[7]

Track listing

All tracks written by The Aquabats, except where noted otherwise.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Super Rad!"	3:02
2.	"Red Sweater!"	3:24
3.	"Magic Chicken!"	3:40
4.	"Fight Song!"	1:13
5.	"Cat with 2 Heads!"	3:01
6.	"The Story of Nothing!"	2:54
7.	"Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates!"	4:03
8.	"Martian Girl!"	2:46
9.	"Attacked by Snakes!"	5:01
10.	"Idiot Box!" (Creed Watkins, Parker Jacobs)	2:00
11.	"Powdered Milk Man!"	3:04
12.	"My Skateboard!"	2:43
13.	"Phantasma del Mar!"	3:12
14.	"Lobster Bucket!"	2:42
15.	"Theme Song!"	1:48
16.	"Playdough!" (hidden track)	6:43

Previous versions

Earlier recordings of tracks 12 and 13 first appeared on the 1995 demo tape Bat Boy.
Tracks 8, 10 and 16 are re-recordings of songs from The Return of The Aquabats.

Personnel

The Aquabats

The Bat Commander! – lead vocals
Jaime the Robot! – alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, clarinet, piano, vocals, Clavinova, Mellotron, flute
Chainsaw, The Prince of Karate! – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals, sampling, electric sitar
Prince Adam! – trumpet, Roland Juno-106, vocals, programming, Farfisa, hand wind
Crash McLarson! – bass guitar, organ, vocals
Catboy! – trumpet, cornet, vocals, sousaphone, Hammond B3
The Baron von Tito! – drums, percussion
Ultra Kyu! – electric and acoustic guitars, finger cymbals, piano, banjo, EBow, violin, sitar, Mellotron, vocals, Moog synthesizer

Additional musicians

Ikie Owens - keyboards
Blake Handler - piano on "Lobster Bucket!"
Parker Jacobs, Bill Hardie, Patrick McDonald - backing vocals

Charts

Chart (1997)	Peak position
The Billboard 200	172
Billboard Heatseekers	12

References

↑ "Aquabats!, The - Super Rad!". Discogs.com.
↑ "My Skateboard! by The Aquabats". Rate Your Music.
↑ "allmusic ((( The Aquabats > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Retrieved 9 December 2008.
↑ "Hi-Five Soup! - The Aquabats > Charts & Awards". allmusic.com.
↑ Boehm, Mike (October 28, 1997). "The Aquabats' Saturday Morning Mission; Who Are Those Masked Men? A Brea Band With a New CD and Plans for Capturing a TV Audience". The Los Angeles Times.
↑ Lawson, Sandy. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p171 "Bobcat Goldthwait biography" Check |url= value (help). Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: The Fury of The Aquabats!". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-06-14.

The Aquabats

The MC Bat Commander Crash McLarson Jimmy the Robot Ricky Fitness Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk Catboy Prince Adam Ultra Kyu Chainsaw the Prince of Karate The Baron von Tito

Studio albums	The Return of The Aquabats The Fury of The Aquabats! The Aquabats vs. the Floating Eye of Death! Charge!! Hi-Five Soup!

EPs	Yo! Check Out This Ride! EP Radio Down!

Compilation albums	Rice Capades Myths, Legends and Other Amazing Adventures, Vol. 2

Singles	"Super Rad!" "My Skateboard!" "Fashion Zombies!" "Radio Down!" "The Shark Fighter!"

Video albums	Serious Awesomeness!

The Aquabats! Super Show!	Episode list Characters

Related articles	Discography "Pool Party!" The Sandfleas GOGO13 Parker Jacobs Welcome to Eltingville Yo Gabba Gabba!

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