Bang (Rockapella album)
Encyclopedia
Bang is the sixteenth overall and eleventh North American album by the a cappella
group Rockapella
. It is the first studio album the group has released since 2002. It also marks band members John K. Brown's and Steven Dorian
's first recording appearance with Rockapella, having been with the group since 2004 and 2010, respectively. The album consists entirely of original music, making it the second all-original album released by the group, preceded only by their 1994 Japanese release Vocobeat
, and is also the first Rockapella album to have at least one song written by each of the five members. The album contains a special bonus fourteenth track: a cover of Vampire Weekend
's "A-Punk
."
only appeared in the "Bang" video and was recording his part from his New York apartment. A similar video was released for Thacher's "Too Much" in October with a written description by him explaining why the song sounds the way it does. An August 2010 interview with Thacher stated a publicity push for the album would occur from August to early September, and the album would be released in mid-September. True to his word, Bang was released on September 21, 2010 in a solely digital format via iTunes
, Amazon.com
, and their website, while physical CD copies of the album became available on October 12. The CD is available in three forms through the Rockapella website:
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
group Rockapella
Rockapella
Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. Their name is derived from the words "rock" and "a cappella". They sing original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; over time, their sound has evolved from high-energy pop and world music...
. It is the first studio album the group has released since 2002. It also marks band members John K. Brown's and Steven Dorian
Steven Dorian
Steven Dorian is an American singer best known as a tenor in the a cappella group Rockapella since January 2010.-Early life:...
's first recording appearance with Rockapella, having been with the group since 2004 and 2010, respectively. The album consists entirely of original music, making it the second all-original album released by the group, preceded only by their 1994 Japanese release Vocobeat
Vocobeat
Vocobeat is the fourth studio album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It is their first all original album and marks the first full-time CD debut of Jeff Thacher as vocal percussionist...
, and is also the first Rockapella album to have at least one song written by each of the five members. The album contains a special bonus fourteenth track: a cover of Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American indie rock band from New York City that formed in 2006 and signed to XL Recordings. The Band has four members: Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio. The band released its first album Vampire Weekend in 2008, which produced the singles "Mansard...
's "A-Punk
A-Punk
"A-Punk" is a single by indie rock band Vampire Weekend, released on February 28, 2008. The band made their network television debut by performing "A-Punk" on The Late Show with David Letterman...
."
Announcement, Publicity, and Release
First announced to be in the recording stage in the group's January 2010 email newsletter, front man Scott Leonard officially announced the album to the public in an interview with San Luis Obispo's "The Tribune" in April 2010. He confirmed the tracks "Tonight", "California Sad-Eyed Girl", and "4U4Now4Life" from their live concerts would be on the album, tentatively named Bang. Starting that same month and continuing through June, Rockapella released snippets of both the raw recording and mixed versions of three songs said to be on their forthcoming album: "Nuthin' But", "Tell Me What You Want", and the title track "Bang". On June 17, 2010, the official Rockapella forum received a post from an administrator with a tentative tracklist of 12 songs for the album, all of which ended up on the 13 track album. Their website was then updated twice in July with videos consisting of the band members recording a small section of their respective vocal parts for "Tell Me What You Want" and "Bang" in Leonard's home recording studio; Jeff ThacherJeff Thacher
Jeffrey Thomas Thacher is an American musician, best known as a member of the vocal group Rockapella. A professional vocal percussionist and singer who emerged on the early contemporary a cappella scene in 1991, Jeff Thacher co-founded the Boston-based a cappella group...
only appeared in the "Bang" video and was recording his part from his New York apartment. A similar video was released for Thacher's "Too Much" in October with a written description by him explaining why the song sounds the way it does. An August 2010 interview with Thacher stated a publicity push for the album would occur from August to early September, and the album would be released in mid-September. True to his word, Bang was released on September 21, 2010 in a solely digital format via iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, and their website, while physical CD copies of the album became available on October 12. The CD is available in three forms through the Rockapella website:
- a Deluxe Package that came with a physical copy of the album; a digital copy with a digital bookletDigital bookletDigital booklets are the digital equivalent of liner notes that often accompany digital music purchases. They are most commonly distributed in Portable Document Format. One well-known distributor of digital booklets with digital purchases is the iTunes Store; the first instance of this on the...
featuring artwork, lyrics, and credits; two bonus live tracks: "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and "Got To Get You Into My Life;" and a 2GB microphone-shaped memory stick containing all the tracks - a CD Package that came with a physical copy of the album as well as a digital copy and the digital booklet
- a Digital Package available from both the website and iTunes that contained a digital copy of the album and the digital booklet.
Track listing
Personnel
- Scott Leonard – high tenor
- Steven DorianSteven DorianSteven Dorian is an American singer best known as a tenor in the a cappella group Rockapella since January 2010.-Early life:...
– tenor - John K. Brown – tenor
- George Baldi IIIGeorge Baldi IIIGeorge William Baldi III is an American singer best known as the bass singer of the a cappella singing group Rockapella since 2002.-Early life:Baldi grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
– bass - Jeff ThacherJeff ThacherJeffrey Thomas Thacher is an American musician, best known as a member of the vocal group Rockapella. A professional vocal percussionist and singer who emerged on the early contemporary a cappella scene in 1991, Jeff Thacher co-founded the Boston-based a cappella group...
– vocal percussion