Review: "M'Kalister Park"

M'Kalister Park's self-titled debut album should satisfy fans of the show and also attract a few haters too.

The album's songs are what you'd find on the The Ceiling Fan Podcast, with a few changes, some lyrical, but mostly instrumental. For the most part, these changes are for the better. They are small enough that you shouldn't be disappointed by the changes, but large enough for the album to be worth purchasing.

There are a few new additions. The album includes remixes of "M'kalister Park" and "Communicate";  the former being not quite as good as its original, while the latter certainly exceeding the original version. A new song, "80995", unheard of at least by me, is included in the album, as well as "Intro" and "Goodbye", which bookend the album nicely.

What makes this album great for all Adventures in Odyssey Odyssey fans is that you really don't have to religiously follow the The Ceiling Fan podcast to enjoy these songs. The creators were smart about keeping their songs related to Odyssey issues ("Whit's End", "Come Back Jimmy", "Bring Mitch Back"...) or fan-related issues ("The Way Back", "Good things"). Non-fans may not quite get "Tooth Fairy Song", or the latter half of the acoustic version of "Communicate", but that's the least of their worries.

Nearly every song is catchy. Album highlights include podcast favourites, ''M'Kalister Park'', "Good Things", "Hiding" and "Bring Mitch Back". A few things I wish they had done was given the latter half of the "Communicate" its own track and extended "Rap Battle". Considering how many songs they were re-working, ''Rap Battle'' could have certainly benefited from a few additional verses.

Trust me, this album's worth the purchase. The Ceiling Fan is made up of talented individuals. So I'm going to give....wait, do I really need a rating system here? This is, after all, the only Adventures in Odyssey themed music album out there, and that's pretty impressive if you think about it. So, for fans of the show: . And for those who think rap is sinful:  . Overall, a great first album. You have my congratulations, and sincere thanks, Ceiling Fan Podcast.

A small, unrelated testimonial. As some of you may know, I planted trees in remote areas of Alberta and British Columbia this summer. A treeplanter's ultimate goal, aside from making money, is to beat his/her personal best. I hadn't done that since my first year, and I was now nearly completing my fourth year. And on one sunny, hot day I finally did beat my record. What's my point? Well, some planters listen to music, while others don't listen to anything. On that special day, I decided to put every single episode of "The Ceiling Fan Podcast" onto on my ipod. And from 9:00 o'clock in the morning to 7:00 o'clock in the evening, I listened to just the Ceiling Fan, entertained by its stories, inspired by the vocal talent, uplifted by the content, all the while keeping my mind off of my lonely situation. I planted a total of 4210 trees that day. That number still remains my personal best to this day.