"Readyfuels" by Anberlin, Saturday, June 18, 2022 (Reformatted Post)
There were a number of Christian extreme sports shows that featured harder Christian Rock. These shows might be featured late nights on cable tv or on Christian channels. In 2003, Anberlin released their first radio hit to Christian Rock radio, "Change the World (Lost Ones)." However, around that time "Readyfuels" was included in one of those sports shows. The sport: luge racing. "Readyfuels" was the band's first promoted single by the record label. "Change the World" was sent to Christian radio. But "Readyfuels" wasn't a Christian Rock song, in the traditional sense.
GIRLS AND THE BOYS CHASE DOWN RUNNING HOT TONIGHT. “Readyfuels” is a song that mostly glorifies the carnal nights of youth--a prelude to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Today’s song would go on to chart on even Air1, a Contemporary Christian pop radio station. Anberlin's intention was never to be a Christian band, but unlike other Tooth & Nail staples that moved away from the Christian market, Anberlin has made a career out of being the edgy group that can say what you don't expect in a Christian song. While seeing luge racing to Anberlin was pretty cool, what wasn't so cool was seeing the awful music video for "Readyfuels." In a time when Tooth & Nail was pumping money into Kutless, Jeremy Camp, and Falling Up, Anberlin had yet to film a music video. So I wrote an email to someone at Tooth & Nail, demanding that Anberlin get a music video for "Readyfuels." "Why does Kutless have three videos from the same album and Anberlin doesn't have any?" I don't remember if T&N wrote me back, but sure enough, Anberlin released a music video.
HELP ME TO WAIT ON YOU, HESITATE IT TOO, 'CAUSE I'M ALONE. Two years ago in an interview with RadioU, Stephen Christian talked about the video. He says that he thought that the record label had played a joke. "No really, where's the real one?" he asked. Needless to say, every music video was better for Anberlin after "Readyfuels." But let's forget about that mistake. Instead, let's go back to the summer of 2003, between freshman and sophomore year of high school. Re-listening to Blueprints for the Black Market shows you how far this band developed sonically and lyrically. On Blueprints, the lyrics are second to the music in most cases. By Never Take Friendship Personal and Cities, the lyrics become central and the music becomes harder. Blueprints reminded me of some of my dad's classic rock albums I listen to. But there was an Aaron Sprinkle intensity in the production that challenged my stereo in ways that few albums did before it.
Lockdown Livestream We Are the Lost Ones recording:
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