9: The Greatest of Themes
Observations regarding a recent album trend.
By David Hilder | January 5, 2013
Observations regarding a recent album trend.
By David Hilder | January 5, 2013
The re-launch of Adventures in Odyssey in 2010 brought with
it many sudden and substantial changes to the show we all know and love. But
not everyone has caught up with these changes. Even now fans are still
discovering Album 51 and Album 52 for the first time and lamenting over the “new”
feel of AIO. And sadly, many may still live in a pre-Green Ring Conspiracy
world. Little do they know what the next albums have in store for them if they
would only just “keep listening” as Chris would say. Hopefully none of them
abandon the show completely as a result of these unwelcome changes, from the
music, to the characters, to the writers, to the logo, to the actors. And this
new Odyssey has been accompanied by certain trends as well.
When you think about it, most episodes are put together in an album for the very reason that they fit together. They are similar in some way or they share some common themes, even if they can be very broad themes. For example Album 51 claims to have stories about “serving God” and Album 52 has stories on “the power of God,” even though not a single episode in those albums has those words listed as its topic area. Those two themes are so broad in fact that one could probably place any Adventures in Odyssey episode in either category. In contrast to those two general topics, Album 54 was advertised as a themed album that would be based solely on 1 Corinthians 13, a very specific theme. This is sometimes described as the first thematic album since Album 17, but that’s not completely accurate when you consider how many albums follow closely to a single theme.
Besides the Novacom years, no era of AIO has had as many themed albums as this current one. In my opinion, the last couple of Adventures in Odyssey albums in particular have all been themed albums, or at least they are more thematic than previous albums. These newest four albums certainly aren’t as thematic as perhaps The Truth Chronicles was, but they have followed certain outlines. They also have very similar cover artwork. These covers do not depict any particular scenes in the album, but instead feature a combination of characters that represent each album as a whole. This is a good way of creating an image for a thematic album because it can bring across the album’s central message nicely without necessarily singling out a specific episode as the highlight among the rest. This editorial will explore how we have been living in a period of thematic Odyssey albums of late.
Album 53: The Green Ring Conspiracy was the first twelve part episode in Odyssey history. This unusual occurrence did its job of drawing back the attention of disenchanted listeners to see what this new development was all about. The album was obviously based on the themes of good, evil, deception, discernment, greed, survival, and other similar aspects involved in the plot to distribute counterfeit bills through Uncle Archie’s Carnival. The episodes all blend together to form a single storyline with a single purpose. It was the beginning of the Odyssey team’s reaction to the feedback received after Album 51.
Changes were made to the show to counterbalance some previous changes that came with the re-launch. The popular character of Jason Whittaker returned for another spy mission and so did Monty Whittaker, Whit’s grandson who hadn’t been heard from in two decades. The new characters of Buck, Mr. Skint, and Penny were introduced and Eugene’s wife, Katrina, finally appeared in her post re-launch debut. The Jones and Parker Detective Agency was redeemed as Emily and Matthew now actually had something interesting to solve for once. The theme of this album wasn’t just about recognizing deception. It was about recognizing the consequences of throwing in too many changes all at once without a significant transition period and about responding to the fans’ concerns.
Album 54: Clanging Cymbals was the second consecutive thematic album, based on the meaning of God’s love. It starts off strong with Wooton Knows Best actually quoting from 1 Corinthians 13 and later on its episodes become more general in their display of Christian love. They seem to be more loosely based on the particular Bible passage but still appear to have been written for the purpose of at least including the theme of love, even if they do not always focus very heavily on it. Some episodes branched out into other topics using the theme of love as a starting point. As a result, Chris went beyond 1 Corinthians 13 to wrap up certain episodes and mentioned other verses more relevant to these stories such as 1 John 3:17-18, the Lord’s Prayer, and Romans 8:38-39.
But overall, love is the common thread in this album. It is everywhere from the love of the folks at Whit’s End accepting and caring for Penny to the love Katrina shows to her students, not to mention the romantic love beginning between Barrett and Priscilla, Brad and Valerie, and also Wooton and Penny. The heart-to-heart conversation between Olivia Parker and her father or the story about Esperanza that Grandma Lucia told were both memorable moments which we may not have heard if the themes of those episodes had not been prescribed in advance in accordance with the album’s overall theme of love.
The cover artwork of Album 55: The Deep End depicts the main four Adventures in Odyssey characters in deep water to represent the collection of episodes as a whole. The album’s main theme is “seeking God in hard times.” Those who deal with difficult situations in these episodes include Jason, who in London relied on his own strength instead of God in the fight against Mr. Grote and almost got lost in the labyrinth of lies in the process, Eugene and Katrina, who find out they can’t have children, Connie, who deals with regret when she encounters her ex-fiancé, and Alvin York, who must struggle to determine the right thing to do in the midst of being drafted in World War I. Noticeably missing from that list is John Avery Whittaker. Although he appears on the cover to be in “the deep end,” there is no episode dedicated to his own struggle through any hard times. One of the last times Whit was discouraged and stopped to feel sorry for himself was in Silent Night on Album 45. I would have liked to hear Whit experience something difficult to remind us that he’s human just like everyone else. But despite that Album 55 holds true to its theme and tells an interesting and meaningful storyline as a result.
Keeping with the tradition of most episodes of suspense and intrigue, Album 55 features the return of old characters including Dale and Ann Jacobs, and even Robert Mitchell. In Mitch’s case in particular, his presence served as a way to tie up some loose ends concerning Connie’s storyline and to stem the flow of fan questions and letters about his possible return. We can now be happy with the fact that Connie is more equipped to move on from Mitch and perhaps have a more permanent romantic relationship in the future with someone else. That’s what I found particularly exciting about the “hard times” theme. It stirred up the pot and caused our favorite characters to move forward in maturity and brought them back to placing more trust in God.
Album 56: The Grand Design is yet another thematic album, this one focusing on a rediscovery of the classic Adventures in Odyssey we all love. It includes foundational building blocks of the Christian faith as represented in particular through the inventions of Whit’s End to celebrate AIO’s 25th anniversary. A third of the episodes involve the Imagination Station, two episodes occur in the Room of Consequence, and Kid’s Radio appears in two as well. The first episode you get without an invention is Happy Hunting, halfway through the album. And in celebration of the popular Album 2, the Boredom Buster even appears in Whit’s workshop on the cover. This could be the most episodes in a single album to feature an invention. And it’s a visible contrast to other recent albums, which have been mostly void of Whit’s classic inventions.
Since characters such as Jack and Joanne Allen have become part of classic Adventures in Odyssey, it’s very appropriate to have them show up in Album 56. Dale Jacobs comes back for his second album in a row after a very long absence and thankfully has something to do in his episode. And Jason finally settles down and retires from his life of spy work in the way only Jason can do it—by solving a case, catching some criminals and then taking over J & J Antiques as the Allens decide to travel overseas. We’ve seen this storyline before. In Album 22 in A Name, Not a Number Jason is involved in one last case of intrigue in the midst of his settling down in Odyssey to take over Whit’s End in his father’s absence from the country. The difference is that in Album 22 he leaves the agency to dish out ice cream because his father asked him to. Then at the end Tasha gives him a Morse code message that says she loves him. In Album 56 he leaves the agency not because anyone asks him to, but because he feels like he needs to reconnect with God, spend more time with his friends and live a normal life again, which could mean his stay is more permanent. And did someone give Jason a coded message of love in this episode like Tasha did in Album 22? Not explicitly. But for those fans who hope Jason will marry Connie someday, Home Again was probably a welcome episode to facilitate that process. When you listen to Connie’s measured, mature, quiet and perhaps profound excitement about Jason’s return coupled with the unusually awkward conversations they have together, it does make one wonder. Connie even says she “didn’t realize until now how much [she’s] missed him.” Both have experienced the life of espionage and have rejected it as a long term lifestyle, so there’s always a small possibility. But anyway, this album definitely felt like a tribute to past Adventures in Odyssey shows, which is a great theme that more albums should conform to.
According to the latest Official Guide, writer Paul McCusker’s “default for rallying the team is to do a thematic album.” If that’s the case, it would seem that the AIO team has been rallying for the past two years. The latest four albums from 2011 to 2012 have all had their own common themes. Two years is very similar to the amount of time it took for the Novacom Saga to air, which was a rallying period after the badly reviewed split episodes. After that we had a return to Odyssey’s more normal albums which included episodes not all following a strict theme or a certain feel, with the exception of some overarching story arcs such as Connie and Mitch’s relationship, or Eugene’s search for his missing father, both of which came out of the Novacom Saga in some way.
Has this current rallying period ended and will future albums go back to including episodes of a variety of different themes after this past season? Will albums return to having more general titles like Album 51: Take it from the Top and Album 52: Cause and Effect? This remains to be seen. We can only hope that future Adventures in Odyssey albums do not disregard the progress that has been made since the unsteady footing that was created at the beginning of the 2010 re-launch. Episodes have been getting better and better since that time, and it would be nice if they continued to follow that path.
When you think about it, most episodes are put together in an album for the very reason that they fit together. They are similar in some way or they share some common themes, even if they can be very broad themes. For example Album 51 claims to have stories about “serving God” and Album 52 has stories on “the power of God,” even though not a single episode in those albums has those words listed as its topic area. Those two themes are so broad in fact that one could probably place any Adventures in Odyssey episode in either category. In contrast to those two general topics, Album 54 was advertised as a themed album that would be based solely on 1 Corinthians 13, a very specific theme. This is sometimes described as the first thematic album since Album 17, but that’s not completely accurate when you consider how many albums follow closely to a single theme.
Besides the Novacom years, no era of AIO has had as many themed albums as this current one. In my opinion, the last couple of Adventures in Odyssey albums in particular have all been themed albums, or at least they are more thematic than previous albums. These newest four albums certainly aren’t as thematic as perhaps The Truth Chronicles was, but they have followed certain outlines. They also have very similar cover artwork. These covers do not depict any particular scenes in the album, but instead feature a combination of characters that represent each album as a whole. This is a good way of creating an image for a thematic album because it can bring across the album’s central message nicely without necessarily singling out a specific episode as the highlight among the rest. This editorial will explore how we have been living in a period of thematic Odyssey albums of late.
Album 53: The Green Ring Conspiracy was the first twelve part episode in Odyssey history. This unusual occurrence did its job of drawing back the attention of disenchanted listeners to see what this new development was all about. The album was obviously based on the themes of good, evil, deception, discernment, greed, survival, and other similar aspects involved in the plot to distribute counterfeit bills through Uncle Archie’s Carnival. The episodes all blend together to form a single storyline with a single purpose. It was the beginning of the Odyssey team’s reaction to the feedback received after Album 51.
Changes were made to the show to counterbalance some previous changes that came with the re-launch. The popular character of Jason Whittaker returned for another spy mission and so did Monty Whittaker, Whit’s grandson who hadn’t been heard from in two decades. The new characters of Buck, Mr. Skint, and Penny were introduced and Eugene’s wife, Katrina, finally appeared in her post re-launch debut. The Jones and Parker Detective Agency was redeemed as Emily and Matthew now actually had something interesting to solve for once. The theme of this album wasn’t just about recognizing deception. It was about recognizing the consequences of throwing in too many changes all at once without a significant transition period and about responding to the fans’ concerns.
Album 54: Clanging Cymbals was the second consecutive thematic album, based on the meaning of God’s love. It starts off strong with Wooton Knows Best actually quoting from 1 Corinthians 13 and later on its episodes become more general in their display of Christian love. They seem to be more loosely based on the particular Bible passage but still appear to have been written for the purpose of at least including the theme of love, even if they do not always focus very heavily on it. Some episodes branched out into other topics using the theme of love as a starting point. As a result, Chris went beyond 1 Corinthians 13 to wrap up certain episodes and mentioned other verses more relevant to these stories such as 1 John 3:17-18, the Lord’s Prayer, and Romans 8:38-39.
But overall, love is the common thread in this album. It is everywhere from the love of the folks at Whit’s End accepting and caring for Penny to the love Katrina shows to her students, not to mention the romantic love beginning between Barrett and Priscilla, Brad and Valerie, and also Wooton and Penny. The heart-to-heart conversation between Olivia Parker and her father or the story about Esperanza that Grandma Lucia told were both memorable moments which we may not have heard if the themes of those episodes had not been prescribed in advance in accordance with the album’s overall theme of love.
The cover artwork of Album 55: The Deep End depicts the main four Adventures in Odyssey characters in deep water to represent the collection of episodes as a whole. The album’s main theme is “seeking God in hard times.” Those who deal with difficult situations in these episodes include Jason, who in London relied on his own strength instead of God in the fight against Mr. Grote and almost got lost in the labyrinth of lies in the process, Eugene and Katrina, who find out they can’t have children, Connie, who deals with regret when she encounters her ex-fiancé, and Alvin York, who must struggle to determine the right thing to do in the midst of being drafted in World War I. Noticeably missing from that list is John Avery Whittaker. Although he appears on the cover to be in “the deep end,” there is no episode dedicated to his own struggle through any hard times. One of the last times Whit was discouraged and stopped to feel sorry for himself was in Silent Night on Album 45. I would have liked to hear Whit experience something difficult to remind us that he’s human just like everyone else. But despite that Album 55 holds true to its theme and tells an interesting and meaningful storyline as a result.
Keeping with the tradition of most episodes of suspense and intrigue, Album 55 features the return of old characters including Dale and Ann Jacobs, and even Robert Mitchell. In Mitch’s case in particular, his presence served as a way to tie up some loose ends concerning Connie’s storyline and to stem the flow of fan questions and letters about his possible return. We can now be happy with the fact that Connie is more equipped to move on from Mitch and perhaps have a more permanent romantic relationship in the future with someone else. That’s what I found particularly exciting about the “hard times” theme. It stirred up the pot and caused our favorite characters to move forward in maturity and brought them back to placing more trust in God.
Album 56: The Grand Design is yet another thematic album, this one focusing on a rediscovery of the classic Adventures in Odyssey we all love. It includes foundational building blocks of the Christian faith as represented in particular through the inventions of Whit’s End to celebrate AIO’s 25th anniversary. A third of the episodes involve the Imagination Station, two episodes occur in the Room of Consequence, and Kid’s Radio appears in two as well. The first episode you get without an invention is Happy Hunting, halfway through the album. And in celebration of the popular Album 2, the Boredom Buster even appears in Whit’s workshop on the cover. This could be the most episodes in a single album to feature an invention. And it’s a visible contrast to other recent albums, which have been mostly void of Whit’s classic inventions.
Since characters such as Jack and Joanne Allen have become part of classic Adventures in Odyssey, it’s very appropriate to have them show up in Album 56. Dale Jacobs comes back for his second album in a row after a very long absence and thankfully has something to do in his episode. And Jason finally settles down and retires from his life of spy work in the way only Jason can do it—by solving a case, catching some criminals and then taking over J & J Antiques as the Allens decide to travel overseas. We’ve seen this storyline before. In Album 22 in A Name, Not a Number Jason is involved in one last case of intrigue in the midst of his settling down in Odyssey to take over Whit’s End in his father’s absence from the country. The difference is that in Album 22 he leaves the agency to dish out ice cream because his father asked him to. Then at the end Tasha gives him a Morse code message that says she loves him. In Album 56 he leaves the agency not because anyone asks him to, but because he feels like he needs to reconnect with God, spend more time with his friends and live a normal life again, which could mean his stay is more permanent. And did someone give Jason a coded message of love in this episode like Tasha did in Album 22? Not explicitly. But for those fans who hope Jason will marry Connie someday, Home Again was probably a welcome episode to facilitate that process. When you listen to Connie’s measured, mature, quiet and perhaps profound excitement about Jason’s return coupled with the unusually awkward conversations they have together, it does make one wonder. Connie even says she “didn’t realize until now how much [she’s] missed him.” Both have experienced the life of espionage and have rejected it as a long term lifestyle, so there’s always a small possibility. But anyway, this album definitely felt like a tribute to past Adventures in Odyssey shows, which is a great theme that more albums should conform to.
According to the latest Official Guide, writer Paul McCusker’s “default for rallying the team is to do a thematic album.” If that’s the case, it would seem that the AIO team has been rallying for the past two years. The latest four albums from 2011 to 2012 have all had their own common themes. Two years is very similar to the amount of time it took for the Novacom Saga to air, which was a rallying period after the badly reviewed split episodes. After that we had a return to Odyssey’s more normal albums which included episodes not all following a strict theme or a certain feel, with the exception of some overarching story arcs such as Connie and Mitch’s relationship, or Eugene’s search for his missing father, both of which came out of the Novacom Saga in some way.
Has this current rallying period ended and will future albums go back to including episodes of a variety of different themes after this past season? Will albums return to having more general titles like Album 51: Take it from the Top and Album 52: Cause and Effect? This remains to be seen. We can only hope that future Adventures in Odyssey albums do not disregard the progress that has been made since the unsteady footing that was created at the beginning of the 2010 re-launch. Episodes have been getting better and better since that time, and it would be nice if they continued to follow that path.
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