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Originally released as album #12, "It All Started When" is now album #13 for proper chronology. (All episodes in this album aired after the episodes in "At Home and Abroad," (which is the "new" album 12).
This album also features 167: Dobson Comes to Town. It includes the "Odyssey" version that aired on the weekly broadcast and the "Focus" version that aired on the Focus on the Family broadcast. Neither version has aired on the radio since 1991.
This album contains a good number of interesting and fun episodes, but also some which are serious and deal with tough issues. It deals with the issue of how Christians should listen to music and does a good job of presenting both sides. It touches on the issue of being in the world but not of the world. It makes a point about many other questions that we as Christians deal with and tackles them broadly or specifically as needed.
The series as a whole develops the characters wonderfully. We learned much more about the Jacobs, Rodney Rathbone (he does have a good side!), and of course the whole gang at Whits End. Isaac receives a number of episodes as well, and in all them his character remains the same worried, often cautious individual he was in all the previous episodes. That brings me to another good point on the album. Its always good when a series remembers that it has a past. AIO does this in many of these episodes, especially It Takes Integrity where many episodes such as Muckraker and Home is Where the Hurt Is among others are mentioned.
Overall, a good addition to any AIO collection. Most of the episodes were quite good, with just a couple rather average episodes (Tales of Moderation, A Question of Loyalty). The only thing that brings this album down a bit was that there is only one very memorable episode, An Act of Nobility. Many of the others make you think for a minute, and then fade.
Favorite Episode: An Act of Nobility
Rating: 3 stars
A subtitle for this album could be "The Frame Story" Album or, well, the "It All Started When " Album. Every story in this album begins with the phrase "It all started " and is presented by character directly to the audience or another character. In other words, all have stories within stories. All twelve issues deal with Christian virtues.