Wednesday, May 17, 2006

is it normal?

Anti-Flag’s major label debut For Blood And Empire is one of my favorite releases of 2006 so far... and I don’t usually like political punk music: crappy music with generic political statements... no thanks! However, the music on For Blood And Empire is first rate and it helps that they are insanely catchy! It features elements of pop punk, skate punk, hardcore, folk, and power rock anthems. Honestly, I think every song from For Blood And Empire has the potential to become a top 40 single... but with the very expressive and explosive lyrical contents, they will most likely never see any radio play. The highlight track for me is "Depleted Uranium Is A War Crime". It is perhaps the most emotionally charged song on the album as it features some very chillingly truthful facts about the consequences of Depleted Uranium used by the U.S. military. In addition, the song features the voice of U.S. Representative, Jim McDermott as he utters the deadly effect of DU, it is absolutely a brilliant song! Read Justin Sane's DU essay here. Another highlight track for me has to be the very fast and catchy "The Press Corpse", which essentially is about the Downing Street Memo leaked to the public back in 2005. The song opens up with the very sharp lines of “the memo says...: we gotta work to make the facts fit the false charges, pull the wool over the eyes of the filthy masses...” The rest of the song consists of continuous clever attacks on the U.S. government’s deceptions and manipulations over the mass public. If you never heard of or gave any political punk album a chance before, you have to just open up and give Anti-Flag’s new disc a try. Like I said at the beginning of this review, I don’t usually like political punk albums, but For Blood And Empire is just way too important to ignore!

I'd Tell You But...
The Press Corpse
[wicked-cool song]
Hymn For The Dead
One Trillion Dollars
Depleted Uranium Is A War Crime
[wicked-cool song]
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You can also download a free b-side by Anti-Flag at Military Free Zone.

buy For Blood And Empire here

1 comment:

Jackman said...

oh yea, for sure, "hymn for the dead" is an excellent song!!!