Customer Reviews

Axis of Justice: Concert Series Volume 1 (Bonus DVD)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

When I discovered that there was a collaboration between the likes of Maynard James Keenan, Serj Tankian, and Flea I was all over it, and quickly ordered it from Amazon. Most of the reviews said it wasn't good at all, but none really said why. I now realize that many of the people who dislike this must have been expecting System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all rolled into one, which is not really what this is at all.

This is more of a chance for these artists to try something new. Serj and Tom Morello especially show off new sides to their music. Tom gives us offerings as The Nightwatchman, under which he performs folk music. While his singing initially caught me off guard, I ended up liking it and the lyrics are great, too. Serj gets a chance to show his ability on the piano, which was barely even explored in SoaD. It'd be interesting to hear some of their songs redone on piano.

While the focus is on Serj and Tom(after all, they organized the show and founded the Axis of Justice, the organization), the backing band is great, too. In addition to Tom on guitar and Serj on piano/vocals, they include the aforementioned Flea on bass, Pete Yorn on guitar/vocals, and Brad Wilk on drums. Most of the songs they play are cover songs, but there are a few cool jams, which should please fans of Rage or the Chilis. The rest of the band also backs up one of Tom's solo songs. Chris Cornell and Maynard James Keenan perform an excellent duet on "Peace, Love, and Understanding", which wasn't recorded at the same concert and is closer to the Elvis Costello original than the recent version found on A Perfect Circle's eMOTIVe. The addition of Jurassic 5's hip hop is odd, but they're one of the few respectable groups in that genre and add some more variety to the concert. Knowledge(a spoken word artist I hadn't heard of before) contributes a couple interesting poems, too, including one that's backed by Serj's piano.

There isn't very much wrong with this album. I do think it would've been nice if Maynard had been the lead singer for the house band. Maynard has shown that he can do a good job at singing other people's songs with both Tool and A Perfect Circle, but his only appearance at the concert was the backing vocals on "Where the Streets Have No Name". With both Serj and Pete Yorn singing on that song as well, Maynard's voice merely blended in. Serj's voice works great for his music, but when covering artists like U2, it sounds out of place. I guess one other problem with this CD is that the stuff isn't necessarily going to appeal to fans of the artists on it, which makes it hard for this to find an audience. I also heard very little in the way of promotion for this disc, so I don't think too many people know of it.

The DVD's video quality isn't great, but it has some material that's not on the CD, and it's nice to see most of the songs instead of just hearing them. It also didn't raise the price of the CD, so it's hard to complain about it. I think the conversations between Serj and Tom could have been much better, though. Instead of showing a video, it shows still shots, but for some reason the pictures shake. Surely there was an actual video of these conversations and not just pictures. They also get cut off several times while they're talking, and it has generic backgrond music playing the whole time. Though, it is nice to hear their views on President Bush, censorship, and the war in Iraq. I also would've preferred they didn't include Michael Moore in their talks. All in all, it's a decent, if rather flawed, addition to an otherwise good DVD.

I'd recommend this to people looking for a unique and varied sound. Just don't expect it to be your favorite bands combining their styles. As long as you listen to it without those expectations, you should find it very enjoyable.

This cd will definately be underappreciated by all the so called fans of Rage and System and the other bands who contributed to the cd. However, this cd is not supposed to be a recreation of these bands. This is totally different and is supposed to be that way. The folk songs by The Nightwatchmen are great, and stand very well on their own. Serj's piano performances at first weren't amazing to me, but they really grow on you. The eclectic mix of covers, stand up comedy (Ahmed Ahmed is also found on the bonus features of Bowling for Columbine), and poetry flow quite nicely. I give it 4 stars mainly cause the camera quality of the DVD isn't the best in the world, but otherwise I think this is a great buy.

I really liked this album, I never knew that Tom Morello could sing. I wish you could hear Maynard on the U2 cover or the duet he did with Cornell but they are still good covers. This is worth buying as long as you do not expect a meavy metal album. The theme is peace and that is hard to expresse when playing heavy metal.

i preordered this cd not knowing exactly what to expect with serj, morello, maynard, cornell, etc. teaming up so i just put faith into serj and what i got was some good, easy listening music for a sensible cause. i wish maynard could have flaunted his vocals more but his duet with cornell is great. the DVD is pretty packed with video/audio interviews which is really nice so you can watch what you hear on the cd and it has some added songs too. the songs will grow on you if you don't like them at first as they can be pretty catchy. overall, i'm pretty happy with it.

This is a varied and often disparate collection of music from the Axis concerts as put together by Serj (of Sysytem Of A Down) and Morello (of Rage Against The Machine). It's not like any one style of music from any of the contributing artists, so difficult to define for fans. It also includes some poetry reading from Serj. The album includes performances by Serj, Morello, Brad Wilk, Chris Cornell, Flea, Jurassic 5 and a whole host of other artists. It was put together for a worthwhile cause and there are some interesting interviews and footage on the included DVD. Worth a listen if you're a fan of any of the performers, and there are some good tracks on there, but be prepared for some more "out there" stuff as well (hence the 4 stars). Overall a good package and good collection of songs.

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As a fan of the radio program, Axis of Justice, I was not dissapointed with the album. There was a good balance of covers (Bob Marley's 'Get Up, Stand Up"; Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom") and original songs (Tom Morello does a great job as The Nightwatchman on Until the End" and Serj Tankian's songs were good). I could take or leave the DVD. The songs are the same on the CD as they are on the DVD and there aren't a lot of DVD extras, but its a nice bonus regardless. Anybody interested in System of a Down, Tom Morello, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Elvis Costello, and/or social justice should give this a look.

This is very much a great cd on my list. Most people on here are whining about how serj can't sing and morello should be playing old rage music. But these people are idiots. This cd is amazing. The cover of (What's so funny 'bout)Peace, Love, & Understanding by Cornell and Maynard is a great song. Cornell has an amazing voice and he is backed up by Maynard. The piano piece Charades performed by Serj is a great piece of work. It shows his amazing piano abilities. This brings me at last to Tom Morello. He has been touring under the moniker The Nightwatchmen. Its a great idea. His folkish songs have very meaninful, and well written lyrics. And the best part is his voice. Who would have thought the guitar player for Rage and Audioslave sounds like a younger Johnny Cash.
I recommend everyone buys this cd and dvd. The songs and spoken word are great and the money goes to a great cause.

With so many of my favorite artists I really wanted to like this. I'm glad I spent the money as I believe in the cause and I really appreciate artists who are politically active. However, this is really just not that good. APC's cover of "Peace, Love and Understanding" is so much stronger, Serj sounds soooo bad on "Where the streets have no name", I could go on... This is really all over the map.

I couldn't believe how disappointing this was. What should have a been a concert that blows you away ends up sounding like a bunch of dweebs at your local guitar shop noodling around.

Like the reviewer before me, I do believe that their 'heart was in the right place' and I love all those guys...which is why this sucked. Maynard? Where is he? Doing BACKUP vocals (except for his 'duet' w/ Chris Cornell). WTF?? They got Serj being frontman while Maynard sits in the back? I know Maynard's style isn't about being upfront, but damn, at least his voice could have saved half the songs on this CD. Serj is great in System of a Down...but singing U2 and Bob Dylan songs is not something he can do well. He sounds like Goat Boy..."Where the streets haa-baa-baa-ve no name..." Ugh.
And what of Tom Morello? Where is the funk? Where is the fire? No, I do not expect 'RATM' all the time, but where is the protest in his protest music? None of this music makes you want to get up and protest the war or atrocities to man kind. Or put it this way...Tom holds an acoustic guitar almost throughout this entire thing...so if you expect some fight music, forget it. Bust out the daisies. We're not going to rage against the machine here...we're going to sleep against the machine.
Tom's 'Nightwatchman' songs are pretty good...he sounds like a young Johnny Cash...but I don't get the 'Nightwatchman' moniker. It's just Tom.
The other highlights are the Jurassic 5 and Pete Yorn tracks. But that's not saying much either.
And watching the included DVD only makes things worse. Wait, is that Serj holding a piece of paper with the lyrics to 'Get Up Stand Up'? Wait, is that him again holding ANOTHER lyric sheet for 'Where the Streets Have No Name'? Did we not practice before coming to the show? Blah.
If you wanted something to get your blood going in these times of political chaos, then this isn't it. Go back and listen to some Hendrix or Dylan or RATM instead. But if you were looking for an album of folksy-songs...then go buy a folk album. I'm going to be selling this one to the used CD store this weekend.

This is a fantastic album. Sure the artists involved may deviate a little from their typical genres, but it's certainly a refreshing change, and one that shows off the versatility of all the artists. One gripe: Maynard, step up to the plate and sing a little more. Other than that, it's awesome. Great music, great message